Raw & Post Processing, Printing > Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks

Advice on testing photo papers

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PhotoMini:
Hi all,

First off I am new to the forums here but have been following LuLa for a number of years and taking photographs even longer so I am not a complete alien to photography. However I am somewhat new to printing.

I have been printing images for nearly 18 months but have only just started to dive into 'fine art printing' as the paper that my university provides to print our work on I have not been completely happy with. As such I have purchased sample packs of paper from various manufacturers (Breathing Color, Moab, Harman, Canson) to try out and hopefully move to a paper that i prefer.

Each sample pack only gives 2 sheets of each type of paper and I want a try and see which papers i like and which papers suit my images (both colour and B&W). At this stage I do not want to get into the technicalities of each paper such as which colours are out of gamut for which paper and which paper has a higher D-MAX etc (I will be finding out this and doing more paper testing once i have narrowed it down to a few select papers). I just want to test the papers to see which ones I like and which ones I don't like.

I have done up 2 test sheets (one colour, one B&W) with a selection of my images on each that i feel best represent my work in general, however when consulting the 'master printer' at my university about them, he said it would be better to simply download a 'printer evaluation image' from the web and print that out. However the image i found online i felt did not represent the sort of images i print on a regular basis. I want to try and get the best general representation of each paper without printing out countless test images. I am simply not in a position financially to buy several packs of each sample pack and have them shipped to me. (Shipping along is $80 and lets not mention the exchange rate).

With this in mind, what is the best way to try out and test the papers. I am open to all suggestions and welcome any advice.

Regards,
PhotoMini

Mark D Segal:
The best overall test image, because it tests for many aspects of print quality and contains photos that are quite representative of a broad range of photos, is this one:

Outback.

If none of what's in there adequately reflects the kind of work you do, the best thing is select representative samples of your own photos, print them on the various papers you've bought and decide which paper gives you the closest rendition responding to your preferences. Follow the instructions for profile selection and printer settings carefully. Also, watch the video tutorial "From Camera to Print" on this website.

PeterAit:

--- Quote from: PhotoMini on August 27, 2016, 04:53:21 am ---Hi all,

First off I am new to the forums here but have been following LuLa for a number of years and taking photographs even longer so I am not a complete alien to photography. However I am somewhat new to printing.

I have been printing images for nearly 18 months but have only just started to dive into 'fine art printing' as the paper that my university provides to print our work on I have not been completely happy with. As such I have purchased sample packs of paper from various manufacturers (Breathing Color, Moab, Harman, Canson) to try out and hopefully move to a paper that i prefer.

Each sample pack only gives 2 sheets of each type of paper and I want a try and see which papers i like and which papers suit my images (both colour and B&W). At this stage I do not want to get into the technicalities of each paper such as which colours are out of gamut for which paper and which paper has a higher D-MAX etc (I will be finding out this and doing more paper testing once i have narrowed it down to a few select papers). I just want to test the papers to see which ones I like and which ones I don't like.

I have done up 2 test sheets (one colour, one B&W) with a selection of my images on each that i feel best represent my work in general, however when consulting the 'master printer' at my university about them, he said it would be better to simply download a 'printer evaluation image' from the web and print that out. However the image i found online i felt did not represent the sort of images i print on a regular basis. I want to try and get the best general representation of each paper without printing out countless test images. I am simply not in a position financially to buy several packs of each sample pack and have them shipped to me. (Shipping along is $80 and lets not mention the exchange rate).

With this in mind, what is the best way to try out and test the papers. I am open to all suggestions and welcome any advice.

Regards,
PhotoMini

--- End quote ---

My advice for testing papers is to not test papers. It's a distraction from the true work of a photographer, which is to take photos.

chez:

--- Quote from: PeterAit on August 27, 2016, 04:52:56 pm ---My advice for testing papers is to not test papers. It's a distraction from the true work of a photographer, which is to take photos.

--- End quote ---

Well from my perspective a photographers job is not complete until the print is made...thus it's good to know your options out there for different types of paper which affect the resulting prints quite drastically.

The presentation of the image through prints has just as much influence on your vision as when you press that shutter.

Wayne Fox:

--- Quote from: PeterAit on August 27, 2016, 04:52:56 pm ---My advice for testing papers is to not test papers. It's a distraction from the true work of a photographer, which is to take photos.

--- End quote ---
interesting.  I've always felt I was trying to make photographs, so taking them was just one step in the process.  If you just take photos, what do you do with them?

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