The longest digitally printed photograph was produced September 26, 2020 by Canon, Oberstdorf Tourism, Oberstdorfer Fotogipfel and Ilford, in Oberstdorf, Germany, according to Tom Albrecht of Guinness World Records. After calculating the maximum roll length of the Canon imagePrograf Pro-6100 Graphic Arts Printer, several rolls of Ilfojet Synthetic Paper were produced with a special length. Two test runs were carried out by Jochen Kohl from K2-Studio in advance at Ilford. Then it was off to a ski jump in Oberstdorf, with a stopover at Thomas Weissmann from Holz-Weissmann, a specialist in the construction of freight and sea crates. In just a few hours, he built a solid wooden crate for helicopter transport, which was the only way to transport the printer up the ski jump. Once at the top, the box was opened, the printer was filled with ink, the special roll was inserted and the printer was protected from rain and snow with a special cover. Due to the protection, the printer was not visible during the 16 hours in which it continuously printed on the 109.04-metre-long (358 feet, 11.08 inches) synthetic paper from Ilford.
Ilfojet Synthetic Paper is characterized by a low paper thickness, an important factor in making the way from the roll to the Canon Pro-6100 over a length of almost 110 meters. Its special coating, in combination with the Canon inks, resisted the adverse weather and difficult printing conditions. The synthetic paper was also extremely robust so that it could be easily bent and pulled. Many viewers of the live-stream event were amazed at how durable the photo-realistic material was, given that rain showers and gusts of wind at the top of the ski jump put the material under extreme duress.
Uwe Janke, Sales Manager for Germany at Ilford, added: “During this world record, the team around Jochen Kohl reached their physical limits in almost 18 hours of continuous work in rain and snow. In the last third it was actively supported by the technicians from Oberstdorf House. Countless stairs had to be run up and down. Jochen Kohl used all his strength to pull the print to the ski jump table due to the rain down the 110 meters.” The teamwork between Canon, K2, Oberstdorf and Ilford will enter the Guinness Book of Records, predicts Karsten Goltz, General Manager at Ilford.
Canon and Ilford produce world’s longest digitally-printed photo
