Today Canon announced the release of two new PIXMA models, the Pro9500 and the Pro9000, which are the first to earn the ‘Pro’ label. According to Canon, these machines are aimed at professional photographers or imaging professionals, so that means that they might be out of the price range of regular users. Here are some stats on the models:

PIXMA Pro9500 - ten-color machine which uses pigment-based inks. Can produce prints up to 13×19. The ten colors include the standard red, blue and their photo counterparts, along with yellow, photo black, matte black, gray, red and green. The wide range of colors allows the prints to be more true-to-life, while also producing quality black and white results. To date, this is pretty much the biggest range of colors available on any commercial printer.

PIXMA Pro9000 - eight-color machine which uses dye-based inks. Also produces prints up to 13×19. One difference between this model and the 9500 is that this one uses only standard black and doesn’t use gray. This will probably only be noticeable when it comes to the black & white printing. The other difference is that it does not use pigment-based inks like the 9500. Typically that means that the prints from this machine will not last as long since they are dye-based, but that is not a certainty. Many factors go into the long-term life of prints, notably the type of paper used and the storage conditions. And in reality, few people think “I have to make sure these prints last 100 years” when they are printing family photos. That being said, if you are a professional and concerned about the life of your prints, this could be something to consider.

Both these machines feature Canon’s PictBridge to easily communicate with digital cameras, especially Canon digital cameras. They also feature Canon’s Easy-PhotoPrint Pro software, which includes many, many features - most of which are completely useless.

At the same time, Canon also announced the introduction of two new types of printing paper. One is called Photo Rag, for printing photos or artwork, and the other is Fine Art Paper Premium Matte, a thicker paper which Canon says “conveys an artistic, gallery-grade look.” These new papers are designed to work in the two new PIXMA Pro machines and likely are not suited for standard Canon inkjets.

At this time there is no pricing available for these machines. They should hit the market this summer.

Canon’s New Gallery-Quality PIXMA Pro9000 and PIXMA Pro9500 [Canon press release]