Canon Selphy CP760 review

Canon's Selphy CP760 is a mini dye-sublimation photo printer.

A sheet of photo paper is drawn into the printer while a sheet of solid ink of the same size is rapidly heated, instantly becoming a gas before settling and solidifying on the page. The photo passes through the printer four times and the ink is applied in cyan, magenta and yellow layers, with a clear protective coat at the end. Dye-sub printers can produce smoother photos than many inkjets, as they completely cover the page in ink. Inkjets use closely positioned dots of ink to form an image, which can result in graininess.

Photos from the CP760 were typically smooth but their colours were rather dull - a common problem with compact dye-sub printers. Some pictures looked as if they had been taken in soft focus compared with the same photos printed on a high-resolution inkjet. Others were marred by coloured spots, possibly from dust in the printer.

Despite these flaws, photo quality was generally good, with unusually intense dark tones for a printer that combines three coloured inks to create black. A single photo printed from our PC took one minute 21 seconds. Photos printed directly from an SD card were quicker at one minute 15 seconds on average.

It was easy to print and preview photos directly from most memory card formats, thanks to a sharp 2in colour screen. Owners of Olympus and Fujifilm cameras should note that this printer doesn't support xD memory cards without a separate adaptor. There are only a handful of editing options, including red-eye removal and a few default colour- enhancement modes, but these limitations make it easier to print photos with a minimum of fuss.

The total price per 6x4in photo is fairly reasonable if you buy high-yield paper and ink packs. If you want to print panoramic photos or stickers, you'll have to buy different paper packs and, in some cases, different paper trays. We found Canon's 108-sheet KP-108IP 6x4in photo pack for £18, which produces a total print cost of just 16.6p per photo. This compares well with the costs of the larger photo printers in our Labs this month.

The Selphy CP760 is the cheapest dye-sub printer we've reviewed. Pictures were smooth and fine details in its photos stood up well to close examination, but prints from similarly priced inkjets are generally sharper and have brighter colours. It's a reasonable choice if you want fast family snapshots, but serious photo-printing enthusiasts should check out the winners of this month's Labs on page 128. If you only need to print 6x4in photos, opt for Epson's PictureMate 240 for its excellent picture quality and lower price.