Beautiful Cut Sheet Inkjet Paper

[bob carnie]

I am working with Cannon and Epson Inkjet printers, mainly commercial and some art display work, and have been happy with Photo Rag, that is produced by Haneamuhle and of late Fuji Photo Rag. I have been only using paper on rolls on our big Cannon.

I have a project in hand where I would like to use our Epson 7800 with the K3 Ultrachrome inks. Print size would be about 12x18 optically centered on a sheet of paper .

The originals are Kodachromes from the early to late 50's . I would love to hear any thoughts about cut sheet paper that would work well with the original chromes and the inks of the Epson.
I would be open to any suggestions, I have worked with Arches Arquelle and Platine in cut sheet and will test these with this project ( these papers are not specifically made for inkjet and suck a lot of ink and require a lot of contrast control to make them work , but I think maybe I should also be open to some of the finer cut sheet papers that some of you are using that are dedicated for inkjet printers.

Do any of you remember the difference in look of Kodak colour paper and Agfa from the early 70's , a much more pastel look with Agfa compared to the Kodak.
I think this era in colour , had a feel that I am not seeing with current papers.
Just saw a Fred Herzog show here in Toronto ,the work was from the same era, different Continent but it had this 60's colour feel that I found quite compelling.

Any suggestions on some specific papers, ???

[Gem Singer]

Epson Exhibition Fiber paper + Epson Ultra-Chrome K-3 inks = combination that's hard to beat.

[bob carnie]

What is the surface like Gem?

Epson Exhibition Fiber paper + Epson Ultra-Chrome K-3 inks = combination that's hard to beat.

[BarryS]

For a fine art (100% cotton rag, matte surface) paper, I love Moab Entrada Natural.

[Jim Bradley]

Canson's Platine Fiber Rag is getting a lot of good ink (pun intended)

http://wyofoto.com/Canson_Platine_review.html

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/es...got_away.shtml

http://theonlinephotographer.typepad...int-offer.html

I had trouble finiding it stock the last time I ordered paper so I went with the Canson Bartya which I'm liking on my HP Z3100.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com./r...ers/tale.shtml

Jim

[bob carnie]

Thanks Jim
I was hoping someone would mention the Canson line as my main supplier of paper here in Toronto can get it for me easily.

Canson's Platine Fiber Rag is getting a lot of good ink (pun intended)

http://wyofoto.com/Canson_Platine_review.html

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/es...got_away.shtml

http://theonlinephotographer.typepad...int-offer.html

I had trouble finiding it stock the last time I ordered paper so I went with the Canson Bartya which I'm liking on my HP Z3100.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com./r...ers/tale.shtml

Jim

[Gem Singer]

Bob,

Epson Exhibition fiber has a luster surface. Between Glossy and matte. Resembles air dried fiber base photo paper.

Designed to be used with Epson K-3 inks. Try it. You might like it.

[bob carnie]

I am going to give this paper a try along side the Canson.

Bob,

Epson Exhibition fiber has a luster surface. Between Glossy and matte. Resembles air dried fiber base photo paper.

Designed to be used with Epson K-3 inks. Try it. You might like it.

[D. Bryant]

I am going to give this paper a try along side the Canson.

Quoting Mark Dubovoy in his review of the paper on the Luminous Landscape:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/re...on_Fiber.shtml

It is not a pure 100% acid-free rag paper. It comes from wood pulp. How pure or how Lignin free is the Alpha Cellulose? I do not know, and Epson is not sharing this information. I also do not know if there might be other chemical contaminants in the base.

- The paper has OBA’s. I spoke to several people at Epson and all they would say is that the OBA’s will last as long as the best modern OBA’s, but that there are no breakthroughs for them or anyone else in OBA’s. They say that as the OBA’s fade, the prints will look the same as papers without OBA’s, but I have heard that claim before and it turned out to be false. I have no way of knowing if it will be true or false this time.

- The base is so incredibly white and so incredibly brilliant, that frankly I think it is a bit too much. It can look almost blinding. I wish they would tone it down a little.

- The paper is available in a limited number of sizes and only in sheets. The largest sheet available is 24x30 which is too small for many photographers. I cannot understand why Epson would not make this paper in larger sizes and rolls, since it is aimed at the very people that use large sizes and rolls the most.

- Last, but not least, this paper is incredibly expensive. I do not believe there is any way to justify its cost based on R&D, production and marketing/distribution costs alone. This is clearly a marketing decision to push the price envelope as high as possible.

I've tested this paepr when it premeired as well and the paper base looks bluish and un-natural. Ditto for what else Mark said but it does make a pretty print with the Pixel Genius and custom profile.

Don Bryant

[venchka]

For a fine art (100% cotton rag, matte surface) paper, I love Moab Entrada Natural.

So do I. With Kodachrome originals as well. However, I print with Canon 5100 inks.