Papers for B&W printing

[PeterAit]

I'd like to get some suggestions for papers to use for B&W printing with an Epson 4880. I prefer a fairly smooth surface similar to the surface of the silver-based "glossy" papers when air dried. Good D-max too. Thanks for any suggestions.

[TylerB]

So many photographers like the Harman gloss that I'd suggest you take a look at it. It looks a bit too much like RC gloss to me though, my favorites are PhotoRag Baryta and Museo Silver Rag.
Tyler

[Alan Goldhammer]

I'd like to get some suggestions for papers to use for B&W printing with an Epson 4880. I prefer a fairly smooth surface similar to the surface of the silver-based "glossy" papers when air dried. Good D-max too. Thanks for any suggestions.

Ilford Gold Fibre Silk and Museo Silver Rag are the two glossy papers I routinely use.  The Ilford paper is slightly warmer.  Both give outstanding results and are reasonably priced.

[mattpallante]

Peter, I find the Harmon gloss gives the best detail, especially shadow detail, on my Epson 3800, when printing B&W.

[datro]

The Innova FibaPrint Ultra Smooth Gloss 285 GSM has become my favorite paper for B&W (which is mostly what I do).  I did quite a bit of testing and sampling of all the current PK papers and the Ultra Smooth Gloss had just the right combination of characteristics for me.  It does not seem to suffer as much from gloss differential like some of the other PK papers (e.g. Gold Fiber Silk), the surface texture is pleasing (for me this means it's not too sparkly, too obvious, or too high-gloss), the base color is a bright white but not blue (although it does have OBAs), and has a nice hand feel. I use "Premium Glossy 250" as the media setting for this paper which seems to match it quite well in terms of ink load and paper handling in my 7900.  Most of the time I'm printing with "Neutral" and either "Normal" or "Dark" settings in ABW and I'm getting some of the best B&W work I've ever done.

Dave

[PhillyPhotographer]

I've been using Crane Museo Silver Rag for 3 years and i have no complaints. It's even better since they made improvements earlier this year.

[JBerardi]

I'd like to get some suggestions for papers to use for B&W printing with an Epson 4880. I prefer a fairly smooth surface similar to the surface of the silver-based "glossy" papers when air dried. Good D-max too. Thanks for any suggestions.

There's been a number of recommendations for the Harman fiber gloss already, and I'll second those. The one thing I'll add is that Harman also makes a warmtone version of that paper, specifically for b&w printing. IIRC it's the same exact paper except without OBAs, so it doesn't look quite as aggressively vibrant as the regular version (possibly more evocative of those silver-based papers). Personally I find it to be absolutely gorgeous stuff, although I wouldn't use it for everything. If you like warmtone papers, it's definitely worth a try.

[neil snape]

My favourite is Hahenmuhle PhotoRag Baryta, yet Museo Silver is very close in image quality and characteristic ( yet is NOT the same media).

Harman gives a good WOW factor but is somewhat too shiny for a gloss differential /uniformity for certain types of image content. Other than the warm it is laced with OBA, and the backing not as prestigious as cotton rag.


You'll want to consider the Epson Tradition which is pretty darn good, albeit OBA in both the base and coating could be a drawback. The surface though and image quality perfectly matched for Epson inks.

[eleanorbrown]

I've tried many of these papers and Silver Rag used to be my standard paper.  The surface is very tough and was great to use for giving clients large loose prints.  However since then I've standardized on three papers for my fine art work, both color and monotone:  Harman gloss bright white and warm, Epson Exhibition Fiber and Ilford gold fiber silk.  Word of warning....don't touch the surface of the Ilford paper unless you want a finger mark on the paper base.  It's the most delicate surface of all. eleanor

My favourite is Hahenmuhle PhotoRag Baryta, yet Museo Silver is very close in image quality and characteristic ( yet is NOT the same media).

Harman gives a good WOW factor but is somewhat too shiny for a gloss differential /uniformity for certain types of image content. Other than the warm it is laced with OBA, and the backing not as prestigious as cotton rag.


You'll want to consider the Epson Tradition which is pretty darn good, albeit OBA in both the base and coating could be a drawback. The surface though and image quality perfectly matched for Epson inks.