change to Canson branding of some papers

[mcrepsej]

I knew that the agreement between Arches and Canson ended about a year ago and also knew that Somerset delivers Aquarelle paper, but does anyone know who supplies paper to Velin Museum Rag?

Have not heard of the new paper supplier Rag Photographique so it came somewhat as a surprise to me that there is problems with the coating. Too bad for an excellent piece of paper.

I am correct reading that Canson Rag Photographigue contains OBA. Canson writes that it's OBA free?

[deanwork]

No the primarily reason that I have used it all these years is that it Doesn't contain dye brighteners, nor does the edition etching or Platine. If you don't believe that put them under a black light. The dont glow.

 It is only one of a few products that uses pigment whiteners and unfortunately Hahnemühle has nothing yet with them. The only other one I know of is Breathing Color canvas and their Optica paper that I don't like the coating on and it has not been independently tested like the Canson media.  The other reason I like these papers is their sharpness. I used to get the best dmax wit CRP but not anymore. 

I knew that the agreement between Arches and Canson ended about a year ago and also knew that Somerset delivers Aquarelle paper, but does anyone know who supplies paper to Velin Museum Rag?

Have not heard of the new paper supplier Rag Photographique so it came somewhat as a surprise to me that there is problems with the coating. Too bad for an excellent piece of paper.

I am correct reading that Canson Rag Photographigue contains OBA. Canson writes that it's OBA free?

[bellevuefineart]

Canson no longer exists as such. It was acquired by the Italian FILA Group in December of last year. They appear to have made a deal with Legion to carry this line of papers.

Indeed, we were just hit with the paper changes as Canson was purchased by the FILA group. The papers are no longer the same at all. There is a small round grey QC stickers on the new boxes. The paper is only the same by name. The paper itself is completely different, and shouldn't even be called the same thing. We noticed right away.

At Bellevue Fine Art we use the Canson Velin and the Canson Aquarelle a LOT. But with these changes we're looking for a replacement for both papers.

First, the Canson Velin is visibly warmer now than it was. We immediately noticed when running a large job and we changed paper rolls in the middle of the job. Not the same paper at all. Not only is it warmer, but the texture is visibly different. The new Canson Velin has more texture. It's like the Crane Museo as if it was flattened out more, but it's got that same weird machine made slight texture. The new Velin is also more curly and the prints don't flatten out as well if you use rolls. And lastly, the makeup of the paper itself is different, and our 9900's have a hard time cutting it. We've had our printers give us cut errors numerous times in the first week of use.

As for the Canson Aquarelle, which was our standard watercolor paper for a long time, it's not at all the same as before. The texture is very different, and not at all appealing. We're looking for a replacement. Previously to this we used the Magiclee Arches Infinity and were happy with it. Then due to availability we switched to the Canson Aquarelle adn liked it a lot. Good consistent color and great texture. When reproducing watercolor paintings it was great. But now we have this thing that looks and acts like Crane Museo, which we also used to use, but it had massive cutting issues and was very very curly and wouldn't flatten well.

What the FILA group has done to the Canson branded papers is a travesty. They were good papers, but now they're just not interesting at all. The sudden change is causing confusion, and the quality and feel of the papers has degraded.

Anybody have suggestions for similar papers?

PS - who is the genius at Luminous Landscapes that wants me to answer THREE questions to post this, including the square root of 81 AND 7x8+10 divided by 3??? REALLY? Because if every time I want to post, if I have to answer math questions like that then this forum is not going to be in my list of places to go.

[deanwork]

I have used Hahnemuhle textured papers for like 16 years and not only find them consistent but actually nicer that those textured  Canson media you mentioned.

I did use the Canson Edition Etching because of the pigment whiteners made it a bit brighter but Hahnemühle Museum Etching is a great human looking texture with excellent overall characteristics overall and does not scuff like the German Etching can. Though both are great papers.

The media I have always used for the heavy texture is Hahnemuhle William Turner . It may be the single most beautiful inkjet media I've ever used and unlike the Canson highly textured but doesn't look like it was run through a texture machine. The downside to William Turner is its vulnerability to scuffing when a lot of black is laid down. I spray it.

My recent experience with the Canson Rag Photographique and Platine is that they have not changed, except for a mottling in the pure black areas in some batches  on Rag Photographique and the Epson variety Legacy Fiber as well. I haven't tried the Edition Etching since the company transition so can't comment on that. A lot of people like the Moab Entrada. I haven't tried it for many years. The early versions flaked badly but that seems to have been fixed.

John







quote author=bellevuefineart link=topic=118824.msg1000855#msg1000855 date=1506020855]
Indeed, we were just hit with the paper changes as Canson was purchased by the FILA group. The papers are no longer the same at all. There is a small round grey QC stickers on the new boxes. The paper is only the same by name. The paper itself is completely different, and shouldn't even be called the same thing. We noticed right away.

At Bellevue Fine Art we use the Canson Velin and the Canson Aquarelle a LOT. But with these changes we're looking for a replacement for both papers.

First, the Canson Velin is visibly warmer now than it was. We immediately noticed when running a large job and we changed paper rolls in the middle of the job. Not the same paper at all. Not only is it warmer, but the texture is visibly different. The new Canson Velin has more texture. It's like the Crane Museo as if it was flattened out more, but it's got that same weird machine made slight texture. The new Velin is also more curly and the prints don't flatten out as well if you use rolls. And lastly, the makeup of the paper itself is different, and our 9900's have a hard time cutting it. We've had our printers give us cut errors numerous times in the first week of use.

As for the Canson Aquarelle, which was our standard watercolor paper for a long time, it's not at all the same as before. The texture is very different, and not at all appealing. We're looking for a replacement. Previously to this we used the Magiclee Arches Infinity and were happy with it. Then due to availability we switched to the Canson Aquarelle adn liked it a lot. Good consistent color and great texture. When reproducing watercolor paintings it was great. But now we have this thing that looks and acts like Crane Museo, which we also used to use, but it had massive cutting issues and was very very curly and wouldn't flatten well.

What the FILA group has done to the Canson branded papers is a travesty. They were good papers, but now they're just not interesting at all. The sudden change is causing confusion, and the quality and feel of the papers has degraded.

Anybody have suggestions for similar papers?

PS - who is the genius at Luminous Landscapes that wants me to answer THREE questions to post this, including the square root of 81 AND 7x8+10 divided by 3??? REALLY? Because if every time I want to post, if I have to answer math questions like that then this forum is not going to be in my list of places to go.
[/quote]