Finding peace with my new P800 and Hahnemuhle Baryta

[Joe S]

I am a big fan of Harman by Hahnemuhle' Baryta Gloss and purchased a quantity when B and H offered it on sale.    All was well until my 3880 died and I got a P800.   The 3880 handled the paper ( which does have a curl along the length in cut sheets) without problem loaded right through the top even in 17x25 sizes.   The P800 does not do so well even with a wide gap and gigantic paper thickness settings.   Ink strike marks along the right side are standard.   I tried to uncurl and flatten that edge with frustrating results.   I decided to try a homemade decurler and the results have been fantastic.  I was aware of this device for use after printing but not before. 

It has made life with the P800 possible.   I have found that the newer Hahnemuhle Photo Gloss Baryta is also prone to edge curl to a lesser degree even in the 8.5x11 size I have tried so it may be useful there as well.

There have been posts of troublesome issues with the P800 and Baryta paper and I would like to suggest trying this approach.  It's an extra step but only takes a few minutes on a 2" roll and then it's smooth printing.

[Rand47]

Thanks... tell us more about the home made decurler!

Rand

[Joe S]

Thanks... tell us more about the home made decurler!

Rand


I used a length of 1-1/2" PVC pipe (actual OD is 1.9") and some sailcloth scrap I had lying around.   I don't think its too critical but the fabric should be stiff so it rolls up nicely.   Heavy canvas or even stiff paper would work well.   I contact cemented it to the pipe and rolled it up to reverse the curl.  It only takes a few minutes until it has a bit of reverse curve and rests flat or maybe with the ends reverse curling a bit down in the printer.

[drralph]

I just finished my first roll of Canson Baryta Photographique on a P800.  I had no problems till the roll was almost at an end, when I got head strikes.  I also noted that the last 5 feet of the roll had indentations from where the end was glued to the core.  So it is not really a 50 foot roll, but actually ~45 usable feet.

This decurling technique may mitigate the headstrike issues I saw.  I presume it was because the curl problem is greater towards the end of the roll.  I just loaded a new roll of the same paper, and no problems.