Canon and Foto Riesel's digital darkroom concept store

Canon and Foto Riesel, a photographic retailer, today opened their first digital darkroom concept store in Sydney's CBD.

The store, which is located next to Foto Riesel's main outlet on Kent Street, is the first of its kind in Australia, allowing consumers and professionals to print high quality images on a range of Canon printers and plotters.

An Art on Demand touchscreen kiosk is one of the key features of the new store. The kiosk allows users to select from an image bank of over 7,000 artworks by artists such as Claude Monet and Gustav Klimt, and print reproductions on canvas and silk up to 12m in length.

Additional touches, such as painterly effects, can be added by the Foto Riesel staff using acrylic paints on top of the print to give an even more realistic effect.

Each print produced on the Canon imagePROGRAF iPF8100 is waterproof and sun-proof, with a stated colour guarantee of 80 years. Framing and mounting services are also available for the final prints.

One of the most popular images on the Art on Demand kiosk service is a Marilyn Monroe photograph.
(Credit: Alexandra Savvides/CNET Australia)

Over 300 Art on Demand kiosks are expected to be rolled out across Australia and New Zealand in the coming year.

For images that users bring into the store themselves, Foto Riesel staff will be on hand to help photographers get the best printouts of their images, done in-store while you wait. Consumers can try Canon printer equipment before they buy a complete system; consumables, such as inks and high quality papers, are also available for purchase.

A Monet image being printed on canvas, on the Canon inkjet plotter.
(Credit: Alexandra Savvides/CNET Australia)

Over the coming months, Foto Riesel will also provide free training sessions and seminars for customers.

The new store is located at 360 Kent Street, Sydney.