Esthetics of paper choice

[deliberate1]

I am curious to know what esthetic considerations you mull over before settling on a paper choice for a particular image. Paper tone, texture, coated vs matte, hand, etc. I have been a sometime printer with a 10 year old Epson 7800 that has served me very well over the years. To this point I have dabbled little in the bewildering array of papers now available. Mostly I have been working through a stash of Harmon Gloss FB, and Epson Ultra Smooth Fine Art when I have the MK loaded. Personally, I love the non-reflective look of matte paper, but miss the depth of a coated paper.
To explore options that might combine best of both, I picked up a sample pack of glossy papers from Hahnemuhle. Very interesting papers, especially coated canvas. None comes close to the reflectivity of the Harmon FB. All might be regarded as semi-gloss by comparison. Though I have a roll Epson Semi Gloss, and shine is virtually identical to  Harmon.
By look and feel, I like the Hahnemuhle Fine Art, Pearl Rag and Baryta FB. I tend towards the whiter and flatter papers. Will download
the profiles and will fire up printer.
So please do share what factors you consider when choosing what paper to use for a particular image.
Thanks

[stockjock]

I think you have nailed the most fundamental difference.  Gloss papers provide a bigger gamut and more of that 3D look but at the expense of glare and gloss differential.  A paper like the Canson Rag Photographique comes close to the gamut of the Platine but still loses some "punch" with certain images.  Personally, I print most images on Canson Platine but if I think the gloss differential will be disturbing I'll choose the Canson Rag Photographique.  One other factor that isn't relevant to my style are the textured papers.  Papers like the Canson Edition Etching or Canson PrintMaKing Rag (BFK Rives) provide a textured matte surface that seems to work well with B&W, portraits or dreamy landscapes.  I wouldn't get terribly hung up on the huge range of paper choices.  Since you are printing with an Epson printer I think you would be happy with any of the Epson Legacy papers.  The consensus seems to be these are rebranded Canson papers and, assuming that is true, all of them are excellent papers and the pricing right now is very favorable.  I love the hand feel of the Platine and its lower gloss differential versus the plasticy feeling of the Baryta but both are great papers.  My biggest dissatisfaction with the Platine is the coating is very brittle and you will run into problems if you have to trim the paper into the image to mount it.  Some on here seem to prefer the Hahnemühle papers but I can't justify the additional cost and I have no idea if there is any real improvement in quality.

[unesco]

I have just tested two dozens types of matt and photo papers with my 3880 (75% B&W, 25% color). My conclusions are as follows.

For B&W photography I have four favorites for PK:
- Harman Gloss Baryta Warmtone (due to very warm tint BW pictures look magnificent printed with QTR, especially landscapes with thousands of shades and details)
- Ilford Gold Fibre Gloss (exceptional contrast, all kind of purposes)
- Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta
- Tecco Baryt 270 (wonderful for contrast BW portraits)
different surfaces, different feel and Dmax, but all exceptional.

For MK, B&W and Color:
- Epson Hot Press (all kind of pictures, both BW and color, studio with smooth background and detailled landscapes)
- Sihl Cotton Smooth (BW, graphic-like portraits)
- Ilford Smooth Fine Art (nice for studio color portraits and deliacte pictures)
again, different feels, Dmax and weight, but all very predictible.

I like the feel of firm, flat surface nearly resonating in your hand when shaking (Epson Hot Press and Sihl Cotton). I love leather looking/touching surface of Tecco Baryt in dark areas as well as nearly 3D and with tonality exceptional "radiation" of above mentioned Harman. These all are only my personal preferences ;-).

[deliberate1]

Gents, very helpful. Obliged for your observations.
D1

[Jeremy Roussak]

I have just tested two dozens types of matt and photo papers with my 3880 (75% B&W, 25% color). My conclusions are as follows.

For B&W photography I have four favorites for PK:
- Harman Gloss Baryta Warmtone (due to very warm tint BW pictures look magnificent printed with QTR, especially landscapes with thousands of shades and details)
- Ilford Gold Fibre Gloss (exceptional contrast, all kind of purposes)
- Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta
- Tecco Baryt 270 (wonderful for contrast BW portraits)
different surfaces, different feel and Dmax, but all exceptional.

I like the feel of firm, flat surface nearly resonating in your hand when shaking (Epson Hot Press and Sihl Cotton). I love leather looking/touching surface of Tecco Baryt in dark areas as well as nearly 3D and with tonality exceptional "radiation" of above mentioned Harman. These all are only my personal preferences ;-).

Interesting: I've not read of anyone mentioning the Tecco before. How does it differ from something like Gold Fibre Silk?

Jeremy

[Czornyj]

Interesting: I've not read of anyone mentioning the Tecco before. How does it differ from something like Gold Fibre Silk?

Jeremy

Tecco Baryt Fibre Silk 310g is esentially an IGGFS clone, while Baryt 270g and Baryt Glossy 300g are closer to FineArt Baryta and alike.

[unesco]

Interesting: I've not read of anyone mentioning the Tecco before. How does it differ from something like Gold Fibre Silk?

Jeremy

it is very different than IGFS, irregular surface, a bit like Harman Gloss Art Fibre but not that strong. Tecco Baryt 270 has moderate black level (for QTR curves I've measured L=5.5 for ink_limit=75 of Epson 3880) but the outcome, if properly profiled is wonderful. it is probably the most expensive baryt I have ever tried (in Europe). tecco also has baryt glossy and ivory, but haven't tried yet. and of course, as Czornyj said, Baryt Fibre Silk 310, identical to Ilford.

[Jeremy Roussak]

Thanks, both. I'll give it a whirl.

Jeremy

[Mousecop]

I am curious to know what esthetic considerations you mull over before settling on a paper choice for a particular image. Paper tone, texture, coated vs matte, hand, etc.

Yes. Sort of.

IMO your best option is to select a test image, then print it using a variety of papers. Also make sure the paper is available in the sizes you want.

In your case, I'd look for some semi-gloss / luster papers. It's a good compromise of matte and glossy.

For me, I'm not as fussy as I used to be. I just switched to the Canon Pro-1000, and am using the Canon Pro Luster papers. The look is clean, white, classy, good gamut, not much texture, no major glare issues, archival (one hopes), available up to the printer's max size (17x22).

As someone who grew up on film, the only thing I'm not crazy about is that it feels like RC paper. Art papers are a little thicker, which feels a little more Serious Business when handling. From a functional perspective, though, I don't think it matters much. The goal is for the prints to go in a frame anyway, thus I'm more interested in the look than the feel.

I am not yet at the point of selling prints (though that's the goal), so I'm not sure if buyers care about the weight of the paper.