Miniature things have always delighted me. So imagine my incredible amusement at receiving the completely cute and compact HP Photosmart A626 Compact Photo printer. It’s smaller than a piece of paper, very light and has a sturdily built handle which makes traveling with it quite a breeze. But don’t let the small size fool you- this little printer can put out a beautiful picture with remarkable effeciency.

To test out the HP we took it with us to a friend’s wedding. I happened to be the 2nd photographer for the event so I had opportunity to take many pictures of her beautiful day. One of the really neat features of this small printer is not only can you attach it to your computer using a USB printer cable but you can actually remove the memory card from your camera and pop it right into the printer. We were able to print out some very vibrant images from the wedding and hand deliver that very evening. An unexpected and appreciated surprise that would be treasured by anyone at such a special event.

The Photosmart A626 has many unique built in features which are convenient in a multitude of ways. Its screen is large for such a compact printer and allows you to not only preview your image but also edit, crop, or even select graphic borders for printing. The included stylus allows you to write messages write on the screen that will be placed on the image for printing. The 4.8 inch screen even allows others to view the images as a slideshow, completely portable if you are using the rechargeable battery for operation. This printer would make the perfect companion for birthday parties as a fun and easy party favor to share pictures on the spot.

This printer is also an excellent match for another HP Product- their personalizeable photo books. The photo books are a scrapbookers dream, literally allowing you to create a beautiful digital scrapbook layout, add personalized items or journaling, and pop together into a very well made hard backed cover. I was surprised at how nicely the books work. There is no special binding or spiraling to figure out, you literally pull the front and back covers in reverse causing the bind to open up so you can just slip your pictures in. The formatting of the photo book allows you to not only create a fun and unique gift idea, but a keepsake that you can continue to update and change in time up to 25 pages.

HP has a ton of great resources available for use with their books with the included photo album software as well as on their album website with some really nice layouts which will give your albums a clean and professional look. The only issue we ran across was with using the Photosmart A626 Compact printer- the included introductory print cartridge did not supply the 10 images promised on its box, we instead got 3 or 4 before the light started to blink to be replaced. The standard ink cartridge has shown to provide many more pictures thus far so be forewarned in case your printer only comes with the intro cartridge make sure to get a full cartridge if you need more than just a couple of images.

The HP Photosmart A626 would be a welcome Christmas gift for anyone who loves taking or making pictures in your life. Be sure to check out this 20% discount on HP Photobooks and many stores are running holiday specials for this cute and fun little printer. We’ve used HP Photoprinters for the last 5 years or so with great success (both printers are still going strong) so I’m very happy to add the powerhouse Photosmart A626 to our HP printing arsenal.