Canon SELPHY CP1500 · UK and US / Decision guide
SELPHY CP1500 smaller prints: L-size adapter or card-size cassette?
For L-size paper, Canon specifies the L-size adapter in the paper cassette. For card-size paper and the listed card-size label sets, it specifies the separate PCC-CP400 cassette. They are not two names for the same accessory. Choose the finished item first, then match its ink/paper set and cassette before buying.
If you only want smaller ordinary photos and already have supported postcard stock, the CP1500 also offers a documented two-up printing route. That may avoid buying another cassette, but it does not turn ordinary photo paper into adhesive labels.
This guide uses Canon's CP1500 documentation. We have not tested print quality, third-party adapters or regional bundles.
Choose paper size, label type or image layout
Three different choices often get mixed together:
- Paper size is the physical stock the printer feeds.
- Label type determines whether the printed output is an adhesive label and how that label sheet is divided.
- Image layout controls how photos are arranged on supported stock.
Start by describing what you want to hold when you finish: an L-size photograph, a small card-size photo, one square sticker, several small stickers, or two small photographs cut from a larger sheet. “Smaller than postcard” does not identify all the supplies needed.
Match the named Canon set to its accessory
Canon's CP1500 ink-and-paper table gives the key matches:
- KL-36IP: L-size ink/paper set; use the L-size adapter.
- KC-36IP: card-size ink/paper set; use PCC-CP400.
- KC-18IF: full-page label set; use PCC-CP400.
- KC-18IL: eight-label sheet set; use PCC-CP400.
- KC-18IS: square-label set; use PCC-CP400.
These names are compatibility examples, not a claim that every set is currently sold in every country. Canon explicitly says accessory availability varies by region. Its table also excludes supplies for SELPHY ES, QX10, QX20 and iNSPiC from CP1500 compatibility. The shared Canon or SELPHY branding is not enough.
An L-size request therefore does not lead automatically to PCC-CP400. Conversely, buying L-size paper will not supply the adhesive backing or shape of a card-size label set.
Check what is actually in your box
Before ordering anything, inspect the cassette and the bundle's contents list. Do not assume that an accessory shown in another country's unboxing video came with your printer.
Canon's loading instructions explicitly note that the L-size adapter is not supplied in some countries or regions. They also tell owners to remove that adapter when loading postcard paper, if it is fitted. This explains why one owner can switch formats using an included piece while another cannot find that piece at all.
For an unidentified cassette, use the printed part designation and the exact regional documentation. If the required adapter is absent, ask Canon about the correct accessory for your existing cassette. Do not force L-size sheets into an unsuitable arrangement or buy an undocumented insert because its photograph looks plausible.
The US PCC-CP400 product page is explicitly a card-size cassette listing. That is useful identification evidence, not proof of UK stock, delivery eligibility or the contents of your printer bundle.
Two small photos without another cassette
If your goal is two ordinary small photographs rather than stickers, check the CP1500's 2-up fixed size print function. Canon documents it under More print options for images on a memory card or USB flash drive: two approximately card-size images share one supported L-size or postcard-size sheet, with corner cut marks for trimming afterward. Canon's two-up instructions.
That gives an owner who already has compatible postcard supplies a different choice from buying card stock and its cassette. Use the preview to check the composition before printing. The documented route here is the printer's own menu; it is not a promise that every version of a phone app exposes identical controls.
Printing a small image on a larger sheet is also not the same as feeding a small sheet. Do not cut blank paper down before loading it. Follow Canon's preparation instructions for the stock as supplied, then trim the completed two-up print as directed.
Smaller does not automatically mean cheaper
Compare the cost of the outcome, not just the area of paper. Your first usable small-format print may require a cassette or adapter as well as a matched ink/paper set. Shipping can matter when a format is difficult to find locally.
For your own comparison, record:
- Any accessory you still need, priced once.
- The delivered cost of the exact matched consumable set.
- How many finished items that set produces in your chosen layout.
- Whether the result actually has the size and adhesive backing you need.
Keep sheets and finished labels separate in that calculation. A multi-label sheet is not the same purchase unit as one full-page label. Do not assume you can reuse a partially printed sheet: Canon's loading guidance prohibits reusing paper, including printing again on blank areas.
This is a comparison method, not a savings forecast. It may favour supplies you already own, or it may show that the correct adhesive-label set is worth the extra purchase for your task.
Before you order
Put the exact consumable code and the required cassette or adapter in the same note. Check your regional seller's contents, availability and delivered price, rather than importing another market's bundle assumptions.
If you want L-size photos, resolve the L adapter first. If you want card-size photos or Canon's listed card labels, resolve PCC-CP400 and the matching set. If you only need smaller ordinary pictures, consider the documented two-up route before adding hardware. Those are three different paths to a small print, not interchangeable shopping lists.