Canon i960 Photo Printer

Canon i960 Photo Printer
by Canon

Our Price: $199.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: CE
See more product details

Customers in the UK, buy this product at amazon.co.uk for British Pounds

Digital Photo Product Details

Manufacturer: Canon
Model: 8538A001
Product features:

Up to 4,800 x 2,400 dpi resolution
Prints a 4-by-6-inch borderless photo in approximately 37 seconds
Bubble Jet Direct and PictBridge compatible for digital-camera printing
USB 2.0 interface; PC and Mac compatible
1-year warranty with Instant Exchange service

Accessories:

Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon i960 Photo Printer

Customer Review: Using Kodak With Canon & Dropping HP
Summary: 5 Stars

I bought the i960 right before the Canon Pixmas came out. If I had waited I may have bought the Pixma ip6000D...or I may not have. This printer has been tested and reviewed, and the consensus seems to be that it is one of the absolute best for printing 8x10s. And that is what I mostly print.

I had been printing my photos on an HP All-In-One printer that I had bought for scanning. It is not a photo printer, but it produced beautiful 8x10s. But a plastic piece came off one day, and it was downhill from there. The printer started making lines in the photos, and I decided it was time to get a dedicated photo printer. I was also thinking of getting one that had individual ink tanks, because I prints lots of nature shots, which means all the green causes a premature death to the $35 HP Tri-Color cartridge. And it's a waste of both money and material to have to toss out an ink cartridge that is not totally empty.

Yet, I still seriously considered getting the HP 7960, because I have always liked HP products. But then I read more than one review stating their 7960 made pizza cutter lines in the photos. HP knew about it, knew it was not serviceable, and yet expected the consumer to compensate for this designer flaw by using the most expensive HP photo paper, where the lines would be not so noticeable! I e-mailed HP and asked them why a consumer like me should even consider buying a new HP printer that made lines in the photos, when I was getting rid of a "broken" one that did the same thing. Their reply? Their reply was not EVERY HP7960 made lines in the photos! Wonderful! Maybe I'd be one of the lucky ones who got a "good" one! In my opinion, that is absolutely outrageous. HP lost a sell for sure there, and I'll probably never seriously consider buying an HP photo printer ever again.

Thus, I went with Canon. I had my reservations, though. The main one being the repeated advice in reviews that only Canon paper should be used with Canon copiers like this one. I had lots of Kodak Ultima, and I did not want to switch. The Kodak paper is slightly heavier than the Canon, and is cheaper than the Canon Photo Paper Pro. I discovered the Canon paper only advice is totally unfounded. I tested it by making many, many 8x10 copies of one photo, using Kodak Ultima and Canon Photo Paper Pro, as well as both Kodak EasyShare software and Canon Easy-Photo Print software. In my tests, the absolute best print in the tests were made on Kodak Ultima and using Kodak EasyShare software! I took the photos to work, and once again the Kodak prints were picked out as the best. No one involved in these tests was a professional photographer, mind you. But I doubt most professionals even buy printers under $200. :) If you have Kodak EasyShare software, just make sure you have the latest drivers and settings for the Canon i960, that has at least 5 paper choices, as well as the "One Touch" option. If your settings don't show this, you need to go to Kodak.com and get the new settings. Also, anyone who wants to use Kodak Ultima paper can download the EasyShare software for free from that site. It has drivers and settings for lots and lots of printers.

Next, I tested 4x6s. This printer comes with a really nifty Photo Paper Tray for Canon 4x6 paper. The Kodak 4x6 won't work with this tray, because it's slightly larger than the Canon paper. But you can still make 4x6s with Kodak Ultima by not using the tray. You also must use the Canon Easy-Photo Print software, because for some odd reason Kodak does not offer the choice of making a 4x6 on a 4x6 sheet of paper for this printer! You can put a 4x6 on a 5x7 sheet or an 8x10 sheet, but not on a 4x6 sheet. Very strange! Thus, I did a test with one photo printing it on Canon Photo Paper Pro using Canon software, on Kodak Ultima using the Photo Paper Pro setting, on Kodak paper using the Photo Paper Plus Glossy setting, and one on Kodak paper using just the Glossy Paper setting. Of the 4 prints, the Kodak one using the Glossy Paper setting was the best; the Kodak one using the Photo Paper Plus Glossy was a close second; the Canon one was third, because the photo subject's face was over-exposed, when that was not the case with the Kodak prints; and the Kodak print using the Photo Paper Pro setting was HORRID! Do not use the Photo Paper Pro setting with Kodak paper!

My other reservations that proved unfounded: 1) You have to install the print head, which HP users don't have to do. The print head turned out to be one big piece of plastic that I doubt any sober person could install incorrectly; it takes like 3 seconds to install it. Installing the ink cartridges was just as easy--just don't squeeze the sides after you take off the orange plastic piece. And talking about ink--I have made at least 25 8x10s, at least 10 4x6s, and at least 10 text pages...and the only ink tanks that have moved even a fraction of an inch down is the Photo Magenta and the Photo Cyan...they are about 2/3 of the way empty...which I don't consider bad for all those prints. And they only cost $11 a piece. That's much easier to work in a tight budget than two cartridges that cost $25 and $35 a piece, as my HP ones did. 2) There is an ink waste tank in Canon printers that need to be serviced by Canon if they get full. That's where ink goes after you clean your ink heads, when you need to do so. Who knows if the tank will fill up during your ownership of the printer? I'm not going to worry about it. 3) Canon prints don't last as long as HP and Epson...this apparently is "proven" that Canon prints made with Canon ink on Canon photo paper should last like 25 years before fading, compared to at least 75 years for HP and Epson. The only thing is the various companies question the testing methods used in all these tests. I personally am not going to worry about this sort of thing, because I put all my photos on CDs, and can make additional prints in the future, if I need to. But each person must decide for themselves if this is a major issue or not. 4) It takes the prints a long time to dry. Mine dry as fast as the HP ones, if not faster. And there actually is a photo drying option, where you can choose if you want your prints to dry fast or slow. The default setting is fast.

This printer reminds me a lot of my Kodak DX6490 camera...you can do all sorts of creative things with it, or you don't have to! It's your choice. You can use the more difficult pop-up box to choose printer settings, or just use the Easy-Photo Print software. The Easy-Photo Print is as easy as they come. Your entire picture library is there, including anything you may have just downloaded, and you just pick the picture, pick the paper format, and pick what type of paper you are using. The selection of print sizes and such is terrific. Unlike the EasyShare software...and I'm still using the EasyShare 3 because the 4 is proving impossible to download!:(...with the Canon software, you can put one borderless 5x7 on an 8x10 sheet at the top or bottom, and then use the arrows to turn it around, so you can use it as a greeting card.

Talking about greeting cards, I would highly recommend the Canon Matte 8x10 for that. It is super cheap, and super great, as long as you print on the right side! The back side has no printing on it, so you can use card software to put a message on that side. Canon has a website www.photoprintplanet.com with all sorts of photo projects, like greeting cards and envelopes and such. Of course, if you like glossy best, just use glossy photo paper, and insert a bond sheet with the message with double sided tape. You can buy greeting card envelopes from Office Depot or Staples, or you can make really colorful ones at Photo Print Planet.

Other nice things about this printer: 1) It's big and heavy as photo printers go; a sign of quality in my opinion 2) It has loads of great software that was really fast and simple to install, including "photo stitch", where you "stitch" various photos together to create a panoramic one 3) It has a roller cleaner! This is what you need to use, if like me, you accidently tell the printer it's making a print on a larger sheet of paper than what's actually in the printer. When you do this, ink gets on the rollers, which shows up on the back of future prints as black lines. The roller cleaner directions are in the "Quick Start Guide" and it works like a charm!

Like my camera, I really can't say enough nice things about this printer. It's a great printer for either a beginner or someone with lots of printing skills and experience.

Write your own review about Canon i960 Photo Printer

More Canon i960 Photo Printer reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Description of Canon i960 Photo Printer

hey will be in your house, after you take a look at the outstandingly detailed, professional quality photos produced by the Canon i960 printer. It's your choice whether you print from images on your computer or directly from your camera or camcorder's memory card--thanks to Bubble Jet Direct and PictBridge technologies. Either way, the vivid tones and smooth imaging of 4,800 x 2,400 dpi and 2-picoliter droplets will make your photos entirely suitable for framing.

Note: The Canon i960 is no longer being manufactured. You may want to consider purchasing the newer Canon Pixma iP5000 or Pixma iP6000d instead.

Will photo labs soon be a thing of the past? They will be in your house, after you take a look at the outstandingly detailed, professional quality photos produced by the Canon i960 printer. It's your choice whether you print from images on your computer or directly from your camera or camcorder's memory card--thanks to Bubble Jet Direct and PictBridge technologies. Either way, the vivid tones and smooth imaging of 4,800 x 2,400 dpi and 2-picoliter droplets will make your photos entirely suitable for framing. (4,800 x 2.400 dpi is the maximum possible resulution, with 4,800 x 1,200 dpi maximum along the edge of the page.)

This printer can connect directly to select digital cameras. Learn more about PictBridge.
Print sizes range from 4 by 6 up to 8.5 by 11 inches, with or without borders. The smaller size prints in just 37 seconds, while the larger is produced in just less than one minute (fast mode). Plus, you won't have to worry about wasted ink, thanks to the six individual tanks, designed so you only have to replace the specific color that's empty. Built to handle photo papers of a variety of weights and finishes, the i960 can also handle transparencies, plain or high-resolution paper, and envelopes. Canon provides a one-year warranty with Instant Exchange service.

What's in the Box
Canon i960 series photo printer, i960 series print head, power cord, BCI-6Bk ink tank, BCI-6PC ink tank, BCI-6PM ink tank, BCI-6C ink tank, BCI-6M ink tank, BCI-6Y ink tank, setup sheet, software CD-ROM; software includes printer driver, setup software, User's Guide, Quick Start Guide, PictBridge Instruction Sheet, Electronic User's Guide, Photo Application Guide, e-registration, Easy-PhotoPrint 2.0 and Easy-PhotoPrint Plus (Windows/Mac), PhotoRecord (Windows), ZoomBrowser EX (Windows), ImageBrowser (Mac), PhotoStitch (Windows/Mac), Easy-WebPrint (Windows, requires Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5, version 6.0 recommended); USB cable not included

Digital Cameras and Photo Categories