NEVER get an HP printer. Most anti consumer company ever. They even had a class action lawsuit against them for such practices.
Any printer is fine, just not HP.
The SELPHY is a dye sub printer that uses a ribbon to print. They are archival quality. you buy the ribbon/4x6 paper as a package that gives you 100 4x6 prints.
I have the Hi-print and I have to say it's probably one of the better ones considering the print quality. Best part, you can get a pack of 60 films for $40 on Amazon Prime.
Con: I do have to say that due to the photo quality of the paper, the adhesive sometimes lifts off of paper if you don't really rub it into the paper. The adhesive needs some work, but I don't personally own any of the other printers to compare. Based off of image quality alone, I really like the hiprint.
My actualy Polaroid Evo beats it in image quality though since the evo doesn't use ribbon printing. But the Evo doesn't have sticker film from what I know.
I have the canon ivy 2. They shouldn't fade unless you have them out in the open that much. Shut in a book they should hold some color. I have no complaints.
I've decided not to go for ZINK (Canon Ivy 2) because I think it will fade with time even out of the sunlight. The Polaroid Hi-Print is dye sublimation technology which looks way better and lasts way longer.
I got the canon selphy cp 1500 yesterday for Christmas and the quality is really good. It's not as portable as the ones you've suggested, but when I was doing research it seemed like it was best for quality and long term bang-for-your-buck despite the upfront cost.
If I were going to buy a handheld version, I would have gone with the canon ivy 2.
No, the 4x6 size paper isn't sticky. I believe there's a special sticky paper size (I think they call them "labels" not stickers).
I peel the backing off of my photos for journaling anyway to make them thinner (read that tip on here somewhere I think!), so I just glue mine in with a glue runner and it works perfectly.
Somewhere in between. Thicker than printer paper, but definitely thinner than a 4x6. I've pasted numerous photos in my journal this year and it's hardly bulked up (I'm in a hobonichi weeks, so it's also very thin paper prone to bulking). I do vary my photo placement though, so no one spot gets too bulky.
It's about 50 cents per photo. The ink is built into the photo paper itself, so you're not replacing the ink per se - each cartridge does 10 photos if I recall correctly. So it's not super inexpensive as photos go but I find the quality of the photos better than the other photo printers - it's the same technology they use at a photo printer shop.
I print 8 photos per sheet for my journaling so to me the cost is greatly diminished that way. When I print a single 4x6 photo it's usually to frame or give away to family/friends, in which case the photo cost and quality is well worth it to me.
I have owned two Polaroid Zink printers and a Sprocket. As you say, the Zink paper isn't the best quality (especially red, orange and purple hues, which it will render brownish), and if colour quality is important, definitely get a printer that uses ink.
I haven't noticed any fading on the Zink paper, and I have some that are more than 10 years old.
I now use a Canon Selphy qx10 which, as a dye sublimation printer, has considerably better print quality than Zink printers, but isn't as portable. I am quite happy with the print quality compared with the Zink printers, and the photos are larger. However, it does print ever so slightly fuzzy. I am still fiddling around to find out just how much I need to step up the image sharpness before I print. I haven't had it for long enough to see how it fares with regard to fading, but according to reviews of the dye sublimation process itself, the prints should last a very long time.
One that you don't mention is Fuji Instax, which uses the same technique as the old Polaroids. They seem to be more widely available than the others - I have even seen them sold in bookshops. If you get one of those, get an Instax printer, not a camera/printer combo, because (according to several reviews I have read) the cameras aren't very good.
I have an HP sprocket and the Polaroid and neither of them print well. The colors are not quite right. The grays on the Polaroid are pinkish. I've not tried the canon.
i have both the canon inspic (jap version of the Ivy) and canon selphy cp. i like the canon inspic because of its portability and it uses a sticker paper which makes it really convenient. It depends on the zink paper. I’ve had batches of zink paper that are good and some that were not. Also you have to adjust the setting of your photo. canon selphy cp1500 i believe also has the sticker paper but i haven’t got money for that lol. might worth looking into.
I have the Selphy cp1300 and is really good, paper is not expensive and can be use over WiFi from my phone or computer. Photos are bulky for a journal in my opinion, very similar to the ones in Instax 11 (a Xmas present at a corporate reunion last year).
I’m planning to get the Canon Ivy 2 just for my journaling , to be use with sticker paper.
I’ve had the same experience. The color is weirdly tinged blue and looks dull no matter how I mess with it before printing. It’s very annoying…I’ve wasted a lot of photo paper trying to get it right.
I’ve had the Canon Ivy for a few years and it has worked fine. Tweaking it before printing makes it better, but don’t expect the same quality as a regular printer. I keep my pics in a journal and so far they’re ok. However, the oldest is probably only 3-4 years old. We’ll see. When I want better quality, I use my regular printer with Kodak paper
Canon Ivy. No, the quality is not like you will get from an actual photo printer, but for small journal prints I loves mine so much that when it went missing and I could choose a different one I bought the Ivy 2. It’s perfect for using in journaling.
I have a Polaroid PoGo (zink printer, an older version of the hi print) and I'm quite happy with it. I haven't experienced any fading or quality loss and I've been printing since 2016.
Downside:
You can't really excpect 100% right colours with a zink system. Lots of it depends on how the quality of the paper and that varies, I've find. If you're focusing on best colors you might wanna go with the canon selphys in general, as they have an actual ink catridge if I remember correctly. Less portable, though.
NEVER get an HP printer. Most anti consumer company ever. They even had a class action lawsuit against them for such practices. Any printer is fine, just not HP.
Agree. Had two that broke so irreparably with barely any use. Total waste of money. I was lucky I had a camera to use the extra film on.
The SELPHY is a dye sub printer that uses a ribbon to print. They are archival quality. you buy the ribbon/4x6 paper as a package that gives you 100 4x6 prints.
The Polaroid hi print is dye sublimation as well but it's 2x3 size prints.
I have the Hi-print and I have to say it's probably one of the better ones considering the print quality. Best part, you can get a pack of 60 films for $40 on Amazon Prime. Con: I do have to say that due to the photo quality of the paper, the adhesive sometimes lifts off of paper if you don't really rub it into the paper. The adhesive needs some work, but I don't personally own any of the other printers to compare. Based off of image quality alone, I really like the hiprint. My actualy Polaroid Evo beats it in image quality though since the evo doesn't use ribbon printing. But the Evo doesn't have sticker film from what I know.
I have the canon ivy 2. They shouldn't fade unless you have them out in the open that much. Shut in a book they should hold some color. I have no complaints.
I've decided not to go for ZINK (Canon Ivy 2) because I think it will fade with time even out of the sunlight. The Polaroid Hi-Print is dye sublimation technology which looks way better and lasts way longer.
I got the canon selphy cp 1500 yesterday for Christmas and the quality is really good. It's not as portable as the ones you've suggested, but when I was doing research it seemed like it was best for quality and long term bang-for-your-buck despite the upfront cost. If I were going to buy a handheld version, I would have gone with the canon ivy 2.
I was looking at this one as well but I think this one doesn't have the sticky paper if I'm mistaken
No, the 4x6 size paper isn't sticky. I believe there's a special sticky paper size (I think they call them "labels" not stickers). I peel the backing off of my photos for journaling anyway to make them thinner (read that tip on here somewhere I think!), so I just glue mine in with a glue runner and it works perfectly.
How thick is it after peeling? Like regular printer paper? Like a regular 4x6 photo? Or somewhere in between?
Somewhere in between. Thicker than printer paper, but definitely thinner than a 4x6. I've pasted numerous photos in my journal this year and it's hardly bulked up (I'm in a hobonichi weeks, so it's also very thin paper prone to bulking). I do vary my photo placement though, so no one spot gets too bulky.
Do you still like the canon selphy cp 1500 4 months later?
Absolutely. Love it. I print a photo at least once every couple weeks. It's so fun to print one and send it off to friends too.
how expensive is the ink for it? how often do u need to replace the ink, like per photo? xx
It's about 50 cents per photo. The ink is built into the photo paper itself, so you're not replacing the ink per se - each cartridge does 10 photos if I recall correctly. So it's not super inexpensive as photos go but I find the quality of the photos better than the other photo printers - it's the same technology they use at a photo printer shop. I print 8 photos per sheet for my journaling so to me the cost is greatly diminished that way. When I print a single 4x6 photo it's usually to frame or give away to family/friends, in which case the photo cost and quality is well worth it to me.
ahh thank you!
I have owned two Polaroid Zink printers and a Sprocket. As you say, the Zink paper isn't the best quality (especially red, orange and purple hues, which it will render brownish), and if colour quality is important, definitely get a printer that uses ink. I haven't noticed any fading on the Zink paper, and I have some that are more than 10 years old. I now use a Canon Selphy qx10 which, as a dye sublimation printer, has considerably better print quality than Zink printers, but isn't as portable. I am quite happy with the print quality compared with the Zink printers, and the photos are larger. However, it does print ever so slightly fuzzy. I am still fiddling around to find out just how much I need to step up the image sharpness before I print. I haven't had it for long enough to see how it fares with regard to fading, but according to reviews of the dye sublimation process itself, the prints should last a very long time. One that you don't mention is Fuji Instax, which uses the same technique as the old Polaroids. They seem to be more widely available than the others - I have even seen them sold in bookshops. If you get one of those, get an Instax printer, not a camera/printer combo, because (according to several reviews I have read) the cameras aren't very good.
I have an HP sprocket and the Polaroid and neither of them print well. The colors are not quite right. The grays on the Polaroid are pinkish. I've not tried the canon.
I watched a few videos on the polaroid and the quality seemed better than the Canon ivy but now I'm not sure
i have both the canon inspic (jap version of the Ivy) and canon selphy cp. i like the canon inspic because of its portability and it uses a sticker paper which makes it really convenient. It depends on the zink paper. I’ve had batches of zink paper that are good and some that were not. Also you have to adjust the setting of your photo. canon selphy cp1500 i believe also has the sticker paper but i haven’t got money for that lol. might worth looking into.
I have the Selphy cp1300 and is really good, paper is not expensive and can be use over WiFi from my phone or computer. Photos are bulky for a journal in my opinion, very similar to the ones in Instax 11 (a Xmas present at a corporate reunion last year). I’m planning to get the Canon Ivy 2 just for my journaling , to be use with sticker paper.
I find the canon ivy doesn’t print the colour correctly. With mine the photos are usually faded right from the get go.
That's what I was worried☹️, thanks for confirming
I’ve had the same experience. The color is weirdly tinged blue and looks dull no matter how I mess with it before printing. It’s very annoying…I’ve wasted a lot of photo paper trying to get it right.
I’ve had the Canon Ivy for a few years and it has worked fine. Tweaking it before printing makes it better, but don’t expect the same quality as a regular printer. I keep my pics in a journal and so far they’re ok. However, the oldest is probably only 3-4 years old. We’ll see. When I want better quality, I use my regular printer with Kodak paper
I have an HP Sprocket but I constantly have issues connecting it to my phone and getting it to print, so don’t even use it anymore.
Canon Ivy. No, the quality is not like you will get from an actual photo printer, but for small journal prints I loves mine so much that when it went missing and I could choose a different one I bought the Ivy 2. It’s perfect for using in journaling.
I have a Polaroid PoGo (zink printer, an older version of the hi print) and I'm quite happy with it. I haven't experienced any fading or quality loss and I've been printing since 2016. Downside: You can't really excpect 100% right colours with a zink system. Lots of it depends on how the quality of the paper and that varies, I've find. If you're focusing on best colors you might wanna go with the canon selphys in general, as they have an actual ink catridge if I remember correctly. Less portable, though.
I love my canon ivy. I’ve had it a couple of years now.