Roll paper for Canons

[jtunney]

I'm curious as to the paper Canon x400 users prefer.  Prior to purchasing my Canon 8400, I had been using Moab Entrada sheets and rolls. With the new Canon, I have very hard time loading rolls. I keep getting either the "Cannot Detect Paper Size" error or the message that the roll is crooked.  I get one error message, re-load the paper and get the other error message, then rinse and repeat numerous cycles before the paper finally loads properly. I've had the same problem with two separate rolls of Moab, but have no problems with either the test roll of Canon paper that came with the printer or sheets, so I'm thinking there has to be something about the Moab rolls. What do you use?

Thanks.

John

[Richard.Wills]

We run through a lot of Canson Platine, Rag Photographique and Etching Rags, Hahnemuhle Photorag 305/308, Innova IFA49, Harman CrystalJet and Gloss Baryta...
All seem to load pretty much first time. We've just replaced our 8300 with an 8400, and am extremely  pleased to see a roll tension media config option - most of the Baryta papers were candidates for a head strike on the 8300 - hoping for less of that now.

[Rob Reiter]

I've used lots of Moab paper on my 8400 and no problems loading the rolls, or with any other paper for that matter. What did Tech support say?

[jtunney]

Tech support blamed the roll.  They said they'd never heard of Moab.

John

[Ellis Vener]

Canson Rag Photographique gets my vote.

"Tech support blamed the roll.  They said they'd never heard of Moab."

But I bet they have heard of Legion. Moab is a Legion product line http://www.legionpaper.com/applications/inkjet.html

[Rob Reiter]

It sounds like a cop-out, but there may be something to it. While I like the paper, Moab has not been the most responsible of companies when I've tried to report quality control issues with Entrada. I've never had a loading problem with it, or any of the other 20+ papers I stock.

I second Ellis' suggestion to try Canson Rag Photographique, but my favorite natural white matte paper these days is Hahnemühle Bamboo. Although it has slightly more texture now than it did originally, it's minimal and very pleasing. And although both are natural white papers, I find it more neutral, with less exaggeration of warm tones than the Canson Rag Photographique.

Tech support blamed the roll.  They said they'd never heard of Moab.

John

[edknightphoto]

John,

I gave up on Entrada when using an HP printer because of surface flaking.  Perhaps Entrada's much better now.  I moved on to Epson Hot Press, though I've only printed sheets to date on my IPF6400.  Epson currently has a "Buy 3 and one is free" on their Signature Worthy Papers, including Hot Press.

The suggestions below relate to your paper askew error. 

If you haven't tried it yet have the printer's cutter trim the roll of Moab once you get it loaded.  There is a menu item for that on my 6400, so I expect it's on the 8400 also.  This should insure the leading edge of the roll is square.  On the 6400's LCD Paper Menu, go to "Paper Details", select the paper type and then select "Trim Edge First".  A good mat cutter or rotary trimmer would also suffice.   After setting this menu item for the Moab paper, you may have to send a print job to actually get the trimming done, but it could be an extremely small test print.  If you set up Entrada as a custom paper, you can have changes in the paper details only apply to Entrada and not other Canon paper types.

You can also tell the printer to ignore the skew warning under "Paper Details/ Skew Check Lv."  Choices on the 6400 are "High Accuracy, Standard, Loose or None" (Standard is default).  Selecting "None" may be dangerous if you're printing a long pano or banner as skewing could mess up margins, cause a jam or cause printing to move off the edge of the paper.

[Geraldo Garcia]

What do you use?

Well... you asked!:

Canson Rag Photographique 310gsm
Canson Edition Etching Rag 310gsm
Canson BFK Rives Rag 310gsm
Canson Montval Aquarelle 310gsm
Canson Arches Aquarelle Rag 310gsm
Canson Platine Fibre Rag 310gsm
Canson Baryta Photographique 310gsm
Canson Photo Satin Premium RC 270gsm
Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm
Hahnemühle Bamboo 290gsm
Hahnemühle Museum Etching 350gsm
Hahnemühle William Turner 310gsm
Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta 315gsm
Harman by Hahnemühle Gloss Art Fibre Warmtone 310gsm
Hahnemühle Monet Canvas 410gsm
Awagami Unryu 55gsm
Awagami Kozo (natural & white) 70 & 110gsm

That is what we use almost daily.
Yes, I know that is a crazy amount of paper to offer and to have in stock on different sizes. I also know that some papers on the list are similar and we could use only one, but some clients demand specific papers and... well, i am a paper maniac!

With all that variety of papers and 6 to 12 paper changes per day I never had a loading problem as you describe. Actually, now that you made think about it, I never had a loading problem with the IPF8400 in six months of use, and it was one of my biggest fears before buying it due to the curved paper path.

[Richard.Wills]

Geraldo,

Can you tell me about the
Awagami Unryu 55gsm
Awagami Kozo (natural & white) 70 & 110gsm

These are new to me, but available from one of my very local paper suppliers (they charge the same price to stick in a cab, as they do to overnight:)

Always looking for something different.

My current star is the Canson Platine Rag in your list. This paper is hitting almost 50% of our output, not least because it is gorgeous (subjective term), but mainly that it flattens, even from the last couple of yards, in a matter of minutes.

I do have to force myself to remember to remove the trimmed media edges from the catching basket - like you, we change papers on a very regular basis, but I'm yet to find a paper that requires "Trim Edge First", even on those which my fingers have navigated to eject paper, rather than cut (thus bringing out the razor blade to trim print).

Richard

[Geraldo Garcia]

Richard,

Platine is also one of my favorites. I Think cotton papers (like Platine) usually are more malleable while wood pulp alphacellulose papers tend to be stiffer and more prone to keep a strong curl.

The papers from Awagami are versions of traditional washi adapted (coated) for printing. They are very thin and translucent to a certain degree, which gives them a relatively poor contrast and gamut when compared to thicker media, but that is part of the "washi look". They are all made from "kozo" trees (paper mulberry). The paper named "Kozo" is thin and textured (texture resembling sand). The Unryu paper is thinner and has dramatic wood fibers (quite visible). They are by far our less used papers, partly because of their strong characteristics not suitable to ordinary jobs and partly because they are insanely expensive here in Brazil. Looks like Awagami does not have an efficient channel to import and distribute their products here yet.