Got my printer all up and running and prints are wonderful on the sample roll of paper they sent. However I'm really disappointed with the HP Satin Canvas I ordered. I got a 44 inch roll of it to boot and I don't like it at all. The image looks grainy and flat compared to giclees I've ordered in the past. Guess I shouldn't have assumed HP media would render the best results with an HP printer. The texture and the sheen make the image hard to see.
Sorry for the rant but I'm really disappointed right now.
Cheers
MacGuiver
It's not your imagination; HP's "collector's satin canvas" is a lousy product. D-max is really poor, tonal separation in shadows mediocre, highlights are very warm, and as you note the surface sheen is annoying. You can get acceptable results with the occasional image, namely something that lives in the mid-tones & highlights and where a warm bias is okay...everything else will be a disappointment.
HP's professional matte canvas is way nicer; better detail, cleaner white, and a pretty decent gamut & D-max.
Here's a trick I found quite useful to see if some of HP's branded media were worth buying, after a few mistakes:
HP's canned profiles for the Z3100 (and I'm presuming the Z3200) are really good. Take the kind of image you like to print into Photoshop, and view it using softproof, choosing the profile for the medium you're considering. This will show you if its worth buying even a sample. The softproof for their satin canvas looks like crap for almost any type of image, and it's not lying!