Photo Paper

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575jim

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I am curious as to what papers people have found to be good with Epson printers (R2880).I know, personal preference is so varied. But the choices are so unlimited it would be nice to eliminate a few brands.

I have tried Canson Infinity- Baryta, Rag Photographique and Photosatin to be good, but have also found Epson Premium Luster to be just as good.

Any recomendations?

Jim
 
Jim

Ilford Gold Fiber Silk prints well on the 2880, as does Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl.
 
Try Permajet Museum Matt, Permajet Portrait, Permajet Oyster, and Harman FBAI Gloss.
(I thought I had posted this reply already but this does not seem to have been the case)

Stan
 
575jim said:
I am curious as to what papers people have found to be good with Epson printers (R2880).I know, personal preference is so varied. But the choices are so unlimited it would be nice to eliminate a few brands.

I have tried Canson Infinity- Baryta, Rag Photographique and Photosatin to be good, but have also found Epson Premium Luster to be just as good.

Any recomendations?

Jim
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what are you doing with the print. most of these fancy papers are overpriced and not particularly good especially the cotton rag/Matt papers.

buy the paper that is on offer - its what I do.
 
By "on offer" do you mean whats on sale? Forgive me I am in Canada:)


Mostly I am framing prints for sale; so longevity and appeal are important factors.
Since posting the original post I tried printing a waterfall picture on Inkpress Metallic Gloss and the results were stunning! Some friends have looked at the print and were also very impressed.
I do agree the rag photo papers are expensive and lack some fizz but they are good for some uses. Canson Infinity BFK Rives is stunning for baby portraits and foliage/flowers.

Jim
 
yeah what ever paper has been reduced in price. there are a load of papers we don't get here in the uk that you can get. better off askin on dpreview.
 
Harman is another brand. Also consider FujiFilm & Kodak.
 
I am afraid that I don't subscribe to the "any old cheap paper" school of printing. Sorry to disagree POAH!

Some images will look much better on matt paper and some will look better better on gloss paper. (e.g. think of a very soft, light ethereal image of trees on a misty day, and compare how you might print this to how you might print an image of a bright red motorbike with all the blacks and chrome pin sharp). Some thinner cheap papers may bubble or buckle when they have ink added. Other cheap independent papers may have obvious "bronzing" or "metamerism" effects, especially if they aren't matched to your printer inks.

In order to get the colours right every time you will probably need to standardise on a few paper types and then have printer profiles done for them too. If you really get to know a few paper types well you'll get the best out of them in the long run.

Yes I do use bog-standard paper for record shots, but if I am printing an image for exhibition purposes then I will take the utmost care in the choice of paper.

Ultimately of course you should probably just choose a decent paper that you like and can afford for your type of photography but I think it would be a great mistake to vary your equation every time you buy paper just because you have a cheap offer, especially if you want to sell them.

Another point that you might consider is that well-known paper/ink combinations will probably have been independently assessed for longevity by the Wilhelm Institute. Does it matter when you are selling work that you can realistically say that, "hung properly under glass this fine ink-jet print will be proof against fading for 100 years" and can then point to the tests that provide evidence for this?

Yours

Stan
 
Spug said:
I am afraid that I don't subscribe to the "any old cheap paper" school of printing. Sorry to disagree POAH!

Some images will look much better on matt paper and some will look better better on gloss paper. (e.g. think of a very soft, light ethereal image of trees on a misty day, and compare how you might print this to how you might print an image of a bright red motorbike with all the blacks and chrome pin sharp). Some thinner cheap papers may bubble or buckle when they have ink added. Other cheap independent papers may have obvious "bronzing" or "metamerism" effects, especially if they aren't matched to your printer inks.

In order to get the colours right every time you will probably need to standardise on a few paper types and then have printer profiles done for them too. If you really get to know a few paper types well you'll get the best out of them in the long run.

Yes I do use bog-standard paper for record shots, but if I am printing an image for exhibition purposes then I will take the utmost care in the choice of paper.

Ultimately of course you should probably just choose a decent paper that you like and can afford for your type of photography but I think it would be a great mistake to vary your equation every time you buy paper just because you have a cheap offer, especially if you want to sell them.

Another point that you might consider is that well-known paper/ink combinations will probably have been independently assessed for longevity by the Wilhelm Institute. Does it matter when you are selling work that you can realistically say that, "hung properly under glass this fine ink-jet print will be proof against fading for 100 years" and can then point to the tests that provide evidence for this?

Yours

Stan
Click to expand...

no one mentioned any old paper.

my stock of Epson traditional was bought half price etc.

and Matt paper sucks. the only reason it was used was because it was longer lasting in he early days of inkjet but has poor dmax, gamut, contrast and sharpness. I've never seen an image look better on a Matt paper lol
 
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In the end it all comes down to personal choice doesn't it?
 
Hi Jim,

I have been asking similar question at my club ad the following answer may help.....


Ok Malcolm heres a few more tips.

If you stick to Epson cartridges you should never have a problem with blocked heads etc. I`ve talked to a few people in the repair business and they`ve never come across a blocked head when using Epson inks.

This is not down to the ink it`s self .... but the cartridges

The ink that Fotospeed/Permajet supply are just as good with no difference in print quality and as there are only a few makers of ink in the world you would proberly find that it is the same ink although no one will `officially` tell you this. You may find you have problems with blocked heads etc when you use these inks but it`s the delivery system to blame and not the ink.

As for media/paper I would suggest staying away from Epson`s own brand. Epson make all sorts of claims about they only guarantee print quality when using their paper etc ..... ( Canon also make the same claims ). Again there are only so many paper manufacturers in the world and I think ILFORD produce papers for the Epson brand at vastly increased prices.

I personally use Fotospeed paper, I hate almost all of the Permajet papers ( and i`ve tried nearly all of them ) but this is personal choice and I know others who rave about them.


This is in relation to me looking at printers, one of which is the R2880.

Jim, you have not completed your profile and as such, we have no idea where you are located. If you put that in your profile, you may get some help locally.

Cheers for now

Malcolm
 
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Like Malcolm I have never had blocked heads using Epson inks and an R2880. However I have had blocked heads with an older Epson R1800, and that has never had anything but Epson inks in it. I have given up on that machine now.

Stan
 
I've never really bought brand paper, I usually just use the stores own brands... Never failed me!
 
Ilford Galerie -smooth gloss- is what I use with my Epson Stylus Photo PX710w, produces good prints which come out dry

Realspeed
 
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