I'm still using HP Photosmart A618 to print 5 x 7 & some 4 x 6 photos. I'll not compare the Inkjet technology with Dye-sublimation because the dye-sub is clearly better in image quality even with 300dpi(dye-sub) vs 600dpi(inkjet). but I'll write about what I liked & what I didn't like using Canon brand printer. btw, I print from the PC (fix the exposure, remove noise..etc photos using Lightroom or any other software) and then I use the official software to print.
What I liked:
- The photo is super clear and the printer produces amazing quality (outstanding). you will never be disappointed. I assure you that.
- The printer is fast enough.
- The paper quality is very good and you will not be worried about papers & ink (36 ink cartridge size will print 36 photos, no less no more).
What I didn't like:
- The paper size isn't perfect 4 x 6 (101.6 x 152.4). It's smaller (100mm x 148mm) in Canon and maybe more smaller than that.
I compared the HP 4 x 6 paper with Canon 4 x 6 paper and the HP was bigger by 2-3mm in width and height. I believe that HP produces a better size of 4 x 6 because when I resize any photo to 4 X 6 using any software I get (101.6 x 152.4) which means 1800x1200 ,resolution 300dpi. But When I print this photo size using Canon, the printer will crop automatically 2-5mm from width and height (Canon paper has 2 tabs at the right and left sides which can be removed after you print the photo). The printer will print at least 3mm in the tab area and will crop 2-4mm from the height.
Now if I don't want to lose any part of the photo, I should resize all the photos I have to 1748x1181 (100mm x 148mm). To do this, I must disable the constrain aspect ratio. but this will make my photo worse (a square looks like rectangle).
To override this problem, I must not disable the constrain aspect ratio but I need to make the height exactly 100mm. that's mean I'll sacrifice some (mm) in the both sides of width (if the Canon paper really 100mm height).
- The default colors settings aren't correct (for me the orange color was warm yellow and the warm yellow in the reality was almost green!!). what you see in the PC screen is different than the printed photo. I printed 8 pictures to find the correct settings for me. Raised the contrast, exposure and saturation a little and not equally. still, the final result not perfect but very good. (the colors, contrast and other settings in my monitor is correctly adjusted. mostly as I can see by my eyes).
Final words:
Before you buy any Canon dye-sub printer, take a look in Epson (PM260 or PM280) or the Fuji (QS-70 or QS-7). Check the actual paper size to make sure you get the 99% of the frame in the final result from the printer. You will need to take a photo to any shop and print it by the models you are thinking of. Make sure to set the resolution at 300dpi and the paper size of 4 x 6. Compare the results and choose what you like then.
Canon SELPHY CP760 Compact Photo Printer (2565B001)This is my 4th "CP" Printer from Canon. I don't know why I keep upgrading because I don't need to. This one is the fastest "CP" Printer yet. I have 2 complaints...
1. They took away the retractable usb cord.
2. No battery support.
Luckily I still have my CP-710 for portability. I use the CP-760 for my desktop machine. I love the new speed, the larger display screen and design of the 760. It still produces great prints so I would rate this printer from a scale of 1 to 10 an 8.5 because of the 2 reasons I mentioned earlier.
Tim of...
Tim Farris photographer
tfarrisphotography.com
This is my first portable photo printer and I really love it. Allows me to print photos for my friends anytime. I usually use it with my macbook pro via iphoto. I normally have to put the brightness setting to highest in iphoto to get the same exposure as on my computer screen. Prints are sharp and colors are saturated with natural-looking skin tones. Really photo lab quality. Only thing I think that would make this better is if it also ran on batteries which would make it a really print-anywhere-anytime machine. Anyway, high marks for this little printer!
I have fallen in love four times in my life. The first was a heartbreaker in college. The second, I married. The third was a Weber Q grill. And this printer was the fourth.
Now, a printer is not the kind of thing one should fall in love with. It's stupid. It's a pile of plastic and metal enclosed in a box. And while it is a very nice box, a box it is none-the-less.
But I am in love. Let me count the ways.
(1) It does what it says: it prints beautiful color photos in about a minute. The printer uses a process called dye sublimation in which a solid ink that is spread on a thin plastic sheet is transferred to the photo paper in a four step process. In the first three steps, different color inks are deposited on top of each other to create all the other colors of the spectrum. In the last step, a clear coating is applied that protects the print from minor scratches and fingerprints. (BTW, don't let the 300dpi resolution put you off. The photos look every bit as good as the "60 million by 24 million dots per blah, blah, blah of the ink jet printers. Evidently, dots per inch are not all the same.)
(2) It is simple to use. You take your picture. You insert your memory card into the front of the printer (it accepts just about every common memory card). You select your photo from the small display built in to the printer and press the print button. One minute later, your print is ready to handle and share. Want to print all the photos on the memory card? Simply select the "print all" command and it will print all the photos. No laptop or PC needed.
(3) It is cost effective - take 1. When you buy the special paper for the printer, the solid ink cartridge(s) come with the paper. You always get enough ink for the amount of paper that you buy so you don't waste ink. Unlike inkjet printers, you don't waste ink cleaning nozzles or have ruined pictures because of a clogged inkjet. At the normal price, prints come out to about 30¢a print. While this is more expensive than sending your prints to Costco, you have the benefit of not having to drive to Costco. With gas at $3 a gallon, you have to factor that in. I have actually bought paper and ink in a 108 print box from Best Buy that was on sale for about $14. This brought the cost down to about 12¢ a print. Needless to say, I bought eight boxes. The paper is widely available from all the big box digital camera retailers and from specialty camera shops.
(4) It is cost effective - take 2. The prints come in only one size, 4x6. (Actually, the print is really 100mm by 148mm. This works out to a slightly smaller 3.94 x 5.83 inch print.) If you want larger or smaller prints, then this is not the printer for you. However, the upside is that you only have to carry only one type of ink cartridge and one type of paper. If the printer had to handle more sizes of prints, the printer, paper and ink would be more expensive.
(5) The pictures are durable and smudge proof. Unlike inkjet printers, the photo won't run if water spills on it. The dye sublimation ink is wax based and does not dissolve in water. Kept out of the sun, the photos should last your lifetime and into your kids lifetime. Will it last forever? No. For that, you need to shoot in black and white on film. Frankly, this printer is not for archival purposes. It is intended to print pictures that you can enjoy and share immediately. Kind of like the concept behind the Polaroid camera.
(6) It is made by Canon. Canon has been making quality photo equipment for generations and this printer is no exception. Service centers are nearly everywhere in the USA.
(7) It is portable. I can store two of these printers - with all power cables and a box of paper - in a large laptop computer case. I have taken them to a school banquet and printed photos of all the guests for a take home souvenir. Using two printers, two cameras, and a small pile of memory cards, my wife and I printed over two hundred take home keepsakes to remember the event with in under three hours. There's even a port for plugging in a 24 volt battery supply, though I haven't tried it yet.
(8) It is reliable. The paper loads in a tray that is inserted into the front of the printer. The ink cartridge is loaded into the side of the printer. The paper feeds from the tray and passes in a straight line to the back of the printer. The paper shuttles back and forth while the layers of ink and protective coating is applied to the paper. That's it. In many other printers, including full size ones, the paper has to feed through several sets of rollers that bend the paper through a convoluted paper path. In my experience, the more convoluted the path, the greater the probability that the paper will jam in the machine because of a tolerance or timing problem. The more convoluted the path, the more complicated the mechanism has to be and the less reliable the printer becomes. The straighter the path, the more reliable. So far, in over four hundred prints printed on two of these printers, I have not had a single jam or lost a photo because of the printer. (Though I can't say I haven't lost a picture because of the crappy photographer. ')
(9) It is flexible. Okay, so your photographic skills aren't the best or you don't have a top shelf SLR. There is a limited amount of adjustability built right into the printer. Want the colors to "POP"? Choose the "vivid" selection and the color saturation is amped up a bit. Want your prints to look "old timey"? Select sepia tone. Red eye a problem? Automatically fixed. While the built-in software isn't going to replace Photoshop, it wasn't meant to. Photoshop is for being creative. This printer is for fixing minor photographic glitches or for adding a little fun to the prints that you can share right away. You can even adjust contrast and color settings if you're the fussy sort. Want more? The included CD has a photo editor and more advanced features to play with your images that you can run on a laptop if you're into that kind of thing. As far as I'm concerned, that's not why I got this printer for.
(10) Which brings me to why I've fallen in love. To me, photos are meant to share memories. When I was little, this meant gathering around the photo album and reminiscing about times gone by. What this printer does is allow you to remember the good times that you've shared TODAY! Before you leave the party, picnic, gathering, or meeting, you can share a photo that can be stuck to the fridge, posted on the board, or stuck in the briefcase. So instead of waiting weeks or years to remember the good times, you can share them now to be remembered tomorrow. Photography was invented to record moments in time. If you want or need your photos to be perfect reproductions of reality, then this is the wrong printer for you. If you want to share the moments of your life, then get one of these and start sharing.
As I'm writing this, Canon has come out with a newer model with some additional features over the Selphy CP760. This means that this model is being discounted rather aggressively. This makes a good deal almost too good to pass up. I ended up buying four more to give to my friends and family. - Portable - Canon Photo Printer - Selphy - Canon'
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Canon Cp760 - portable, selphy
selphy Canon Cp760 - portable, selphy
