Friends,
I am looking for suggestions for a smooth (no tooth), semi-gloss, coated paper that can make its way through a printer without scratching.
To prepare for an upcoming show, I purchased some Hanhemuhle Gloss Baryta - both roll and sheet, all for the first time. To be sure, it has precisely the finish I am looking for, and makes very elegant prints. But virtually every print off the roll that comes out of my Epson 7800 has scratches from the printing process that make the prints unsalable. I have tried everything I know to adjust the printer - wide platen gap, covering the back of the printer where the roll tends to hit when it spools. But nothing helps. The scratches are straight and swirly and vary in depth. Some take the ink off and some are more subtle and show only in oblique light. I have tried cutting sheets and flattening without success. I even tried ironing the paper, as suggested by a Lula member. Did not help - just killed the paper (got a bit of morbid satisfaction from that). It just seems that this paper has the worst combination of attributes - extremely stiff, excessive curl and a fragile surface. I have never encountered anything like this with other similar papers. The sheets fare a bit better because there is no curl. But even some of them come through with disqualifying scratches.
So I am searching for a similar paper that is not so prone to scratching in the printing process. If I have to go to a paper that has a tooth, so be it. Anyone have any experience with other Hahnemuhle or other papers of that ilk that are coated but are not destroyed in the printing process.
Obliged for the suggestions.
David