New Product Feedback - MUSEO

[MuseoFineArt]

Museo users,

We have received several inquiries for a two side printable, matte cotton paper. We are considering adding a 210 GSM sheet that would meet this need. I would appreciate some feedback from the user community as to whether this is a product you would find interest in. Looking forward to your feedback.

Thank you!

[MHMG]

Hi Jennifer,

I thought that Museo II and IIGS were both dual-sided papers, albeit somewhat thicker weight than 210 gsm.  However, I believe your company phased them out last year or thereabouts. I'm curious to know if halting production on these dual sided papers had to do with some of the cotton sourcing issues you have had recently, or whether it was due to lack of customer demand for a dual sided paper.  The latter possibility might speak to your question about customer interest in a dual-sided Museo paper.

I much prefer dual sided papers, or at the very least papers that can be back printed with text even if the printing performance is not a match to the front coated side. I have personally used the IIGS and thought it was a highly competitive product in the dual-sided category owing to nice packaging, interleaving, surface robustness with respect to abrasion, lay-flat characteristics, and the oriented short-grain direction. For those reasons I was sad to see it removed from your product line-up even though light fastness was not quite as good as other competing media, at least not for the Canon Lucia EX inks I use most often in my personal work.

best,
Mark
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com

[MuseoFineArt]

Mark,

Thank you for your feedback. The decision to eliminate the Museo II was two fold. (1) demand was light (2) the minimum order qty for the base paper was 10x the demand so it didnt make financial sense. With our new supply chain secured, however, we have a far greater flexibility with minimums which allows us to be more responsive with new product launches. I have seen an increase in inquiries over the past several months and am starting to wonder if we should re-introduce a 2 sided media

[Ernst Dinkla]

Hello Jennifer,

Over the last 5 years I have often searched for a lower priced dual sided paper that could be used for books. Preferably near 150 gsm and opaque enough at that weight. Intelicoat had a 190 gsm on rolls that had no texture, OBA content, very white and quite rigid: DMPG190C2S. From another source I had a similar paper of 100 gsm. I bought some rolls but those qualities did not appeal to my customers.  They preferred offset papers like Biotop 120 and 160 grams or the Munken weight equivalents, despite a lower print quality. Papers with some texture, warm white, flexible and low cost. Innova filled that gap lately with their Decor Art IFA25 dual sided. However 210 gsm and it could be a bit warmer. I still think that there is a market niche for a similar paper at 150 gsm. Possible sources: the paper qualities that are now developed and manufactured for inkjet web presses which are unavailable for small print shop owners: rolls too large and different distribution chain. Mondi the Austrian Biotop manufacturer has some qualities in that category, Felix Schoeller probably too and there are more manufacturers. A Biotop paper base withstands time very well, the more when used in books. No need for a buffered rag paper quality in that case.

Whether that product would go through your Museo or other Intelicoat channels is not something I can jufge.

In the art paper category, rag - alpha cellulose, 180 to 230 gsm there are several distributors of dual sided paper. Sheets mainly. Innova, Moab, Red River, Hahnemühle, etc. Their papers overlap one another in quality and the price range is covered well with Red River at the bottom. I wonder whether Intelicoat could create a financial success in that crowded category, a market niche itself.

In the art-photography industry the maximum sheet sizes of dual sided paper are at best aiming at 17" inkjet printers sometimes not even using their largest size capacity. I am using 44" roll printers and an A3 sheet printer and could use a size like 70x100 cm which gives me better economy on different sizes and a more flexible use of the grain direction. In house cutting. I would not object to dual sided rolls either. Printing the first side from the roll and have the sheets cut by the printer + tabs for registering the other side in sheet mode is quite easy and less labour intensive than doing sheet mode for both sides on those printers. At that paper weight an iPF5100 does not transport papers well from >15 sheets stacks either and I can put several pages on a 84x112 cm sheet so the advantages of a sheet loading tray are not that significant.

Just my thoughts and experiences.

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

340+ paper white spectral plots:
http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
update july 2012: Moab changes, paper sorting by name

[Ed Foster, Jr.]

Jennifer,

Thanks for the query. I do print a number of bound books and  portfolios and would like to see a cotton product in the weight, or slightly less, that you describe but with a finish similar to Silver Rag. Personally, I am not aware of any double-sided rag products with that type of finish for portfolio printing.

Ed

[BarbaraArmstrong]

I would be more interested in a semi-gloss or lustre finish (using PK ink) than in a matte finish.  --Barbara Armstrong

[texshooter]

I would be more interested in a Silver Rag Bright White as an alternative to the current warm version.

[aaronchan]

Dear Jennifer,

I would be more interested to see something that use PK ink but not RC paper.
Double sided Silver Rag might be a very good product for those who shoot B&W and documentary.
I've been asked from lots of my clients if anyone make something like that for book making,
but the closest thing I could get is duo luster or in matte surface which they don't really like it.

Regard,
Aaron

[Brian Gilkes]

I use a fair bit of Silver Rag, but so far no demand for a double sided version for books. I have used Museo II, but it was generally too thick for folding and hand binding. I now usually use Canson or Awagami if  using coated papers, in A2. With sheet papers consideration should be given to running the grain across the sheets, not up the length.I'll be interested in what Intellicoat come up with.
Regards
Brian Gilkes
Pharos Editions

[tjv]

Hello Jennifer,
Your question has prompted me to post my very first response on this forum, on which I've been lurking for years.
Book making is a big part of my fine art practice and I've been looking for years for the perfect inkjet paper to suit this purpose.
Currently, I'm enjoying using MOAB Entrada 190gsm double sided paper in A3+ sheets. This is a great product but with several drawbacks.
It's really too heavy for book use. If you were to introduce a product I'd like to see something at around 150 - 170gsm.
The other thing is paper sizes and grain direction. It's near on impossible to buy A2 sized sheets of double sided paper with the grain direction running with the short edge. As it stands, this limits somewhat what can be achieved if you want to section sew for binding, especially with rigid paper.
I'd like a paper with a smooth finish. MOAB used to make a paper called Kayenta, which was nice but again too thick – although it wasn't a rag paper.
I am sorry to say that I have not used your products before as to my knowledge they are not available in New Zealand, but I currently import my paper myself anyway. I'd certainly buy your paper in bulk should it satisfy the above points of difference.
Thanks,
Tim