Need Recommendation of Paper for Ink Jet

[neil poulsen]

My all time favorite for landscape is Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta. It's "glossy" surface is not overdone and gives colors depth. It's white color leans a trace to the warm, which I also like for landscape.

But hearing about the Canson baryta papers, I need to give them a try. While I like the H FA Baryta, it's quite expensive.

[Jim Becia]

I'm lighting the burner as I write

I second the vote for the canson baryta papers.

I also like the Canson. You might also look into the Moab La Sal Exhibition Luster 300 also. Jim

[lbenac]

I print b&W out a plain Epson R2900 with Epson ink. My favorite is Canson Infinity Platine Fibre Rag, followed by Canson Infinity Baryta photographique.

cheers,

Luc

[PAllen]

We were printing on both the Museo Silver Rag and the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Bartya papers for this "in between" option. We began noticing changes in the Museo paper from batch to batch (different paper whites) and have since been using only the Hanmuhle Photo Rag Baryta. It prints beautifully, except for the occasional black speck in a roll (cotton seed?)
We are getting a roll of the Harman Gloss Baryta today and will report back. The only reason we have not stocked it before is it does not come in 60" rolls!

Best,
Patrick Allen
http://www.kenallenstudios.com

[Walter Foscari]

I only use matte papers and I've tried many. Still my favs remain Hahnemuhle Photo Rag and Moab Entrada Natural. The first one for color work the second for b&w. The added benefit of Entrada is the excellent price especially if you buy in rolls.

[John Rodriguez]

As far as smooth papers for landscape I've tried -

Hahnemuhle FineArt Pearl - Heavy and smooth, looks slightly coated, but not nearly as much as a gloss paper. Bright but not blue.

Hahnemuhle FineArt Baryta - Too much stipple for my taste. Bright. I have a box of 17x22" I'll sell cheap if anyone wants it.

Hahnemuhle Photo Rag - acts like matte

Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Satin - can't really tell a difference between this and regular rag

Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Bright White - brighter Photo Rag

Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Pearl - really interesting, matte paper with pearlescent sparkle

Epson Luster - Bright but not blue like Exhibition. Wish it has a little less stipple.

Epson Semigloss - Almost indistinguishable from Luster.

Ilford Gold Fibre - Very light stipple, warm.



Personally I prefer Epson Luster for color landscapes and Ilford Gold Fibre for black and white. I would like to try the Harman Gloss and the Canson Baryta.

[Valdecus]

Having tried quite a few papers in the past years, I've come to settle for the following papers:

- Hahnemuehle Photo Rag (matte paper for subtle, muted color landscapes)

- Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper 260 (for more saturated color images with deep blacks)

- Ilford Gold Fibre Silk (for B&W images, producing a nice warm tone)

Cheers,
Andreas

[rjphil]

I've been using either the Harman Gloss Baryta or the Canson Platine and have been happy with both of them. The Harman is more prone to surface damage as it is more of a gloss, while the Platine has a slight texture to it. The Platine is lso 100% cotton with no OBAs.

[PAllen]

We received the Harman Gloss Baryta and I think it prints beautifully. It is much more glossy then some of the other Baryta papers but still very nice, and it has minimal surface texture. We will still use the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta as our primary paper in this category, but the Harman will certainly be used on occasion.
The ilford Gold Fiber Silk is also a beautiful paper as other members have commented on but we had lots of problems with surface scratches so we stopped using it.

Best,
Patrick Allen
http://www.kenallenstudios.com

[John Rodriguez]

An update on what I wrote above. I've been using Epson Premium Luster for everything for awhile, mostly because I haven't been printing much black and white. Anyways I just got a new printer and have been shooting a lot of black and white so I decided to go paper hunting again. I ordered a black and white sample pack from Atlex that was supposed to have Epson Exhibition Fiber, Harman Gloss Baryta, Gallerie Gold, Hahnemuhle FA Baryta, and Canson Baryta. Unfortunately the pack came with Premier Imaging Platinum Rag instead of Canson; bummer. The Harman Gloss Baryta turned out to be Warmtone instead of regular, but that wasn't as big of a deal (although I really want to see what the regular tone is). Anyways, I printed a BW and Color image on each of the Epson, Harman and Ilford using canned profiles. I've already printed enough on the FA Baryta to know I don't like it. The Premier Imaging stuff isn't anything I'm interested in.

Base Color - They're pretty close. Comparing them side by side under strong daylight - Exhibition has a very slight blue/magenta cast, the Harman looks neutral and the Ilford looks slightly red/yellow.

Gloss Differential - Harman has just about none, Epson has a little but it's not very noticeable, only the Ilford was obvious about it when it shows up.

Color/Dmax - Really close, and tough to compare without custom profiles. With that said - Ilford had SLIGHTLY more saturated colors and dmax. Epson and Harman looked the same.

Surface - Epson has the roughest texture, Harman is almost totally smooth while Ilford is in the middle. If I hold the papers so they're reflecting light with the Ilford and Epson, they look to me like prints on cardboard. The Ilford cardboard is nicer. The Harman however looks like what I think of as a photograph. This actually has less to do with surface texture and more to do with how the paper surface/ink surface interact. With the Epson and Ilford it's very easy to see the inked portion of the paper as separate from the borders - it reflects a bit differently. The Harman however reflects the same and both inked areas and the borders. It looks like the image is in the paper. Overall the effect makes a HUGE difference when looking at the prints. The Ilford I formerly liked now looks like crap in comparison.

Overall the Harman blew me away. I did run into a huge downside though, the stuff curls like a b1tch. Both of my sheets had head strikes. I'd need to spend time pressing this stuff flat before printing and always dry-mount.

I still want to try the Canson as it sounds like it stays flat better. At this point I'd rather use Premium Luster for color rather then any of the baryta papers except for the Harman, and if the Harman doesn't work out for curling issues, I'm going to try Ilford Smooth Pearl for B&W instead of Gallerie Silk.