Tried & Tested
On trial: Canon SELPHY printers
This article is part of a paid-for partnership with Canon
Show the photos languishing on your phone some love
What are they?
These are foolproof printers that quickly deliver photolab glossy results and let you personalise your masterpieces. The Canon SELPHY Square QX10 Mobile Photo Printer is small, sleek and so simple your kids could use it.
Switch it on using the only button (told you it was easy) then do the rest on your phone using the free SELPHY Photo Layout app. Sync up your phone and printer following the straightforward instructions then start choosing photos to print. Change the crop, border size, layer over a funky frame or a pattern (hearts, stars, paw prints…), add text, the date and stamps (anyone for bunting?) to your heart’s content, then hit print, wait 43 seconds and you’ve got a cute square photo and an addictive new habit.
Add a graphic or writing, then use the SELPHY QX10 to print your square photo
The QX10’s great quality prints are in your hand in 43 seconds
The Canon SELPHY CP1300 Portable Photo Printer meanwhile produces 4”x6” photos in a jiffy. Connect your phone through wi-fi, Apple AirPrintTM, MopriaTM or the Canon PRINT app and get great quality photos on the go. My fave thing about this is Party Shuffle mode, which lets you connect more than one smart device at a time, so you can create collages in the app with your friends’ pics. It also has a 3.2in display that tilts, so it’s easy to see what you’re doing, even if you’re printing mid-party.
The portable SELPHY CP1300 can produce lab-quality 4”x6” prints in seconds
Why do you need one?
How many photos do you have on your phone right now? I’ve got 43,842 and I can tell you that in the past two years I’ve only printed 13. I’m taking photos, so many photos, I occasionally still remember to put some on Instagram, but the old routine of going to a shop and getting them printed has long gone and I miss the end result.
I want photos of the people I love on display around my home. I want to not forget last year’s much-delayed trip to New York. I want to send my nan photos from her 90th birthday party at the start of the year (she’s not on Insta).
Enter, Canon’s SELPHY printers.
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What else do these do?
Take the QX10 along as your plus one next time you’re at a party or wedding for instant prints, and use the sticker layout to make an unforgettable guest book right there and then.
The CP1300 is also adaptable – use the free SELPHY Photo Layout app to create ID prints, bookmarks and so much more.
There are no complicated steps to setting up either printer – the ink cartridge slides in, the paper goes in its tray and I’m pleased to say I’ve had zero misfeeds (office printers could learn a thing or two from these).
The metrics that matter
Get creative All you need is your mobile phone and the free SELPHY Photo Layout app, and hours of fun and photos are at your fingertips. I’ve created a shelf display by clipping the square pics on colourful string using tiny clothes pegs and I’m sorry but it looks adorable. Some postcard prints are already winging their way to family and I’m on the hunt for new frames for others.
Money talksThe CP1300 is on offer at £99 (save £30) until 2 May 2023 and has all the bells and whistles and fun of the QX10, with lab-quality prints and traditionally frameable 4”x6” photos. The QX10 is usually more expensive but is on offer at £99 (save £50) from 5 April to 2 May 2023. It’s a particularly good option for kids, too – wireless, quick, pleasing, EASY.
Happy snappyFast and fiendishly addictive, these printers are actual child’s play and brilliant for family use. The results are even better than I’ve had running off instant prints in a shop. They make it easy to personalise with cute stamps or captions, so now all you need to decide is whether to go small and square with QX10, or postcard-sized with CP1300.
Is it worth it?
Easter is coming, the gateway to months of family catch-ups, holidays with friends, barbecues and festivals. Either of these portable Canon SELPHY printers will make your memories last longer. Loved ones, beware, I’ll be taking as many photos as ever but this year, I’m printing them off, too.
