What's your favourite B&W inkjet paper and why?

[Dan Quan]

I will be exploring new papers over the next few months and I am looking for exciting recommendations. Currently I am printing on an Epson 3880 and using Epson Exhibition Fibre and Epson Ultra Premium Luster, and I like each for different reasons. But the time has come to explore new papers so I am buying 2 sample packs; a Hahnemuhle Matte Fine Art Smooth and a Hahnemuhle Matte FineArt Textured.

This takes me back to the thread title and original question; what's your favourite B&W inkjet paper and why?

Thanks for your time.

[Jess C]

I have done a lot of printing on my 3880 and I prefer Canson's Baryta paper for my black and white. It's as close to silver gelatin photographic paper as I have had the pleasure of using. Epson Exhibition is good and some of Hahnemuhle offerings are excellent but for me the Canson's does me good.

[Paul Cunningham]

Canson Baryta is impressive stuff, and hefty as well. At the moment I prefer matte papers such as Epson Velvet Fine Art and Red River Aurora Natural.

[Peter De Smidt]

I like a carbon pigment ink set on Epson Hot Press Natural, a cotton paper without brighteners. With an Eboni ink based inkset, it gives a slightly warm tone, and the dmax is fine for a matte paper.

[angusparker]

I will be exploring new papers over the next few months and I am looking for exciting recommendations. Currently I am printing on an Epson 3880 and using Epson Exhibition Fibre and Epson Ultra Premium Luster, and I like each for different reasons. But the time has come to explore new papers so I am buying 2 sample packs; a Hahnemuhle Matte Fine Art Smooth and a Hahnemuhle Matte FineArt Textured.

This takes me back to the thread title and original question; what's your favourite B&W inkjet paper and why?

Thanks for your time.

I have only used about five different papers on my Epson 3880 but really like the Hahnemuhle Matte Fine Art Smooth - see how you like it.

[paulr]

I got 3:

Hahnemuhle Photo Rag for matte,

Harman/Hahnemuhle Baryta and Canson Baryta for gloss.

Of the last two, I print on the Harman/hahnemuhle on my own printer (17" max), and when I have big prints made for me, I have my printmaker use the Canson.
I find the papers equally good. I like the look of the harman/hahnemuhle surface more; but the surface is fragile, the paper tends to curl, and it's generally more of a pain in the ass.

People who make big prints professionally generally won't put up with the kind of problems the Harman/Hahnemuhle offers, so the Canson's an easy choice for them.

One thing I like about the Harman/Hahnemuhle is that it's available in 17x25." This is a great size for anyone working with a 1.5:1 aspect ratio. I'm surprised it's not more popular.

[Darin Boville]

For what it is worth, I use Canson Edition Etching for color and B&W (with Piezography inks).

--Darin

[mdarnton]

Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Pearl. It's the closest I've found to the old Kodak J-surface, or glossy-dried-matte. It has more texture than either of those, but to me the texture looks "real", where other inkjet textures look like they've been stamped into plastic. It looks like leather; the others look like pleather. Also, it's like a triple-weight silver paper, thick and like museum board, rather than like hard plastic, and the surface feels like a real gelatin surface, not, again, like plastic. Most of the popular premium papers feel and look like cheap plastic to me, front and back.

paulr mentions the fragile Hanemuhle surface. What I realized about that was that the surface itself is very durable, but in printing it picks up a skin of ink overspray that is very tender. Consequently, the stuff starts looking like it's got greasy fingerprint smudges all over it very soon. What I discovered was that you can use odorless paint thinner and a paper towel to wipe off this scum, and then you get a really durable surface. When you try it the first time do an experiment and scrub harder than you dare on a good print, with thinner and cheap paper towels--you'll see that the surface really does not scratch easily at all and is very tough. . . once the scum is gone. From there on, the prints look great and stay great.

The other thing about it is that on my printer I need to put a bit of a reverse curl on just the ends over the edge of my desk, on the leading and trailing edges, or it won't feed right and can pick up ink blots from something inside the printer. But that's relatively painless for the reward.

All of this is probably too much bother for production printing, but I'm not doing production printing.

[bob carnie]

Lately I have been using Hahnemuhle Museum Etching... lovely paper looks for colour and BW.

[paulr]

paulr mentions the fragile Hanemuhle surface.

I've noticed different issues with the matte and baryta surfaces. The trouble I've had with the matte are that little bits of it flake off, and if you don't thoroughly brush it before printing, you get white spots. The surface also tends to transfer ink to anything it brushes agains, and it scuffs very easily, giving a slight sheen to the scuffed areas. My only experience is with the original PhotoRag surface.

With the Baryta paper, the issue is that it scratches extremely easily. The scratches are extremely fine, and only visible on close inspection with light coming from the right angle. But they're there, and can be caused by almost anything. Woking with moderate sized prints at home I can deal with this issue, but it's murder for people dealing with roll paper in a professional environment. The Canson surface is a lot harder to scratch. Although I don't like the way it looks quite as much.