paper stock (digital)

[violin]

one of my friends had just bought an epson 9600 injet printer (or the latest model whichever number that has) i'd like to make some prints for diplaying in public (in front of many photographers). i have some great scans but i am unsure as to what is a good paper stock (i usually output to lambda when "doing didg"). As we are not really at the fore front of digital print technology here in my neck of the woods i was planning to limit myself to the epson range of papers and inks (ultrachrome ink), the copies will be very colourful plant/flower details, any recommendations? whats your favorite combination of paper/ink?

[Julian_3496]

It depends if you want a photo-type paper or a fine art (matte) paper. Photo papers to try are the epson premier semi matte, or premier gloss, or the ilford 'classic' papers. Fine art I like the hahnemuhle photorag in its heavier versions.

[Paul Kierstead]

If you are considering glossy with Ultrachrome inks, I would seriously suggest you do a trial run with maybe a crop or on a 2200 or something first. Glossy + Ultrachrome tends to bronze quite badly, although apparently some RIP's help a lot and some non-Epson papers are better.

Luminous-Landscape has a new article up with some reviews of Moab papers. A lot of photographers seem to like Epson Archival Matte (or whatever its current name is). That is my choice, but I haven't really tried a lot of papers and the semi-gloss is pretty nice too.

[Julian_3496]

bronzing is caused by too much ink being layed down for a given density. i.e. the paper can't absorb the ink. It is a problem with glossy papers. A rip allows you to linearise the inks, i.e. you set the rip up to lay down only enough ink to achieve a specific density. You also need custom profiles for each ink/paper combo. It basically takes as much testing as tweaking to do an inket print as it takes to calibrate a wet neg/developer/iso combo

[matthew blais]

I have an Epson 2200 and for color prints where optimal sharpness is preferred throughout, the Epson Premium Luster renders (I think) a sharper image vs. the watercolor or other fine art papers due to saturation/coating factors...I haven't tried the hahnemuhle yet, which seems to be a preferred fine art paper that a lot of labs use, as well as the somersett velvet.

I really think it depends on the image and the look that you want. I think the advice above about trying some samples on various papers will help you decide what's right/best for your images. Most profiles can be downloaded from the epson site for free, but usually come with the printer.

[JohnnyV]

Hahnemuhle photorag has my vote also - slight texture, very good saturation and very good image sharpness. I use the 308 gram version and recently a 400+ gram was released. With Epson printers use the Media settng Epson Enhanced Matte.

[tim atherton]

the Ilford Galerie smooth gloss is very good for a glossy paper - as is the Pictorico Photo Gallery/Photo GLossy paper(but more expensive). Epson Glossy is crap

I prefer the smem matte/semi gloss to the lustre.

Up until recently I chose Hahn Photo Rag, but my new paper of choise is Premier Fine Art hot pressed (now sold by epson in limited sizes under a different name) - very slightly warmer paper (but no otpical brighteners = better longevity) great colour gamut, good blacks, no flaking and, if ordered from photowarehouse, siginifacantly cheaper... Also there is a good Atkinson profile for it for the 7600/9600 (along with lots of other papers)

http://www.premierimagingproducts.com/media/index.html

buy it here - best price

http://www.photowarehouse.biz/premier.html

http://homepage.mac.com/billatkinson

[violin]

thanks guys, feel a bit more confident now, and yes tim the epson glossy is nasty.

adrian