Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: RoyReddy on January 15, 2020, 12:22:28 pm
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Hello folks,
My question is What do you recommend to learn about various papers?
The printer is Epson P800 and I have stayed with only Epson papers. they are fine! No issue
but ... there must be many more and possibly more impactful products. It is easy enough for me to envision there is difference with other paper products. Information online describes and illustrates some of the differences.
I have been to a number of large stores in Toronto where I found other products but found no answers and no examples to experience.
At the same time, I acknowledge that possibly the only approach is a journey of exploration. Purchasing and experiencing product after product.
What have you tried?
thanks for your input, Roy
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Roy,
That's quite a question. Print paper choice depends on the subject photo and use for me. I'm not going to send certain papers I use to an exhibition for example. Please give us something to go on for your desired use.
I use a number of papers from a selection of companies. Some were chosen for value and some for unique qualities.
Example: I use Red River 60 lb Polar Matte for 13x38 panos on my P800.
I use Red River 60 Polar Matte double sided 17x25 for its size and ability to print on both sides for other projects.
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The huge variety of papers available today is genuinely wonderful. That's the good news. The bad news is that to experience them, one needs to see and handle them. It is said that placing them in a frame behind glass or plexiglass renders much of this moot but that's not totally true. If you have a local store, go in and see if they have demo prints to look at and touch. If you have photo friends, look at and touch their work. I mention touch because I often make folios of 8-10 images, using Dane Creek Photography folders, a wonderful way to show your work and the viewers are also "touchers." Try not to get into the "paper of the week," as many of us did with developers in the film era. Try a paper; many manufacturers sell sample packs with a couple of sheets each of various papers. Make some prints, put them in mattes and put them where you can look at them for a week or two. Look at them in various lighting situations. Take it slow, don't try 14 new papers in a couple of days, you'll go crazy. Many of us have a matter and glossy paper we use for "work prints" and a paper we use for "finished" or "master" prints. You'll figure out what you like. Try to avoid reading descriptions of papers online, it's like the Steve Martin quote, "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture." Look at real data; Mark Segal has actually measured many papers and published the results. That will let you do a bit of objective evaluation but ultimately this is art and there are no wrong answers. Some papers will do better blacks than others, but unless one puts them next to one another, that can be hard to see. My usual matte paper, Moab Entrada Natural, doesn't measure well in the blacks but I rather like it. You might or might not.
Good luck in your quest; may you find the holy grail (paraphrasing Monty Python)
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Like Eric, I am a big fan of Dane Creek folios. I give them to friends and family and they are warmly received. Most like to pull out a folio and look at the prints periodically. Having them in your hands and not behind glass or on a wall makes a difference.
https://www.danecreekfolios.com
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To start order some sample packs. I would start with Hahnemuhle and Canson. Then maybe Moab and Epson Legacy.
Get the proper profiles, print some samples and pick what you like.
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For something completely different I would suggest some metallic papers. Breathing Color's Vibrance Metallic is the closest thing to an actual metal print available and Hahnemuhle's Photo Rag Metallic has its own unique hard to describe look but for some images it produces spectacular results.
https://www.breathingcolor.com/vibrance-metallic
https://www.hahnemuehle.com/en/digital-fineart/fineart-media/glossy-fineart/p/Product/show/5/996.html
There's also metallic canvas, though due to the 17" size of your printer you'd have to flat mount them to achieve any appreciable size, but it also has an interesting look: https://www.breathingcolor.com/silverada-metallic-canvas
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To start order some sample packs. I would start with Hahnemuhle and Canson. Then maybe Moab and Epson Legacy.
Get the proper profiles, print some samples and pick what you like.
I echo Dan’s advice. And I’ll add that you should do your test prints of “the same image” using perhaps a printer evaluation image like this one:
http://www.jirvana.com/printer_tests/PrinterEvaluationImage_V002.zip
That way, you’ll be evaluating the same tones on the different papers to see how each paper “leans” in order to get an apples to apples comparison of the various papers’ strengths.
Rand
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Like Eric, I am a big fan of Dane Creek folios. I give them to friends and family and they are warmly received. Most like to pull out a folio and look at the prints periodically. Having them in your hands and not behind glass or on a wall makes a difference.
https://www.danecreekfolios.com
I agree. Folios are a lovely way to experience prints. I find the DaneCreek folios too small though, having settled on 9½ x 13 as a size that’s easy to handle, but provides a slightly larger image. For these, I cut and score my own folio covers using heavy acid-free art paper from a local artist store. My prints are on Moab Entrada Rag Natural.
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Interesting, Terry!
Something for me to consider. One nice thing about the Dane Creek folios is that the shipping cost is reasonable.
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Thanks folks for your responses. You have given me some helpful info. RrR
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All my Monochrom images come out quite well on Canson Infinity Baryta.
For color, I stick to Canon papers.
I use an Epson XP-15000
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