I'm sharing my experience of using Hahnemuhle FA Baryta paper on the Epson 7800 printer.
I've had to do a lot of printing because I'm exhibiting forty to fifty of my prints in a show starting March 1. For several years I'd been printing on an Epson 2200 using Epson Velvet FA paper, but picked up an Epson 7800 last year. I'd read the reviews on the various baryta papers and got a samplepack from Atlex. I settled on Hahnemuhle FA Baryta abd have gone through 75 sheets of 8.5x11, and two rolls of 24"x39 feet.
I'd heard that there's no need to use MK ink and matte paper to get good blacks any more. It is true. The prints I've made using baryta paper, both color and grayscale, are spectacular. The reviews indicated that H FA uses a cool versus warm white paper and this is true. When I soft proof I do sometimes add a small amount of yellow filter; however, even though the soft proof does show the coolness, the print does look less cool than the soft proof.
There can be substantial curling when using the rolls. And this worried me since I am personally matting and framing each print. I nosed around for a solution and saw the D-Roller, and it looked very good, but extravagantly priced. I bought 1.5" PVC pipe from Home Depot ($4.50, 10 feet) and a 24"x48" .10 mylar sheet from eplastics ($13). I then cut off a 28" piece of PVC pipe and adhered the mylar sheet to it with duct tape. It is so easy to flatten thos prints with this device, which I'll call the V-Roller, after my name Victor.
So, I give H FA Baryta, printed on a wide format Epson printer with Epson Inks and using the profile supplied by H a thumbs up. If anyone has experiences or preferences using baryta paper on Epson printers, please share .
