Latest best inkjet papers

[chris jordan]

Hi guys, I want to print some portfolios of inkjet prints sized around 11x14, and am wondering what's going on the high-end inkjet paper world these days. Last paper I used was a couple of years back-- Hanne Fine Art Pearl. It was gorgeous, but had a flaking problem. Any suggestions for what's state of the art at the moment?

~cj

[Gem Singer]

Harman Matt FB Mp.

Also available in glossy.

[chris jordan]

Gem, have you compared the Harman with the Epson Exhibition Fiber? The Epson paper is getting raves but I haven't tried either of them yet.

[Gem Singer]

Chris,

Our LF group here in Dallas has been printing with a variety of papers, using HP, Cannon, and Epson printers.

I am now using Epson Ultra Premium Presentation paper with my HP printer and inks. Printing B&W to 12"x18" max. size. At my level of inkjet printing skill, a lower price paper seems to be much more practical to use.

Glenn prefers the German Etching paper from Hahnemuhle over the baryta coated Harman paper for large color prints made on his Canon printer..

I guess It's a matter of personal preference.

With HP matt black ink, both the Harman Fiber Matt and the Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Matt exhibit exceptional Dmax. They are so close, it's difficult to tell them apart when comparing prints.

[Gem Singer]

BTW Chris,

Epson's new UltraChrome K-3 ink is recommended for the Exhibition Fiber Paper.

We have not tried that paper with the new ink, as yet.

[Bob McCarthy]

Another point of view. I think the Harmon Matte is ordinary, however the Harmon Baryta glossy is extraordinary.

Glenn is working with Galleria Baryta Silk Gold at last check.

bob

[Ed Richards]

Harmon Glossy FB (Baryta) really pops, esp. if you have fine detail to preserve. Exhibition Fiber, which I have just started to use, is almost as good, with just a slightly less glossy surface and a whiter base. I like the detail and pop of a really smooth paper for my black and white, but you might want a mat surface if you are looking for the really deep, saturated look, with less attention to fine detail. If these are going to be sold as loose prints in box, so people handle the prints, Exhibition Fiber has a really nice, heavy feel and is quite stiff. A nice object.

[SteveKarr]

I second the Harmon Glossy FB (Baryta). Looks & feels like fiber photo paper in the hand, and Boy is it pretty. Of course it's the most expensive paper on the shelve ....

[Marco]

Ciao Chris, great to see you here!!

Here's another vote for the Harman Gloss FB AL, I've been using this paper for the last year and is superb!


Ciaooooo!!!

Marco

[Steve Gledhill]

The Harman Gloss FB AL comes in two versions - a standard neutral-ish tone plus a warmtone. My firm preference is for the warmtone.

[Ed Richards]

The warm tone is very pretty, but I have no sense of what it would do with colors.

[Eric Brody]

There is currently an embarrassment of riches among inkjet papers. While I use an Epson 3800 with the K3 inks, other printers, eg HP and Canon may give slightly different results. If you cannot use the latest inks, there are some small compromises. The first decision is glossy or matte, then paper surface, some or no texture, then tonality of the paper, cool or warm. I too was temporarily in love with Hahnemuhle fine art pearl, and made a lot of prints with it, but it has been surpassed by the newer generation of baryta papers, at least for gloss-semigloss work.

For my glossy work, the deepest blacks, color or black and white, seem to come from the Harman FB Glossy. For many, including the folios published by Lenswork, it has become the de facto standard high quality glossy paper, though some folks like the Hahnemuhle Baryta. While no inkjet paper can look the same as a wet darkroom print, the Harman does come pretty close and for many is an excellent transition paper to pigment printing for wet darkroom converts.

For matte papers, I am currently using Moab Entrada Rag, a nice surface and less expensive than the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag, another excellent paper. I do love the tone of the Hahnemuhle Bamboo for my color images that benefit from a slightly warm tone.

Most importantly, having said all this, look at a paper, touch it, look at prints like your own, or get a few sample sheets and try it. Writing about paper reminds me of the Steve Martin quote about music..."Talking about music is like dancing about architecture." And remember, most papers look similar under glass or plexi, and... after you spend hours deciding on a paper, the average gallery viewer spends only a few seconds looking at all your hard work.

Good luck and have fun.

Eric

[Tyler Boley]

If you like super OBA blue white paper.. like other Epson photo papers, you'll like the EEF, nothing wrong with it, performs well. If you prefer a more LAB neutral paper base, Hanne Photo Rag Baryta wins hands down over here. Not to be confused with Hanne Fine Art Baryta, which has a different surface and base. Since you liked Fine Art Pearl, try the Photo Rag Baryta, similar surface, better performance, nice hand, less gloss differential and bronzing, have never seen a flake. Only downside- occassional buggers in the paper, easy to avoid, last roll in here looks better than when introduced.
I'm assuming you are still on Epsons? If you are now on HP, the field opens up a bit because of the gloss optimizer.
So far the talk has been all photo surfaces, if you like matte, other good papers have come along as well.
Tyler
http://www.custom-digital.com/

[Jeffrey Sipress]

I have a roll of the Harmon Glossy FB (Baryta), and the Ilford Gold Fiber Silk (Baryta). Both give equally excellent results. The Harmon is too expensive. I stocked up on the Ilford.

[h2oman]

I prefer the regular Harman Glossy for prints of cooler things, like shots with snow, white granite, waterfalls and rivers, etc. The warmtone is nice for scenes with more organic material (humans included!) If you print with an option of a warmer print you can do that on the regular to save a little $$$, since the warmtone is more expensive.

[keeds]

Hahnemuhle Bamboo is a fantastic paper. Great tone, great texture.

[Tyler Boley]

Hahnemuhle Bamboo is a fantastic paper. Great tone, great texture.

Bamboo is a fine art matte paper, I have seen a lot of it in the last several weeks because of a sale here, full Ultrachrome color and Piezotone Warm, Selenium, and split tone.
It is indeed a very nice paper, performs as well as all of the Hahnemuhle line, very much like Photo Rag but a bit warmer paper base.

However, it is a matte paper, and I think Chris is looking for a photo surface paper.

OT: But for matte, I would encourage people to look into these papers. The Sugar Cane is nice too, and the Prince's Rain Forest Project exhibition of Daniel Beltra's work at the Mercy Corps Action Center in NYC last month, we printed entirely on Sugar Cane, very appropriate, and nearly indistinguishable from his previous prints on William Turner.
Tyler
http://www.custom-digital.com/

[Deniz Merdanogullari]

im curious as to if you can print on the Harman FB Glossy with the Photo Black ink on a 4880+colorburst RIP ?
Or do i need to swap inks to Matt?

[h2oman]

Deniz,

Maybe Ed Richards will chime in here. I'm pretty new to all this, but based on a past post of Ed's, I've just been printing with a 3800 on Harmon FB Glossy using the AWB settings of the Epson driver, no special profiles or anything, no ink swapping that I know of. The results seem good to me but, again, I'm pretty inexperienced and maybe not as discriminating as others!

[John Brady]

im curious as to if you can print on the Harman FB Glossy with the Photo Black ink on a 4880+colorburst RIP ?
Or do i need to swap inks to Matt?

The Harmon FB is meant to be printed with the photo black ink, as are all gloss papers that I know of. I am sure the colorburst rip will do a fine job if you can find a colorburst profile for the Harmon.

I print on it with the epson driver and the 9900 printer with and the abw mode or let photoshop manage colors and use the Hahnemhule Baryta profile. The Harmon baryta profile that I took off their site was garbage. Anway, this combo has worked for me for color and b&w. ymmv

www.timeandlight.com

[Ed Richards]

Yep, it uses the ink for glossy paper, and the best I can do is with AWB, rather than with a RIP. There are some previous threads with the settings for paper thickness, platen gap, and light/dark. I definitely wish I had figured out the AWB BEFORE I paid to upgrade my RIP so I could run the 3800.

[Deniz Merdanogullari]

THe colorburst manages to run the embedded paper profile if its not on its pull down menu.
So far i've been printing very nicely on Ilford smooth pearl.

about 2 years ago Harman sent me a pack of 13x19 Harman FB Matt as a sample and i only had photo black ink on my 4880 and it printed like crap until i switched to matt inks.

Want to do an exhibition on this amazing paper soon.

[rjphil]

Has anyone tried the Canson Platine? It's 100% cotton, no OBAs. I currently use the Harmon glossy FB (and really like it), but this looks interesting. Thanks!

[Tyler Boley]

Has anyone tried the Canson Platine? It's 100% cotton, no OBAs. I currently use the Harmon glossy FB (and really like it), but this looks interesting. Thanks!

I set up on it for color and B&W, and though it looks nice, I am not switching to it for photo black printing, comments posted a bit ago here-
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?p=520051#post520051

Since their matte papers are good I am more interested in testing the baryta paper they introduced here-
http://www.canson-infinity.com/en/baryta310.asp
when I get my hands on some.
Tyler

[Anthony Lewis]

I have just started printing as well, and am looking at the range of inkjet papers. I was just sold the Permjet Fine Art Fibre based gloss paper and was told I was really going to see a big difference between the Epson Premium gloss paper that I have been using.
Well I have stared and stared and can't see any difference. Is there any real difference between the top quality papers? Can anyone enlighten me and is there any real difference between the quality papers?

[francois.jonquet]

i have used in the last two years:
Harman glossy FB it is nice but expensive and to glossy for my yaste
espon exibition fiber good job, not to glossy, it is like luster surface expensive too
ilford gold silk the one i still using because cheaper than the other, in the same league
good in BW and color
at end it depens of your own taste, buy a box of trial with one sheet of each paper of the brand, try it and make your choice
regards
francois

[Doug Dolde]

I still like Epson Ultrasmooth Fine Art paper a lot. I also print some on Exhibition Fiber but the USFAP is very appealing and has a more sensual quality.

[Anthony Lewis]

The ICC profiles supplied by the companies appear to do a very good job to me. What are everyone's opinions on using these profiles in comparison to having a custom profile done?

[caleb]

I use the Museo silver rag and really like the results I get on an Epson 7880 out at school. I just use the profile from their site. I scan 4x5 velvia and provia on a V750.
I really like the feel of it and how it looks, I also like that it isn't trying to be a C print.

[JeffKohn]

For "photo black" papers I really like Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta. No OBA's so it's a bit on the warm side (but not too yellowish), a nice surface (no eggshell), excellent gamut and dmax, and a nice feel in the hand.

For matte black there are lots of great papers to choose from. Hahnemuhle makes several with varying amounts of texture. Crane Museo Max is excellent, and Epson's Ultrasmooth Fine Art is nice if you want a really smooth surface (can't match the gamut and dmax of some of the others, though).