Innova Soft Texture Natural White 315 - two types of it?

[dgillilan]

Hello,
I have used a roll of the Innova Fine Art Soft Texture Natural White 315 gsm and have excellent results, and may need to buy a new roll soon, but the label does not state "Cotton" and I see that B&H sells two types of this paper, same weight. Also, their descriptions, which may be incorrect, both state "100% Cotton", for the various offerings. One mfr. code  is 34008, and is $247 US for 17x22, 50 sheets.
The other offering is mfr code 21017, and is $119 for 17x22, 50 sheets. I suspect that the 34xxx code is for a Pure all cotton paper, and the 21xxx code is a paper that is wood cellulose based. I have looked on the Innova site also, and all I can tell is that one link states "100 % cotton" and the other states "chemically treated wood pulp".
Can anyone enlighten me ?
Also, what are "100% cotton linters" as opposed to "100% cotton" and what about wood cellulose- not as good a quality as all cotton ?
Also, on the Innova site, there are two different icc profiles for this paper, and one does state "100% cotton" while the other does not. Very curious.
Thanks, Debra

[darlingm]

On B&H's site, I'm not seeing them list "100 % cotton" for either of them.  In fact, I see them list "Made from alpha cellulose for both".  At http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/997508-REG/innova_34008_soft_textured_natural_white.html and http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/493661-REG/Innova_21017_Soft_Textured_Natural_White.html.

Cotton is significantly more expensive than cellulose.  $247 for cotton sheets and $119 for cellulose sheets is in the range other manufacturers charge.  I'd confirm with B&H, but I'm thinking they may have the wrong description on 34008.

Cellulose paper is "less archival" or "not archival" (depending on who you ask, and their definition of the term "archival") than cotton paper.  There are some cellulose papers that are better than others, and have minimized the difference.  Whether the difference that remains is significant also depends on who you ask.  Cellulose starts out acidic and with lignin, both of which mean it starts out not archival.  The better cellulose papers remove as much lignin as they can, and add chemicals to counteract the natural acidity.  Chemically counteracted acidity can break down over time.  Whether these removals and treatments do the job could be debated, but the fact is you won't know for sure until you wait for a long time like 100 years and compare then.  But, you have to decide which to print on now, and don't have the luxury to wait and test.

The price of the paper is about double.  But, considering the price of the print to the final customer, the percentage difference shouldn't be that great.

If you want to sell a quality product that you can say is archival without hesitation, go with cotton.  It starts out being "archival".

If you want to sell a product you're going to market as a "decor-grade", go with cellulose.

Sadly many people in this industry make themselves a third option, which is selling cellulose as archival.  But, this option is either a best guess with crossed fingers or dishonest, again depending on your point of view.

[dgillilan]

Thank you for your reply, that is very helpful. I also looked at the 24 inch rolls at B&H and those were the ones that had the "100 % cotton" on them, sorry that I did not make it clear that I had looked at 17x22 and also 24" rolls and also 17" rolls. Seems like B&H needs to clarify its descriptions on some of these Innovas.
I visited your website, and Your site is really full of information on prints and good articles; I have bookmarked it to read your FAQ section and the other parts, it looks very helpful and very clean, laid out well. I will read more on your site later today.
Thank you very much for clearing me up on alpha cellulose vs cotton in printing, I had read that all cotton is much better, I will read more on your website.
Thanks again, Debra

[TSJ1927]

Look for Innova Soft White Cotton IFA-15 @ 280gsm has a "soft" slightly textured surface. It is made of 25% Cotton linters and 75% Alpha Cellulose.  I have used this paper for years.

[dgillilan]

Thank you, I think I had a sheet of that in my sampler a while back, I got an Innova sampler pack. They have very good papers,
Debra