I am printing on a Canon 4100 on 44" rolls of paper. I print a lot on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308 and Canson Rag Photographique 310.
Especially with the Canson paper it seems like the first foot or two of paper in the roll is very prone to chipping/flaking - where a tiny flake of paper falls off leaving behind a white spot. But it happens on the Photo Rag 308 as well. And seems to happen every so often mid-roll with the Canson. Most of the photos I am printing on these papers have large areas of smooth gradient color and dark tones so the spots can be quite noticeable. It causes me enough stress that I may switch to a coated paper. I print on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta and love it but obviously it doesn't have that matte paper look and feel.
** UPDATE: Was just thinking that when the new roll is loaded the printer feeds a few feet out of the front before rolling it back up again (maybe to adjust tension). Could the paper be picking up fine pieces of paper dust hanging around inside the printer as it is being re-rolled?
Is there any "pro" secret to loading a fresh roll of matte paper (like brushing it down or something)? Or do I get a set of colored ink pens to repair the spots (doesn't always work)?
The flaking (and scuffing) on the Canson is so bad and has caused so many headaches when I work with my local printer on big prints (50" x 75") that we don't even use the Canson anymore and do a Baryta paper instead.
