What kind of paper is best ?

[Vinky]

I am thinking of upgrading from my HP 932c to a 9650. The new printer will be able to produce 13x19 prints at 4800 x 1200 DPI. The fly in the ointment is the lack of 13x19 paper from HP. I have used the HP Premium Plus Paper and Kodak Premium Picture Paper and have no experience with anything else.

I thought this might be a good place to list out our own compatibility section for people buying new machines or looking for alternative papers for the machines they already have.

List your Printer
Make
Model

With the paper
Brand
Type

List what you feel works best and what is worst,

[Stuart Elflett]

I have a Canon S9000, the first of the Canon range which really became known for being choosy over paper - not just because of longevity on non canon paper, but the whole issue of image quality and colour cast problems due to the speed of the ink being laid onto the paper...

Without ANY shadow of a doubt, the Canon paper works the best in this machine - unlike previous Canons I've owned, which preferred Canon paper, and HP & Lexmarks, which worked on just about anything (and I've never owned an Epson due to seeing the service side of the print system), the results on 'genuine' paper vastly excel those on others...

In the Canon range, PR-101 is the best, results wise, all round, and I'd suggest that's followed by MP-101 (price is a factor - this stuff is cheap AND good - just not glossy) PP-101, SG-101 and then HR-101 (coated paper - that will work in just about anything at all!)

Out of other papers, Ilford comes a close second... and you get some effects like satin and pearl too... Kodak worked well for me in all my printers before the S9000 - I preferred the Ultima for quality and the photo paper for cost... Konica paper is quite bad in the S9000, and excellent in all other printers I've used it in... I'd love to try Red River paper again, as I'm told it's good by other owners, but they don't distribute in Australia, and I used all my samples back in the HP DJ3820 and Canon S400 days...

The real budget papers seem to be of mediocre quality on just about everything I've tried them on - but equally as mediocre - I think the research has gone into making a paper that will give average results from EVERY printer on the market...

Cheers,
Stuart

[Vinky]

I've heard good things about the Epson Papers and they do make 13x19 acid free paper, which is the type best for longevity. I also use a Krylon UV protective clear Laquer to seal the prints. It is also acid free and helps protect from fading, smudging and evaporative ink loss.

HP claims that the ink life in a dark dry place is 70 years :roll: but don't say anything about what happens if the print is framed and hung on a wall. They also say that mounting behind glass and or sealing the print adds to its life a great deal.

At work I have had various printers Canon BJC 4000, 4200, 5000 and found them to be noisey and easy to get paper jammed. I had one Epson and have to agree that the ink system did not like idle time. Once the ink dried in the jets we had to throw it away. I have had a couple of HP inkjets 932c, 960 and now the 5650 and have found them to be quiet and reliable.

[MikeTebay]

Hi their, I have the canon S9100 and use the Ilford smooth pearl paper, I can say that this one gives outstanding results with the canon printer.


Mike

[Vinky]

Printer HP 9650

Paper HP Premium Plus Glossy (c6831a)

Slight blue cast.
Curles in dark areas from ink volume.
When viewed at a angle the ink appears to sit on the surface.
HP does not make any 13 x 19 paper sizes.... but they make printers this size?

Paper Kodak Premium Picture Paper Satin (810-7120)

Slight blue cast (not as bad as HP)
Does not curl as much as HP (but is not as fast drying)
Angle view does not show ink on surface
I like the look of the Satin finsh of the Kodak. However, Kodak does not make many sizes over 8.5 x 11 letter, and none for 13 x 19!


Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper (S041286)

Neutral color (slightly warmer than Kodak and HP)
No curling (yet)
Angle view does not show ink on surface.
I like the Epson color rendition and the faster drying time. They make almost all of their papers in 13 x 19, and have some semi gloss and matte finished papers.

[ap.]

I've got an old Epson Photo 820 (2nd Epson we've owned), which puts out good photos for a cheap inkjet. But, like Vinky says, the ink gets ugly if you don't print anything for awhile and you waste ink running the cleaning cycle. It also goes through ink very quickly doing 8x10's. I can get about a dozen full page prints out of a new cartrage.

Generally we use the Epson Photo paper. I've tired a few other brands on Epson and HP printers, but they all turned out crappy.

Used to have an HP printer, which had better color matching, but up close the printed dots didn't look good compaired to Epson.

[Fireguy274]

I have the Canon i9100 and I love the Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper.

[lindrith]

paper, paper, paper

I print on a Canon S9000, using primarily 13x19 papers. Photopaper Pro has been a steady, excellent medium for my images. Ilford Classic Gloss is also excellent. Moab Papers makes a watercolor matte paper that produces excellent results on the S9000, but I have to punch up the saturation.

I have spoken to Canon @ the May release of the 9900 firewire 8 ink - adding a red and an green 6BCI cartridge to the standard set. 4800 dpi. Very excited - LP $499 on the Canon site.

[Landis]

Here is a rule of thumb to follow:
1 - Each printer manufacturer formulates their inks to work best on their own papers. Their printer drivers are made to print best with their inks and papers

2 - You can use just about any combination of papers on different printers and get EXCELLENT results IF you have the proper profile and if you know how to set up your color managment properly.

Once you have your monitor calibrated properly, your proper ink/paper profile loaded in to Photoshop, you will get GOOD results.

If you don't have your system set up right and start mixing different papers you will probably never be happy. Just one error in setting up your color management will give you headaches. Getting it all right will bring smiles to your face.

[Vinky]

Nice to here from you Landis. I don't have the equipment or software to performa calibration on the monitor.... How can I do this on the cheap?

[EricvZ]

Jim, try this :
http://www.jasc.com/support/kb/articles/monitor.asp
or this
http://canid.com/calibration.html

[Vinky]

Thanks Eric, We should consider having a place to post a page with this information on it here.

[EricvZ]

Jim, you're welcome, on the top menu-bar there is a link called "Link", that brings you to the link page,
every member can add links there, so why not start filling it?
You can suggest categories or sub-categories for placing your links there, the moderator have to aprove these categories. Once a category is made you can add links there.
I have requested to make a category for Monitor Calibration and fill it with above links, so we just wait what the moderator does with it ...

[Landis]

Eric,
Those are really practical web sites. Thanks from all of us. There are a number of ways to calibrate your monitor. I have an Apple computer and use a Sony flat CRT monitor Multiscan E400 that is about 5 years old. I have a GretagMacbeh calibrating system that not only calibrates my monitor, but also gives me ICC profiles for any printer. It's an ideal system, however there are other ways to do this. ColorVision has a puck for calibrating your monitors for under $200 and you can download profiles for just about any printer after your find it on line. That may take some hunting, but first try the site for your printer.

I have said this before on other posts and I cannot emphasize it enought:
If you want to get GREAT prints you have to learn how to manage your monitor calibration, your color settings, printer profiles, and color management. If these are not all set up properly and linked together, you will never get consistent print quality. I took a week workshop last year to learn how to do this and it was so confusing at first, but once you master it and learn the simple steps of color managment, your prints will just sing for you.

[Vinky]

Landis,

The president of my camera club went to the "Epson Print Academy" and brought home a CD of various things. Of course it was mostly about using Epson printers. I have an HP 9650 which does a great job, but I can't find an ICC profile. I've seen lots of things on my web searches for software to creat profiles, or profiles for other brands but nothing specific for my printer.

HP recommends allowing the printer to control the color. on the File menu/Print with preview selection/Color management... they recommend setting this to "Printer color management". The only profiles available from HP were Pantone. I am using a Sony HMD-A400 (19" flat screen trinitron CRT) should I get an ICC profile for this?

I couldn't figure this one out on my own... Help!

[JimL]

http://www.photoexpert.epson.co.uk/UK/PRODUCTS/icc_download.htm
This link is to the UK Epson site and has the ICC paper profiles for a number of Epson printers as well as the PIM for Adobe PhotosShop for those who are interested.
JimL

[mart]

My answer to the poll: I don't have a printer, I don't print my pics myself.

[jalundquist]

I am using an Epson R800 with Dotworks Pearl Paper. I had a custom profle built at a lab here in Seattle. It works well. The problem I am having is the color gamut of the printer. Epson sent me a few papers to try but I am not having much success with them. They are not terrible but I am still seeing the color issues. I have heard good things about Ilfords paper, even from the support people at Epson. So that might be worth a shot. I used some Ilford paper but was unsuccsessful due to the lack of a good profile for my printer.