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Print Quality Settings (6.00)
The menu on the HP Photosmart A626 compact photo printer provides three print quality settings—best, normal, and fast normal. The print quality settings listed in the driver include normal, best, and maximum dpi, which is an interpolated, or optimized, resolution. We never recommend using this setting since it doesn’t print the actual image; the printing software adds information to the image to make it appear sharper and richer.
There was slight, but perceptible differences between the prints created using these different quality settings.
Internal Editing (6.50)
Editing tools are very limited with the A626’s menu, allowing users to only crop, remove red-eye, or adjust the image brightness. The crop tool is particularly useful, however, as users can adjust the crop frame using their finger on the touch-screen.
The Draw option in the Get Creative menu allows users to use the included stylus to write or draw on the screen. Three line weights, six colors (black, white, red, green, blue, and purple), and either a pencil or an eraser can be chosen. This is a fun tool, and would be handy for creating personalized pictures or cards.
The Get Creative menu also allows users to add frames or create albums based on particular themes, such as Seasons, Kids, Daily Life, and Special Events. These are very simple and much less kitschy than those found on other printers.
The printer driver has more advanced editing options. Users can adjust brightness, saturation, and color tone, as well as color levels for each color and black, which is questionable in utility as the cartridge contains no black ink. All of these settings can be previewed on a stock image of colored pencils contained within the same window.
Dedicated B&W Settings / Effects (3.00)
Grayscale or monochrome printing is not possible directly from the printer menu, and the only option in the driver is a checkbox for printing in grayscale. No adjustments or monochrome effects are available.
Media Types (6.00)
Both HP Advanced Photo Paper and HP Premium Photo paper, in 4x6-inch, 4x6.5-inch, 4x8-inch photo card, 4x12-inch panorama, and 5x7-inch sizes, can be used. The printer also accepts other kinds of photo paper, which can be classified under Other Photo Paper in the paper quality preferences of the printer menu. However, HP recommends only using HP paper, of course, as the inks are designed to work with the paper. Results with other papers can be questionable unless the printer is profiled for those papers.
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