The Canon Selphy photo printers line consists of small and portable printers that allow their user to snap and then produce photographs on the go. What differentiates the Selphy printers from similar products that bare the logo of another brand is that Canon designed them to appeal to families. The ‘vision’ would be the modern, happy family, going out on a sunny day for a picnic, snapping photographs of their smiley faces and then printing them out and admiring them.

To better fit in this ideal movie like scenario, most of the Selphies have friendly and enthusiastic designs. The CP780 is being offered in three colors and users will be able to choose between pink, blue and silver. A pretty good idea in the case of this printer,especially if you plan on taking it along with your digital camera often, is to buy the optional battery pack.

While the CP780 will work with a PC just fine, by simply attaching a USB cable to the printer and the computer then quickly installing the software than you can find in the box, it will also work PC-free. To print photos without a PC you’ll have to rely on two possible options. Either print directly from a memory card. The printer has three card slots that support CompactFlash, SD, MultiMedia Card and Memory Stick. It will also work with xD Picture cards and others, but you’ll be needing an adapter.

Another option is to print through PictBridge straight from your compatible digital camera. You’ll find a PictBridge port on the left side of the device. If you’re willing to spend an extra $50, you’ll be able to use yet another technology to print without a PC. A Bluetooth adapter will ensure that you can print from any compatible mobile phone.

Canon Selphy photo printers all use dye-sublimation technology. This means that the quality of the prints is generally higher and the photos are also guaranteed to last for a longer period of time. After the ink is transferred onto paper (the print head uses heat to turn solid ink into vapor) the printer finishes with a clear-coat layer that adds resistance and makes the photos waterproof.

However, dye-sublimation technology is also responsible for some of the bad parts of the CP780. It’s slow printing speed is one of them. Since the printer requires four passes its user will have to wait for about a minute and a half for a photo. Media sizes supported are 4 by 8 inch and 4 by 6 inch. The front-loading cassette offers a capacity of 54 sheets.

When you see this printer for sale you’ll be shocked by it’s extremely affordable price. Before you purchase it, do consider however that the technology it uses tends to be more costly on the long run and it does go through ink and paper relatively fast. But because of it’s ease of use and pretty good quality it still remains a top choice among portable photo printers.

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