Compare The Best Canon Photo PrintersJanuary 2020

Photo printers are a subsection of standard printers, specifically designed for printing photos taken from digital cameras. While most devices can still be used to print standard black & white documents, their real strength lies in their ability to print high-quality photos, posters and prints, with a colour depth and resolution far higher than most inkjet or laser printer. In this guide we will outline the main considerations when choosing a photo printer, allowing you to decide on the best model for your needs.

Cost

First up, cost. Photo printers are specialist peripherals, and the inks and components used are far higher quality than most other printers. Because of this, photo printers are generally far more expensive than a comparable inkjet or laser printer.

Therefore in order to get the best value for money from a photo printer, you should be using it frequently specifically to print photos. Otherwise, you may gain more value from buying a high-quality inkjet or colour laser jet printer (which can still print photos, just not at such a high resolution), and using the services of a copy shop or print kiosk if you want to print especially high-quality photos.

Resolution & Colour Depth

Photo printers are largely defined by the resolution and colour depth they are able to print at. Resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi) and governs how detailed the resulting print is, especially when photos are blown up to larger sizes than they were originally taken at. If the printer has a low supported resolution, then the prints may look blurry or out of focus, whereas extremely high resolution photos (for instance, those with a DPI of 3,000 and above) will continue to look sharp and full of detail even when blown up to poster-sized prints.

Colour depth is a measure of the colours the printer can produce - a higher colour depth means a greater visual fidelity between the print and the original photo.

With both of these attributes, higher values lead to a better overall print output. However they also usually come with increased price, so you should balance the quality you design from your prints against your budget. Most of our photo printers have a detailed breakdown of these attributes, allowing you to choose more intelligently.

Paper Sizes

The other defining factor of a photo printer is the supported print size. Some photo printers are the size of standard inkjet or laser printers, and can print up to A4 size. Others are much smaller, and can only print dedicated photo sizes (e.g - 4 x 6, 5 x 7 or 10 x 4 inches). These ‘small format’ photo printers are generally cheaper and more portable, but are incapable of printing large photos.

On the other end of the scale, some photo printers are much larger, and come with the ability to print at A3 scale or even larger. These printers usually come equipped with a very high resolution & graphical fidelity… and a price tag to match. These models will most likely only be of interest to professional photographers or serious hobbyists.

Connectivity

While most photo printers work via a USB connection with your computer, several more advanced models have increased connectivity options. These can include:

Canon Photo Printer Prices

Canon photo printers range in price from £22 to £1,060 and in total we found prices for 21 Canon photo printers. On average, a new Canon photo printer costs £250 and 80% of Canon photo printers are priced between £28 and £518. The cheapest Canon photo printer that we found is the Canon IP2850 at only £23, and the most expensive is the Canon Pro 9000 Mark II at £1,060.

Price Range of Canon Photo Printers

Canon photo printers range in price from £23 to £1,060, and the average price of Canon photo printers is £250 which is the third highest average price of all photo printer brands.

How Good Are Canon Photo Printers?

We have evaluated 876 expert reviews and 1,838 user reviews for photo printers and used this data to calculate an average rating for Canon photo printers of 85%. This makes Canon the best photo printer brand according to customer reviews.

How Fast Do Canon Photo Printer Prices Drop After Release?

Canon photo printers tend to depreciate faster than most photo printers. Most photo printers drop in price by 5% in the first 6 months after release. New Canon photo printers drop in price by an average of 6% in the first 6 months after they were first released.

A typical new Canon photo printer costs on average £244. By waiting 6 months before buying you could save on average £14.