Canson Infinity Baryta and the R2880

[shanly]

Given Michael's glowing review of this new paper, I'm going to give it a try.  

Currently I use Ilford Gold Fibre Silk with great results except that printing 13x19 paper on my R2880 is very tricky - it is difficult to avoid head strikes, particularly in the winter (here in Toronto, it's winter) with the low humidity.  I can't print with a margin less than 1.5" as it starts to have head strikes before the leading edge peaks out of the rollers.  (I support the paper the moment it comes out with my fingers and then use an old paper box to support the paper when it has emerged from the printer a bit.

I have the wide platen option set.

I have no problems with smaller sizes of the paper: 8.5"x 11 and I also cut the 13x19 in half and print 9.5x13 (thanks Eric Chan for the idea).

Althought I love the paper, this is incredibly annoying and I am restricted in the image size I can print.

So I thought I'd try the Canson.  Has anyone tried printing with it on a R2880 - particularly 13x19?  Any problems?

Thanks very much for any feedback from other R2880 owners.

Selby

[Light Seeker]

Although I'm running a 3800 and a 2200, I would also be interested in hearing anyone's feedback on the new Canson Baryta paper.

Terry.

[erick.boileau]

me too

[francois]

Add me to the growing list!

[agavephoto]

I have only run one 10-page sample pack through my 3800; and I have some 13x19 on order, so I can try to post about that once I have real experience. With my sample pack, I had to set the platen gap to wide as I got some slight head strikes on the auto setting. Once that was done, the rest printed fine.

I recall this paper shows finger prints much more than Harman FB Al or Exhibition Fiber, but this was just for testing. So far I like it, and I'm just waiting for B&H to get more in stock!

[francois]

I have only run one 10-page sample pack through my 3800; and I have some 13x19 on order, so I can try to post about that once I have real experience. With my sample pack, I had to set the platen gap to wide as I got some slight head strikes on the auto setting. Once that was done, the rest printed fine.

I recall this paper shows finger prints much more than Harman FB Al or Exhibition Fiber, but this was just for testing. So far I like it, and I'm just waiting for B&H to get more in stock!

Thanks for the info!

[jed best]

I haven't printed images with it but just this weekend profiled the paper for my 3880. I notice that if the platen width was set to auto there were track marks on the targets.If the platen width was set to wide, all was OK.

[agavephoto]

A bit more information from my limited testing:

The canned profiles were not bad. The colours I get are better than the canned Harman FB Al profile I tried on that paper: specifically in the greens.

Gloss differential is higher than Harman FB Al or Epson Exhibition Fiber.

The surface texture, to me, is nicer than Exhibition fiber . . . more regular and not as obvious with more stippling than Harman.

The paper base colour is a tad warmer than Harman FB Al., but not as warm as the Harman FB Al warmtone.

[francois]

Thank you for the additional info. Have you used Ilford GFS and if you have, then how does it compare to the Canson paper? I have very little experience with the Harman FB Al (difficult to find here).

[CDL]

So far I have never yet done my own printing. Since a while I am considering however to buy an own printer and get started with this. I was thinking about the exact same configuration as the thread opener: an Epson R2880, preferably on Canson Baryta A3+ (this further to Michael's review of this paper  ). Therefore I would be in the exact same situation as the TO and am of course very interested if anybody knows about head strike problems (or not) in this exact configuration.

Also another (possibly dumb) question: If printing on A3+ format on the Epson R2880, will I be able to actually print 30x45 cm (sorry, I live in Europe) or will I be limited to somewhat less?

Thanks very much for any answers.

[agavephoto]

Thank you for the additional info. Have you used Ilford GFS and if you have, then how does it compare to the Canson paper? I have very little experience with the Harman FB Al (difficult to find here).

I have only used one small sample pack of the Ilford GFS some time ago, so I cannot really say much about it; sorry. At that time I liked the Harman paper more, but possibly due to a very limited sample of the Ilford. Maybe my taste has changed some, too. I am curious to try more of the Ilford paper to compare it with the Canson now.

[NashvilleMike]

A bit more information from my limited testing:

The canned profiles were not bad. The colours I get are better than the canned Harman FB Al profile I tried on that paper: specifically in the greens.

Gloss differential is higher than Harman FB Al or Epson Exhibition Fiber.

The surface texture, to me, is nicer than Exhibition fiber . . . more regular and not as obvious with more stippling than Harman.

The paper base colour is a tad warmer than Harman FB Al., but not as warm as the Harman FB Al warmtone.

Thanks for the info!

I was at the ImagingUSA convention in Nashville a few weeks ago and stumbled onto the Canson booth and they had some hung prints of the new Baryta paper taken by the very talented Rojelio Reyes Rodriguez, who I believe was there discussing his work, and the images (and the paper itself) were most impressive. I've got some on order myself from B&H but have no idea when I'll actually get it. I'll be curious to compare it to my reference papers (Epson Exhibition Fiber and Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta - I'm not as big a fan of the Ilford GFS as others are (I find it a bit lacking in depth/sense of dimension and also in the blacks compared to the EF and FAB) and I don't like the Harman stuff at all) and see how it goes. Of course paper choice is hugely subjective so one mans poison might be another mans heaven. But man, those prints I saw hanging were really well done and that paper in particular looked gorgeous, particularly in the sense of depth and dimension. I'll have to see how the metamerism and gloss differential aspects hold up to other papers, but I was very excited about what I saw.  As an aside: the folks at the Canson booth were great; very friendly and helpful. I wish they had samples of the Baryta paper with them but unfortunately they did not. (As for the show itself; the most impressive thing I saw were prints in the Epson booth from the 9900, taken by Douglas Dubler, that were about as flawless as I've ever seen; most impressive stuff)

If anyone else tries this paper and has similar tastes to mine, chime in, papers are, again, so subjective, that it's important to get as many opinions as possible across a wide range of users.

-m

[Alan Goldhammer]

Also another (possibly dumb) question: If printing on A3+ format on the Epson R2880, will I be able to actually print 30x45 cm (sorry, I live in Europe) or will I be limited to somewhat less?

Thanks very much for any answers.

Yes, you can print on A3 paper.  Maximum width of the printer in US units is 13 inches which translates to about 33 cm.  The print driver menu has slections for both US and ISO sized papers and is easy to use.

[CDL]

Yes, you can print on A3 paper.  Maximum width of the printer in US units is 13 inches which translates to about 33 cm.  The print driver menu has slections for both US and ISO sized papers and is easy to use.

Thanks for your answer, Alan. Actually I know that it is possible to use A3+ (PLUS) paper, which is about 33 cm as you say. What I wonder however is whether the actual USABLE PRINTING width is minimum 30 cm. Can I print up to the border on A3+ or do I have to leave a margin which might even limit me to below 30 cm? Thanks again.

[Alan Goldhammer]

Thanks for your answer, Alan. Actually I know that it is possible to use A3+ (PLUS) paper, which is about 33 cm as you say. What I wonder however is whether the actual USABLE PRINTING width is minimum 30 cm. Can I print up to the border on A3+ or do I have to leave a margin which might even limit me to below 30 cm? Thanks again.

The specification say that you can.  I've not done so in practice as I have standardized on certain sizes as I do my own matting and framing.  For example, I routinely print 10.6 x 16 to preserve the full frame which gives me a nice print in a 16 x20 frame.  If I move up in size, I need to get special cut frames and acryllic which cost a bit more.  I realize that I don't use the full size of the 13x19 paper but that is the decision I've come to.

[agavephoto]

Some more information for those curious or waiting on delivery of orders of the Canson's Baryta Photographique:

I received my first full box of 17"x22", and all pages were damaged in shipping (bent corners with creasing). IMO, this is due to the very poor packaging by Canson. They only supply a thin cardboard protective case: the design is like the one Epson uses for their Velvet Fine Art paper, but a LOT thinner. It's so thin that the whole package will bend if not supported well. The box it arrived in was no more beat up than any random box with paper inside that I've received, which is why I put the blame on Canson's packaging at this time. Replacement is on it's way, and I'll comment further upon getting to print more with the paper.  Hope the rest of you don't have this happen!

EDIT 2010.01.28: The 8.5"x11" size is packed in box more like the others pack 8.5"x11" paper in.

[Light Seeker]

My 10 page sample pack came in today. No damage, but they're only 8 1/2 x 11 sheets.      

There is an interesting discussion on paper damage in shipping as part of a review of 5 fiber based gloss papers at the link below. It does provide some perspective on the issue, from both sides.

http://www.michaelsebastian.com/blog/?p=1663

Terry.

[Light Seeker]

Does anyone know if Canson Baryta Photographique is OBA free? It does not appear to be, from what I can gather on the website (i.e. they do not state it is OBA free, like they do with other papers).

Terry.

[Sven W]

Does anyone know if Canson Baryta Photographique is OBA free? It does not appear to be, from what I can gather on the website (i.e. they do not state it is OBA free, like they do with other papers).

Terry.

A 16 grams layer of Barium Sulphate makes the whiteness.
You may call that an OBA, but not the sort we usually talk about, because it has been used
through the history of b/w photography successfully.

/Sven

[Light Seeker]

A 16 grams layer of Barium Sulphate makes the whiteness.
You may call that an OBA, but not the sort we usually talk about, because it has been used
through the history of b/w photography successfully.

Thanks Sven. I didn't realize that.

So, am I correct in assuming that Barium Sulphate will not loose it's whiteness over time, like an OBA will?

BTW, I see on Hahnemuhule's spec sheet for Photo Rag Baryta the comment "no optical brighteners, barium sulphate".

Terry.