Latest Views on Paper

[Alistair]

I have a B9180 which I mainly use for non-gloss papers and an R1800 which I mainly use for glossier papers; OEM inks in both cases. I print about 50/50 color/BW and use matt and 'satin' papers and occasionally gloss. I use a Colorvision 2 to build profiles.

I have been using HP and Epson papers but would like to try some alternatives.

For PK papers I have identified the following as candidates for sampling and Shades of Paper have sample packs of these available:
Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Pearl
Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta
Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta
Epson Exhibition Fiber Paper
F-Type Gloss 300
Innova FibaPrint F-Type White Semi-Matte
Harman Glossy FB AI
Ilford Gold Fibre Silk

Does anyone have any comments regarding any of the above or feel that I have left off a paper that merits sampling?

With respect to MK papers, I am looking for one smooth and one with some texture (but not excessively so). I have enjoyed using Epsons Velvet Fine Art and am considering the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag as a smoother paper and the Hahnemuhle Museum Etching as something with more texture.

Finally, while I am sure all the above papers are very nice in one way or the other, they are pretty expensive. For those occasions where the ultimate in quality and longevity is not required, does anyone know of a PK and MK paper which is nearly as nice as these but does not come with the high price tag.

All and any contributions very much appreciated!

[E Slagle]

My B9180 experience has taught basically not to stray without expecting much frustration; that is, primarily use HP branded paper for the B9180. Eric

[Geoff Wittig]

I have a B9180 which I mainly use for non-gloss papers and an R1800 which I mainly use for glossier papers; OEM inks in both cases. I print about 50/50 color/BW and use matt and 'satin' papers and occasionally gloss. I use a Colorvision 2 to build profiles.

I have been using HP and Epson papers but would like to try some alternatives.

For PK papers I have identified the following as candidates for sampling and Shades of Paper have sample packs of these available:
Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Pearl
Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta
Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta
Epson Exhibition Fiber Paper
F-Type Gloss 300
Innova FibaPrint F-Type White Semi-Matte
Harman Glossy FB AI
Ilford Gold Fibre Silk

Does anyone have any comments regarding any of the above or feel that I have left off a paper that merits sampling?

With respect to MK papers, I am looking for one smooth and one with some texture (but not excessively so). I have enjoyed using Epsons Velvet Fine Art and am considering the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag as a smoother paper and the Hahnemuhle Museum Etching as something with more texture.

Finally, while I am sure all the above papers are very nice in one way or the other, they are pretty expensive. For those occasions where the ultimate in quality and longevity is not required, does anyone know of a PK and MK paper which is nearly as nice as these but does not come with the high price tag.

All and any contributions very much appreciated!

I really like Hahnemüle Photo rag pearl on my Z3100; no OBA's, good color gamut, neutral black & white and a reasonably subtle texture. Harman gloss FB AI gives very deep blacks and has a very smooth surface, but paper white is so cold as to be visibly blue.
I would suggest adding Crane silver rag to your list; the surface texture is an acquired taste, but it uses no OBA's and with the HP vivera inkset the D-max is insanely deep pitch black, exceeding anything else I've tried.

[Alistair]

I really like Hahnemüle Photo rag pearl on my Z3100; no OBA's, good color gamut, neutral black & white and a reasonably subtle texture. Harman gloss FB AI gives very deep blacks and has a very smooth surface, but paper white is so cold as to be visibly blue.
I would suggest adding Crane silver rag to your list; the surface texture is an acquired taste, but it uses no OBA's and with the HP vivera inkset the D-max is insanely deep pitch black, exceeding anything else I've tried.

Thanks for your thoughts Geoff. I agree regarding the Photo rag Pearl. I have seen it printed with an Epson 3800 and I really liked its character.

I have seen the comment regarding the coldness of the Harman in other posts here. There is a warmtone version of it so maybe I will give that a tryout as well.

Sounds like I need to try the Crane silver rag too.

Thanks again, Alistair

[Brian Gilkes]

There are lots of very good papers out there.
Museo Silver Rag and Hahnemuhle Photo Rag (HPR) etc are excellent. HPR has one of the best gamuts in the industry but is easily marked as it's surface is very fragile. I suggest you look seriously at the new Canson Infinity range  too..
None of these are cheap. You get what you pay for.
Good luck
Brian
www.pharoseditions.com.au

[MHMG]

I receieved a sample of Photo Rag Pearl  printed on the Z3100 (and with custom profile) from a subscriber to my digital imaging research program. It was one of several papers that were submitted to me, printed with my standard test target on a Z3100. All prints save the photo rag pearl were excellent. The Gloss enhancer on the Photo rag pearl seemed almost totally incompatible, leaving a mottled appearance in the deep shadows and the Lmin value was about 16, astonishingly high for a PK paper.  Again, all other submitted samples were excellent, so I"m just wondering. Could it have been a bad paper batch, or have any others experienced this issue?

[Geoff Wittig]

I receieved a sample of Photo Rag Pearl  printed on the Z3100 (and with custom profile) from a subscriber to my digital imaging research program. It was one of several papers that were submitted to me, printed with my standard test target on a Z3100. All prints save the photo rag pearl were excellent. The Gloss enhancer on the Photo rag pearl seemed almost totally incompatible, leaving a mottled appearance in the deep shadows and the Lmin value was about 16, astonishingly high for a PK paper.  Again, all other submitted samples were excellent, so I"m just wondering. Could it have been a bad paper batch, or have any others experienced this issue?

Hmm. I've had very good luck with this paper on the Z3100, with very smooth grey ramps and good shadow detail. Color representation seems quite clean. I would agree that d-max is not that good for a PK paper. I certainly haven't seen any mottling, and the gloss enhancer seems to work just fine with this paper; there is just the slightest bit of gloss differential seen at fairly acute viewing/reflection angles, nothing I can't put up with.