Matte Paper Color Pictures: Suggestions?

[JB Rasor]

Hello Everyone,

It’s been a while since I’ve sought advice on paper choices, but I wanted to get a little feedback from you guys.

In a week or so I’m printing a documentary series to hang in my school’s gallery space. The series is in color mostly, a few black and white, quite a few portraits of varying skin tone but, overall, many vibrant colors. I tend to desaturate the files a touch so that saturation isn’t overwhelming. I’m using the Epson 9900 by the way.

My initial thought was to print on Canson Baryta Photographique (and that may still be my decision depending) but now I’m considering a nice matte paper. The prints will range in size from 13x19 smallest, to 20x30 largest. I love the idea of a nice matte paper that is floating in the frame.

However, my experience with matte paper and color printing is rather dodgy. The Canson Infinity matte papers I haven’t spent a lot of time with, but I never particularly cared for them. Museo makes a nice paper, Silver Rag, which I may experiment with. Does anyone have some go to’s that they love? Most important to me is gamut and detail, but I’m always flexible. Let me know guys. Have a great week!!

Best regards,
JB Rasor
     

[Jager]

There are some wonderful matte papers out there today, but if your previous experiences were less than happy, I'm not sure anything has changed that's going to shift that view.  Matte papers still exhibit less detail, gamut, and saturation than their glossy brethren. 

The other interesting thing you might run into is that you're printing a series.  Which means, assuming you wish to be consistent with your paper choice - generally a good thing - you need to consider how every single image responds to your paper choice.  You might find that most of your pictures work really well, but not all of them.

That all said, I think Epson Hot Press Natural (or Hot Press Bright, if you want a cooler, whiter paper) will probably give as much detail and color vibrancy as any of the matte offerings out there.  Very nice papers. 

BTW, Museo Silver Rag is a luster/glossy type paper, not matte.  Good luck with the exhibit!