Epson Japanese Kozo Paper Thin - New Signature Worthy Fine Art Paper

[garywornell]

I read about this a year ago ( http://dpnow.com/9378.html )  and wondered why we haven't seen it in the states I can't wait to get my hands on some Thanks for the info!

Yes David, hopefully if someone in the US puts some pressure on Epson USA to start ordering then this will start the ball rolling. The Epson organisation have very different approaches according to regions, and the demand must come from within the US for Epson USA to take notice.

[garywornell]

Gary, what size rolls are available? and do rolls have the support as well? Thanks 

Currently the roll sizes are 17" and 24" x 10m

[garywornell]

Gary, do these rolls have the support as well? Thanks.

Sorry - I forgot to answer about the support. The paper depends on the support whether sheet or roll. That is the design solution, that is the technology that has made it possible to produce the thinnest Kozo paper for inkjet in the world. It works.

[Stefan Ohlsson]

For some images this is a wonderful paper. And very glad to see that Epson is distributing a paper that is sooo far from a standard paper.

[garywornell]

For some images this is a wonderful paper. And very glad to see that Epson is distributing a paper that is sooo far from a standard paper.

Thanks Stefan, Yes this paper is well suited to some photography extremely well. It will support the other papers in the Epson Signature Worthy range and be used for a number of new applications in Interior Decoration, Graphic Design and Illustration. It is very versatile. Can be face mounted, Diasec, stretch mounted and a whole host of possibilities exist.

[garywornell]

So you're saying that the sheets have backing support but not the rolls? Can you please clarify?

Also, what sheet sizes are available? Couldn't find any details on the Epson site. Thanks.

Actually I did say this 'The paper depends on the support whether sheet or roll...' The sheet media is not yet available - so rolls are the current limitation. Sheet has been successfully prepared but Epson have not yet incorporated the sheet into the product range.

The support sheet and the paper are manufactured as one so you print without worry. After printing you let the media dry completely then simply remove the support sheet. Hey presto!

[MHMG]

....Pigment inks and a Neutral PH paper say enough about the life of the image.

It would indeed simplify the material choices for the fine art printmaker if that statement was true, but it's not, especially with modern inkjet prints where there are many other ingredients being added to both the inks and the media that affect the long term stability of the printed image. The choice and concentration of the pigments on their own merits can have a profound influence. Similarly, even the delicate tones of a print made with pure carbon pigment which is extremely stable as an image forming material will be seriously undermined if the media has poorly performing coatings lying on top of that "acid-free, "lignin-free","archival" "PH neutral"  "cotton rag"  base sheet.  Those are all buzz words the industry uses to convince us the printed image is stable, but without extensive testing these code words for "archival" don't always speak the truth. Signature worthy Exhibition Fiber paper is a case and point. The coatings used in EEF, not the base sheet properties are letting that product down.

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

[Rob Reiter]

And if the Epson paper were available in the US, I'd gladly try some...but it's not, and the Awagami is.

Rob, yes Awagami make interesting papers, but none of their papers come close to the weight, translucence, and surface character of the Epson Japanese Kozo Paper Thin. There is no support sheet technology in Awagami's production, severely limiting the weight that can successfully be put through a water based ink jet device. You have to see Epson's Japanese Kozo Paper Thin against the thinnest Awagami Kozo and then you can make a comparison. :-)
This is also the first natural fibre inkjet paper in the world that you can fold and the image won't crack. Think Origami!

[deanwork]

Both Awagami, sold through Freestyle, and Hiromi paper in Calif are selling several new products that use an ink receptor coating on their Kozo or similar media. I am also noticing that these companies are using blends of Mulberry with either cotton or alpha cellulose papers to achieve a more photographic resolution.

Moab is selling one also, probably made by one of the above long established Japanese paper companies.

http://store.hiromipaper.com/ijseries.aspx

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/search?q=kozo


It's all expensive as hell now, while the natural or bleached 100% uncoated Kozo remains fairly cheap.

A guy from Awagami in Japan wrote me that I should buy their papers in the US from Freestyle. They are back ordered now. Probably because they were promoting them at trade shows this year.

I haven't tried either the Hiromi or the Awagami coated versions yet but I have some on order.

The Hahnemuhle "rice paper" doesn't look anything at all like traditional Japanese papers. I don't know what that's about.

John

[Rob Reiter]

The Moab Unryu is made by Awagami.

Moab is selling one also, probably made by one of the above long established Japanese paper companies.

[deanwork]

So you are saying this new Epson Kozo is thinner and has better dmax and color gamut than the Japanese coated versions? They have thin versions also.  I wonder who's making it?

I'm ready to try it as soon as I can get my hands on some.

john

[garywornell]

So you are saying this new Epson Kozo is thinner and has better dmax and color gamut than the Japanese coated versions? They have thin versions also.  I wonder who's making it?

I'm ready to try it as soon as I can get my hands on some.

john

This paper has a much higher Dmax and color gamut than anything produced by Awagami. A recent test done by the French WorkFlow magazine has this rating considerably higher.

[Wolfman]

I have an Epson 3880 printer. If I ordered a roll of the 17" paper would it be practical to cut sheets from the roll so I could print on my 3880 since it does not support rolls?

[garywornell]

Hello,
Short answer yes.
When you cut the sheet you will need to keep it rolled in a tube before feeding into the paper feed (manual rear) because there may be a tendency for the paper to curl in the wrong direction if left too long off the roll. The sheet product has over come this, but is not yet in full scale production.

[Ernst Dinkla]

Gary,

The backside of the Kozo has a kind of release coating (I guess, based on tactile experience) to avoid permanent sticking to the support paper at the back. Are there any consequences in print mounting (hinges etc|) and on print longevity as a result of that coating?
I see the support is close in paper white color to the Kozo. Custom profiling can be done with the support still attached to give a better reflection value? I will try to make the spectral plots of the Kozo this weekend and add them in the Oriental Paper map of SpectrumViz.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
September 2014, 650+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[Mark Lindquist]

Great paper for reproducing ukiyo-e.....

Would there be any problems using this paper on the HP ZXXX series printers?

I am super ready to use this paper like yesterday!

-Mark

 

[garywornell]

Great paper for reproducing ukiyo-e.....

Would there be any problems using this paper on the HP ZXXX series printers?

I am super ready to use this paper like yesterday!

-Mark

 

Hello Mark, many thanks for this. yes for ukiyo-e this is perfect.
I will enquire about the HP - but certainly if it is water based pigment - there should be no problem.
Best
Gary

[Pete_G]

This sounds like a really interesting paper. I like your mounting idea. Waiting for supplies of sheet stock.

[chez]

Any ideas of pricing?

[deanwork]

I am already making beautiful prints on rather thin traditional Kozo on both the Z3100 and the Canon IPF8300. When doing large prints the receptor coating isn't as critical as with smaller prints, though certainly desirable if available!

The extra dmax of the Vivera inks work especially well on this kind of media. Although I can make quite decent profiles with the internal i1 spectro on the Z, I prefer to make the profiles with X-rite pro software and 2013 patches. The Z can also linearize this material internally after you have a good icc profile. I don't even use a backing sheet with it, though with this new stuff it might be a bit too thin to do that.

Back 10-12 years ago when I made my Kozo prints on Epson LF printers I always taped the large and small sheets to conventional poster board like you can buy at the supermarket or any art supply store. I used drafting tape and it worked great. However, as Walker Blackwell pointed out to me you can always turn off the vacuum on Epson printers and run a lot of the Japanese papers through them with no backing at all. He's done that for years.

John