Key Takeaways
Canon Ivy 2 simply prints small, sticky again pictures and round stickers from a smartphone utilizing Zink expertise.
Ivy 2 provides simple setup, seamless connectivity by way of Bluetooth, and borderless, sturdy prints on Zink paper.
Regardless of shade discrepancies and a restricted battery lifetime of 20 prints, Canon Ivy 2 is a conveyable choice for enjoyable, sticky-back collectibles.
The digital camera’s transition from movie to digital meant that pictures not wanted to be printed on paper to exist. However, pictures ought to exist in additional than simply pixels. That is why I’ve began attempting out moveable smartphone printers, compact units that spit out prints on-site with out the wait. The Canon Ivy 2 is not only a photograph printer you could take with you, however spits out sticky-back pictures you could stick virtually wherever.
Cell picture printers are not exhausting to search out. Nonetheless, the Canon Ivy 2 differentiates itself with cartridge-free Zink printing, a seamless setup, and the choice to print borderless business-card-sized prints or round stickers. However as an expert photographer, I am choosy about my prints. So how does the Ivy 2 maintain as much as scrutiny?
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Specs, worth and availability
The Canon Ivy 2 was introduced within the fall of 2022, with a listing worth of $99. The moveable printer makes use of Bluetooth to wirelessly print pictures from an iPhone or Android gadget. The Ivy 2 makes use of Zink expertise, which embeds dye crystals into picture paper, eliminating the necessity to purchase or load ink cartridges. Paper for the printer ranges in value from about $30 for 50 sheets to $15 for 20 sheets of circle pre-cut stickers (40 stickers complete).
What I like concerning the Canon Ivy 2
The printer is easy to make use of
The Canon Ivy 2 is a conveyable picture printer sufficiently small to tuck into a handbag and even an oversize jacket pocket. Measuring about 4.7 inches lengthy, it is thicker however shorter than a typical smartphone.
The Ivy takes little or no setup earlier than the gadget is able to print. After charging and downloading the app, the printer linked to my iPhone utilizing Bluetooth in only a few seconds, with none of the connectivity confusion that wi-fi printers typically deliver. The on-screen directions then walked me by way of loading paper, which merely concerned opening the pack and loading your complete stack with the blue calibration sheet face down. The Ivy 2 holds as much as 10 sheets at a time.
The Canon Mini Print app is almost simply so simple as the printer itself. The house display is populated with shortcuts for printing a borderless picture, or working with collages, pre-cut stickers, graphic layouts, and even utilizing the printer as a label maker. Earlier than making a print, you should utilize a number of the easy built-in instruments to crop, add filters, make minor changes, or add stickers and textual content. From there, it’s a easy matter of tapping the print icon.
One of many causes that the Ivy 2 is so compact is that it would not want ink cartridges. As an alternative, it makes use of Zink paper. Zink paper makes use of embedded ink crystals, that are activated by warmth throughout the printing course of. The result’s a water resistant, tear-resistant picture. The Canon Ivy 2 makes use of 2×3 inch paper for enterprise card prints. The again will also be peeled away to show the picture right into a sticker. Or, the Ivy 2 can also be suitable with pre-cut round sticker paper, which prints two circle photos on one sheet.
The sticky-back design and hard-to-destroy nature of the Zink paper is likely one of the largest causes to decide on the Ivy over a printer that makes use of a special course of. The sticky again makes prints enjoyable to embellish with. I even caught some circle stickers on my cellphone case. After all, there are sensible makes use of as effectively, just like the app’s label designs for duties like labeling all of your children’ college objects.
One other key function is that the Canon Ivy 2 is able to spitting out borderless prints, a function that differentiates the printer from choices just like the Fujifilm Instax Mini Hyperlink 3, which makes use of a bordered immediate movie as an alternative of paper.
The price of Zink substitute paper is one other key spotlight. A pack of fifty sheets sells for about $30, making the price round 60 cents a sheet. By comparability, Fujifilm’s immediate movie printers sometimes value between 90 cents and $1.50 per picture.
What I did not like concerning the Canon Ivy 2
Shade outcomes can fluctuate and battery life is low
As a photographer, one in all my largest struggles is that colours on a photograph fluctuate from display to display, in addition to from printer to printer. The Canon Ivy 2 isn’t any completely different. The prints had a bent to be barely extra saturated and, at instances, a bit darker than the digital file. Gradations and transitions from one shade to a different additionally weren’t fairly as easy, at instances showing textured or noisy when the unique file contained little noise. At instances, the perimeters of the picture or sticker do not fairly line up with the preview on the app, so leaving some wiggle room on the perimeters is important.
That is all par for the course on a printer that matches in your pocket, nonetheless, and whereas the print high quality assorted a bit from the display, the picture high quality was nonetheless acceptable. Printers that solely print a three-inch picture aren’t going to be very detailed by nature. Textual content printed on the pictures ought to be stored pretty massive and in a easy font for the very best quality. I’d nonetheless readily use the pictures the Ivy 2 spat out for handing out to pals, scrapbooking, label making, or hanging on the fridge.
As a result of the Ivy 2 makes use of warmth to activate the ink crystals embedded within the paper, the battery life on the printer is short-lived. The specs listing the battery life at 20 prints and, certain sufficient, after 15 photos, the remaining juice was hovering round 30 %. The battery life is nice sufficient for handing out a couple of prints to pals, however when you’re planning a marathon scrapbooking session, you may wish to pack a charger. Fortunately, the Ivy 2 makes use of an ordinary USB-C cable to recharge.
Whereas I beloved the simplicity of the Canon Mini Print app, at instances I discovered the app a bit too easy. I’d have beloved it if the display may listing the variety of pages remaining, as there isn’t any type of indication on the printer or the app what number of pages stay inside. I additionally discovered the app’s built-in digital camera mode too easy — I received higher outcomes once I used my iPhone’s native digital camera app, after which imported the picture from my digital camera roll.
Is the Canon Ivy 2 price it?
Purchase it for the sturdy sticker prints
The Canon Ivy 2 is a succesful moveable picture printer supreme for handing out prints to pals, scrapbooking, or adorning your gear with customized picture stickers. The Zink expertise signifies that the printer is able to not simply borderless prints, however sticky-back photos which can be exhausting to wreck. Few mini printers can print in a couple of dimension, however the Ivy 2 can create business-card-sized prints or round stickers relying on the paper you purchase. All that can also be wrapped up in tech that is exceptionally simple to make use of.
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Is the Canon Ivy 2 my new favourite picture printer? My favourite continues to be the Instax Mini Hyperlink 3 which converts digital photos to immediate movie, however that is primarily a private alternative motivated by my love for the movie’s colours and nostalgia. If neither nostalgia nor retro colours are excessive in your precedence listing, the borderless, hard-to-destroy, reasonably priced prints will probably make the Canon Ivy 2 a best choice. It is a wonderful gadget for crafters in addition to anybody who needs to print (and stick) pictures proper from a smartphone.