Introduction

The Selphy CP1200 is a compact photo printer from Canon which is capable of printing up to postcard sized prints (6 x 4 inches).

It is a wireless printer which means you can print directly from your smartphone, or other devices which can connect to your home wi-fi network, such as your computer or camera.

There’s an option to have a rechargeable battery pack so that you can use the printer portably without having to plug it into a power point.

The Canon Selphy CP1200 retails for £99 / $99.

Ease of Use

The Canon Selphy CP1200 is very easy to set up and start using straight away. Before you start you’ll want to load the ink pack and paper packs, which are available to buy in various sizes - you just need to make sure that the ink pack matches the paper pack you’re using.

Making sure the ink sheet is taut - open the ink cover on the side of the printer, and slide the ink cartridge in  - it should be reasonably obvious which way it needs to be inserted.

The paper cassette is a little more complicated to setup, but once you’ve done it a couple of times you’ll get the hang of it. There are two covers which you need to open, and you can load in the sheets - it can only hold a maximum of 18 sheets, so be careful not to overload it. You  need to load the paper with the glossy side facing upwards. When the paper is inside, you close the inside cover, but open the outer cover - this means you can slot it into the front of the printer.

Now the Canon Selphy CP1200 is set up you can plug it in and switch it on, by holding down the power button on the top of the printer. There’s a small 2.7-inch LCD screen which you can lift to face forward. Sadly, the screen is not touch sensitive, which means that you need to use the buttons on the printer to move around the various options available.

It makes sense to set up the Wi-Fi connection straightaway so you can start printing wirelessly. Press the Menu button, and you’ll see the “Wi-Fi settings” options. Use the directional keys on top of the printer, then press OK. You will then be directed through the steps you need to connect the printer to your wireless network. It takes a couple of seconds to connect, but once it’s done you should be able to send images to it from other devices.

The Canon Selphy CP1200 is compatible with Apple AirPrint, among other services. So for example, if you have an image on your iPhone, you can send it directly to the printer to print so long as both of the devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

From sending the image to the printer to having your finished print takes around 90 seconds. It’s quite a spectacle to watch the printing take place, as it will print CMYK all separately. That means in practice, that the paper will be spat out with the yellow first, then sucked back in, then the magenta layer is applied, then the cyan layer, and then finally the black (k). When the printing has finished, the print will be ejected to rest on the paper tray.

As well as printing wirelessly, there are also other methods for getting your image to the Canon Selphy CP1200. There is a USB port on the side of the printer, and there’s also an SD card slot on the front of the printer. If you plug an SD card into the slot, an image will pop up on the printer’s screen. You can then use the directional buttons to scroll to the image that you want to print. Once you’ve found one, press the larger Print button on the top of the printer and the same process as when you’re using a wireless device will start. If you have an SD card in the printer, you won’t be able to print wirelessly - we’re not sure why, it just refuses to print.

If press the Edit button, you’ll be able to crop the image, which could be especially useful if you’re printing something which is not a 6 x 4 ratio and you want to decide for yourself how the crop will appear, rather than having the printer indiscriminately chop down the middle. By default the printer will just print one copy of any image you select, but you can ask it to print more than one by pressing the up directional key while the image you want to print is displayed on screen. Note if you want to print more than one photo from a wireless device, you’ll need to select that from the device you’re printing from.

Pressing the Menu button takes you to a host of other settings and options which you can change. If you have a memory card inserted, you can choose to print all images on it if you wish - this could be a good idea if you only put a select number on from your computer.

If you select Change Settings, you can choose from different printing finishes (Glossy, Pattern 1, Pattern 2, Pattern 3), choose whether to print with or without a border, switch image optimisation on or off, adjust brightness, colours, smooth skin, correct red-eye, add a date stamp, file number and a couple of other settings such as Auto Power Down.

An interesting option is to alter page layout. This allows you to print more than one photo onto a sheet, with up to 8 on one page - which is a fun option for creating a collage type effect.

Although the Canon Selphy CP1200 supports AirPrinting and Google Cloud Printing, you can also download the Canon Print app for free from the app store. Using this app you can select photos to print to send to the printer - it’s a very simple app that pretty much only has one function, but you can select number of copies and whether or not to include a border or not.

You can buy the ink and paper together as a package. The cost of 108 sheets is roughly £29 (including the ink), bringing the cost per print price down to roughly 27p - excluding the cost of the printer itself.

The 6x4 postcard paper has two strips on the side which you can fold over and tear off, but if you leave them on, the paper will stand up by itself on a flat surface.

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