|
Controls / Buttons / Dials (7.50)
Actual buttons on the HP Photosmart A626 are few, but that’s because the handy touch-screen provides most of the icons that serve as controls. The only real button is the power button, which lights blue when the printer is on.
When a memory card with images is inserted in the appropriate slot, a thumbnail display appears in the LCD screen, with two icons in the black area on either side —on the top left can be seen the menu icon and on the bottom right is the printer icon. When a single image is selected, three more touch buttons are added. The Back arrow icon on the bottom left is used for escaping back from the current screen. On either side of the LCD display in the center are the forward and back arrows, allowing users to scroll through the images on the card or camera.
When a photo is selected from the thumbnails that appear after a card is inserted, two additional icons appear on the screen superimposed over the image. A simple circle indicates selection, and a check mark appears when this is touched. The other icon displays two rectangles and an arrow, which indicate a change in orientation. This is the rotate icon, and images can be rotated in 90-degree increments. When a task has been selected, an "X" button will appear in the top right in case the user needs to cancel the current operation.
All of these buttons are very sensitive, responding readily to pressure, either from a finger, the recommended method, or the included stylus.
Menus (8.00)
HP did a very good job of laying out the menu on the A626. The touch-screen makes it easy to navigate the menu, and it gives you plenty of options for adjusting the layout, quality, colorspace, and other selections for printing. Some basic editing options include brightness adjustment, cropping, and red-eye removal. The Help menu displays information about the pertinent features of the A626, describing specific tasks and how to find information about certain tools or functions.
The Edit Menu and the Get Creative menu are accessed when an image has been selected. Two touch buttons appear beneath the image. The Edit Menu provides cropping options, for which a box appears over the image. Users can then use two zoom buttons to change the size of the crop box, and they can move the box with their finger to select the preferred location.
The Get Creative menu displays several options for each category (shown below in the Menu table), including, for example, Everyday, Family, and Pets in the Daily Life album category. The Captions option brings up a keyboard which can then be manipulated with the stylus to add a caption to an image.
HP Photosmart A626 Compact Photo Printer Menu
|
Menu Item
|
Sub-Menu Item
|
Description
|
|
Specialty Printing Projects
|
Panoramic Photos
|
Printing panoramic photos w/ 4x12 paper
|
|
|
Photo Stickers
|
|
|
|
Passport Photos
|
|
|
|
CD/DVD Tattoos
|
Printing a CD/DVD label with your images
|
|
|
|
|
|
Print Options
|
Print All
|
|
|
|
Print Index Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Slideshow
|
Start Slideshow
|
|
|
|
Slideshow Settings
|
Loop, Duration Between Images, Random
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tools
|
Bluetooth
|
Only enabled with device installation
|
|
|
HP Photosmart Share
|
Send images to a connected computer
|
|
|
Test & Sample Pages
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cartridge
|
Align Cartridge
|
|
|
|
Clean Cartridge
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Help Menu
|
Photo Printing Tips
|
Print a photo, Print and browse, Select a photo, Print cartridge, Loading photo paper, Supported paper sizes, Storing photo paper
|
|
|
Printer features
|
Using the touchscreen, Using the stylus, Quick Touch Frame buttons, 1-up view buttons, Printer menu, Printer status bar, Indicator lights
|
|
|
Print from imaging devices
|
Memory card, PictBridge camera, USB flash drive
|
|
|
Get Creative projects
|
|
|
|
Specialty printing projects
|
|
|
|
Troubleshooting
|
Clear a paper jam, Paper does not feed correctly, Clean print cartridge, Align print cartridge, Print quality is poor,
|
|
|
Getting Assistance
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Preferences
|
Sound
|
|
|
|
Reset Help Tips
|
|
|
|
Photo fix
|
On or off
|
|
|
Paper Type
|
HP Advanced, HP Premium, Other
|
|
|
Print Quality
|
Best, Normal, Fast Normal
|
|
|
Date/Time
|
|
|
|
Choose Colorspace
|
sRGB, Adobe RGB, Auto Select
|
|
|
Borderless
|
|
|
|
Demo Mode
|
|
|
|
Restore
|
Restore original factory preferences
|
|
|
Language
|
12 languages
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edit Photo
|
Crop
|
|
|
|
Remove Red-eye
|
|
|
|
Photo Brightness
|
Slider bar with 7 levels
|
|
|
|
|
|
Get Creative
|
Frames
|
Seasons, Kids, Daily Life, Special Events
|
|
|
Caption
|
|
|
|
Albums
|
Seasons, Kids, Daily Life, Special Events
|
|
|
Draw
|
|
|
|
|
|
Size / Footprint (7.51)
The A6262 is a small printer, at 10 x 8 x 7.8 inches, and its score reflected that, with the only printers scoring better being the dye sublimation compact models, which always score well. The A626 did score a tad lower than its cousin, the A440 printer dock, but the addition of the large LCD screen is mostly responsible for this difference.
The printer’s low weight, at 3.4 pounds, also helps its score considerably, weighing only more than the other inkjet printers, such as the Epson Snap and the Canon mini320, which both weigh 5.4 pounds.
|
