They're definitely far from perfect, but the colors were balanced evenly and our subjects' faces appeared to contain an even amount of cyan and magenta, a task that's difficult for most lower-end photo printers to achieve. We were also impressed with the 4圆 photos we printed on Canon's semigloss paper. Most importantly, we found these results to be accurate over the cartridges' entire life cycle. In all cases, the photos produced vivid colors and text that popped from the page. We repeated our tests in three iterations, and these imperfections were consistent but will likely be unnoticeable unless you have a sharp eye for print quality. The color graphics test came out solid and evenly distributed, but there were certain portions of our graphics document that came out with a slightly neutral color, specifically in areas with gradual color gradients. The characters formed precise, crisp edges with no visible blurriness and minimal misshapes in 8x loupe magnification. It printed text onto 20-pound generic office paper with dense, well-saturated ink. The Canon also performed surprisingly well in our quality tests. Annoying, but certainly not a deal-breaker. The arm doesn't have a cap at the end, which was counterproductive, and a few of our test sheets flew off the tray as a result. The output tray folds down from the face of the printer with a slightly flimsy rectangular arm that extends to corral loose paper.
The output and paper trays both fold into the unit when not in use, creating a tight box that could easily be mistaken for a stereo boom box. Smudges aside, the iP2600 doesn't take up a lot of desk space, and it blended in nicely with the rest of our dark peripherals. The shiny body retains fingerprints, a lot like the display on the iPhone. The sleek exterior is 5.6x17.4x10 inches and has a glossy black, slightly mirrored finish that looks sleek on your desk-that is, until the dust settles, literally. It's obvious that Canon put a lot of work into the design of the iP2600. We wish it had external ports for direct image uploading (although we're not surprised it doesn't), but you'll be more than satisfied with this printer's ability to deliver quality photos at a low price. The Canon Pixma iP2600 is an excellent option for buyers looking to print their personal photos and text documents.