Favorite+Papers

=Favorite Papers=

Avalan
For the lower cost Papers I found "Canon Heavy Weight Satin phtographic Paper -300gsm(16"x100') a keeper. Canon's heavier weight Papers are more appealing :

Fine Art Enhanced Velvet/255gsm/21mil/17"X50' H/W satin photographic paper/300gsm/11mil/16"X100' Premium bright photo satin paper/260gsm/17'X100'

My favorite papers so far : Satin and Luster :
 * 1) Moab Kokopelli photo Satin 235gsm
 * 2) Ilford Galerie smooth pearl 280gsm
 * 3) Epson premium Luster 250gsm
 * 4) Canon premium bright photo Satin paper 260gsm
 * 5) Canon HW satin photographic paper 300gsm

Generally speaking I can't say glossy papers are my favorite. Having said that I found the following glossy papers more interesting among the ones I have tried so far:
 * 1) Moab Kokopelli photo gloss 260gsm
 * 2) Canon photo paper pro 245gsm

Not sure about following papers : They are extra RC and makes me hesitant. Also I like to read more other opinions about HP papers.
 * Hp premium plus photo paper high gloss 280gsm
 * HP premium plus phto satin 286gsm

Fine Art Papers :
 * 1) Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Satin 310gsm
 * 2) Hahnemuhle Fine Art pearl 285gsm
 * 3) Epson Velvet Fine Art paper 260gsm
 * 4) Canon Fine Art Enhanced Velvet 255gsm

For daily use or experiment etc I use lower end Canon papers. They are relatively low priced.

I have seen other posters have shown interest to the following papers :
 * 1) Hahnemuhle photo Rag
 * 2) Arches Infinity smooth white
 * 3) Arches infinity textured
 * 4) Epson ultra smooth Fine Art
 * 5) Moab Entrada Fine Art
 * 6) Breathing Color Chromata Canvas
 * 7) Innova photo smooth High white
 * 8) IJA microceramic Luster
 * 9) and of course Crane

Kalin Wilson
I'm actually having fairly good luck getting good matches with my monitor using the generic glossy photo highest profile with Inkpress Chrome Luster roll paper. I had to use the #2 roll stopper in order to not get jams. The paper is 240gsm/10.4mil. Inkpress does not have any profiles for the ipf5000 available. Settings used:
 * Glossy Photo Paper media setting,
 * High accuracy,
 * high gradation,
 * 2400x1200 16pass,
 * CanonIPF5000 Glossy Photo Paper profile,
 * Relative Colorimetric

Unknown Poster
There are two fairly thick Canon Photo Satin papers:
 * Premium Bright Photo Satin Paper - 260gsm 14mil
 * Heavyweight Satin Photographic Paper - 300gsm 11mil

From the specs it looks like the Heavywight is thinner but denser while the Bright Photo Satin is thicker but less dense. Judging from the cost the Bright Photo Satin must be the superior product as it's almost twice as expensive.

"Canon Premium Bright Photo Satin Paper" is 17'x100 / 260gsm / with satin finish similar to H/W Satin. it is NOT a thick paper. To my eyes it looks like a 10 mil paper although the official spec is 14 mil. I measured the dmax to be 2.39 on the HW satin with no icc profile applied printing through the HW semigloss media setting.

I have the sample image printed on both papers with Same settings: From Plug-in :
 * Media type :H/W semigloss photo paper
 * Input : 600 ppi- Highest
 * Output profile : Canon IPF5000 H/W Glossy-Highest
 * Matching method : Relative Colorimetric

Result :

With naked eyes there is not much a difference: H/W Satin is a bit thicker and slightly less textured but Premium bright is whiter. Canon web site mentions resin coated paper for "premium Bright Satin", but not for "H/W Satin". It seems H/W Satin is a microporous paper and not RC. Since Bright White is more expensive it might have a better quality.


 * 1) There is a gloss differential on both of them and similar. Same image printed on Epson luster shows a little more gloss differential.
 * 2) Texture : "Canon Premium bright Satin" has a texture somewhere between "Epson Luster" and "Canon H/W Satin" and maybe closer to H/W Satin.
 * 3) Epson luster feels to have a stonger built than other two and also feels more RC.

Jim Doyle
Take note that the Canon Hahnemuhle Photo rag 308 Has Been Discontinued. The Hahnemuhle 308 was in the line until the end of last year, then it got pulled from the lineup. My guess is that Hahnemuhle didnt want to rebrand it's number 1 selling product. Anyway I can tell you that The Canon Photo Rag 188 and The Canon German Etching are the same exact Product! Same exact Box Just a different label. In Your range I really like the Premium Bright Photo Satin..

HPR 308 is the Number one selling paper in the world for fine art bar none. Why? Because it has the best DMAX with Matte Black and an excellent look plus QC problems are almost none..Lots of HPR 308 wannabees ( Less expensive) Papers out there for sure .. You just need to try a few of them out just look for a 100% Rag Paper Thats Smooth


 * 1) Innova Smooth Cotton
 * 2) Museo MAX
 * 3) Epson Ultrasmooth Fine Art
 * 4) Moab Entrada
 * 5) Berger PN 32 ( I Think or It Could Be PN 33 )
 * 6) Premiert Art Hot Press

These are a Few off the top of my head all will have a different white point and all will be a little different in smoothness.

Xjetjock
For a sample print, I would suggest using Bill Atkinson's "Lab Test Page." It's a collage of various types of photos plus gray scale strips. It's on this page toward the bottom;

http://homepage.mac.com/billatkinson/FileSharing2.html

I've used InkJetArt Micro Ceramic Luster for many months. I switched to it from Epson Premium Luster on my 2200. My printer and my eyes couldn't tell them apart; Micro Ceramic Luster is cheaper though.

I had previously used matte/art papers and really like the increased Dmax of this surface. The "micro ceramic" surface is the name of the coating that acts as an ink receptor.

Sabatia
I've been using the Canon Bright Satin as I experiment with this machine--not too expensive and stunning images. Made a few images with the Crane Silver Rag, which is just incredible. Also a few with HPR and Canon Bright Fine Art. Just ordered a role of Museo Max. I am gravitating toward the Crane papers as I live in Mass. where it is made, the papers all seem superb, and customers for my landscape and nature photography and collages will also like the fact that the paper is made here. The Crane family is very active in land and water conservation in the Berkshires, including putting their own ancient farm into conservation, which matters to me and a good number of the people I work with.

Dan Wells
I've used Canon BrightSatin (a good, cheap paper for everyday stuff)

Hahnemuhle PhotoRag 308 (really, really nice with the right image - I like it especially well with images from foggy days.)

Hahnemuhle FineArt Pearl (obscenely expensive, but gorgeous paper - reminds me of fiber based darkroom papers).

Bdark
I know of an outdoor pro that uses IJA micro ceramic luster almost exclusively for color prints on the iPF5000. The Hahnemuhle 308g photo rag is superior for most B&W. Both are available on a 3" core (many are on a 2") to reduce the curl at the end of the roll. He also noted that the iPF5000 handles the 17"x100' roll of micro ceramic luster without a problem.

Jim Harrison
I love the InkJetArt Micro Ceramic papers in this printer. Their Micro Ceramic Glossy is excellent and I've had good results using their "canned" profile for the iPF5000. The Micro Ceramic Luster is also fantastic IMO.

Yes, the iPF5000 handles long rolls fine. The specification of 59' is for a single print! The roll feeder will handle 100 foot rolls just fine. Perhaps longer. Really, it's just a matter of how large the outer diameter of the roll is. If it fits into the printer, then the printer will handle it, I believe.

You can tell the printer what the roll length is so that it can keep track of it, but other than that, I don't think it cares about the length of the paper on the roll, really.

I do like the 3" core size too. I'm sure it must help with curling. I've been amazed at how flat the prints from the rolls have been so far.

Tony Bonanno
Updated 2/20/08

My favorite high end paper for clients and artwork is now the Ilford Gold Fibre Silk. LOVE this paper, especially on the 5100/6100 printers. Did very well on the 5000 too.

My standard everyday satin finish is the Red River UltraPro Satin (now version 2.0). Been using this paper or earlier versions for three or four years and its really hard to beat in my opinion.

For cotton paper, I finally decided that Hahnamuhle Photo Rag 308 is hard to beat. For awhile I was using Moab Entrada which save me a little bit of money, but the 308 I decided is worth the cost. I was also having a lot of flaking problems with Entrada if I wasn't very careful about making sure I "blew" the paper off before feeding it in the printer.

Regarding glossy paper. One sleeper that I learned about some time ago from the B&W gurus is the glossy paper from Costco; Kirkland Professional Glossy Photo Paper. Hard to believe, but it us one of the better glossy papers. The downside to the Kirkland is that it is only available in letter size.

Red River has just introduced a new set of resin coated papers they call "Arctic Polar" in glossy & satin. I tested the Artic Polar glossy against the Kirkland. The Arctic paper was impressive also, very similar to the Kirkland, but heavier stock and slightly brighter. Red River tells me the new paper is made in Japan for them.

My Kirkland settings with the iPF5000 (haven't tested with the iPF6100 yet) using the 16 bit plug-in are as follows and are different depending on how I'm working with the file as follows (color, BW RGB, BW mono):

Color Image: no curve, brightness +5, photo paper plus media, Booksmart Ilford Smooth Pearl Profile, Perceptual rendering intent

B&W RGB Image: no curve, brightness +6, gray -1, photo paper plus media, Canon Glossy Highest profile, Relative Colormetric rendering intent

B&W Auto Monochrome: no curve, X value to +10, photo paper plus media

Regarding the 300 bright Entrada on the iPF5000. I haven't seen the color cast Les. I'm using the Booksmart profile for both the H 308PR and their profile for the Entrada. The main difference I see is that the Hahnemuhle has more depth and tonality, with a greater dmax. It's hard to articulate, as the difference is subtle. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out the settings yet for color images, as I've been using the Entrada mainly for B&W. I suspect the B&W RGB settings would be the place to start with a color image..

My iPF5000 settings for the Entrada with the Plug-in were:

B&W RGB image: no curve, premium matte media, Booksmart Ent Bright 300 profile, Perceptual rendering.

B&W Auto monochrome: no curve, X +15, matte photo or premimum matte media

Kier Darby
Thus far all my prints have been on the following papers:

Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl
An old favourite that compares well to much more expensive alternatives. One down-side is that this paper is currently inexplicably more expensive to buy on a roll than to buy as A4 or letter size cut sheets.

[|Kodak Premium Rapid-Dry 260gsm Lustre]
Very pleasant classic lustre finish semi-gloss paper, reminiscent of traditional photo printing papers

[|Kodak Premium Rapid-Dry 260gsm Glossy]
Decent glossy paper, better than anything else at this price. Compares very favourably to Canon's glossy offerings

The two Kodak papers also have the distinct advantage of being (at least in the UK) around half the price of the equivalent Canon papers.

I don't know the //dictionary definition// of the difference between pearl and lustre paper, but from the papers I've used, lustre tends to be full gloss paper with a textured surface, while pearl paper tends to be a semi-gloss paper - it has a texture similar to lustre, but of a much finer pattern.

Psimison
I use Hahnemuhle 308 rag, Sunset E Satin, and Innova F Gloss 300. The Innova has the best gamut, but the texture is not the best. Within a few weeks, Innova is softening the texture on this paper to an UltraSmooth finish. Should be outstanding. Lexjet markets several of thier own Sunset Papers and furnish pretty good profiles with it for the Canon & Epson printers.

Filip Baraka
I'm running short of moab entrada, natural one sheet left, bright 10 or so left, great paper although it's not for every photo, particularly i got terrible results with one photo of fisherman hands in sunset, could be the profile (booksmart) or paper is just not for that kind of high contrast scenery. I have Kayenta as well and my feelings are bit mixed, it's good paper but maybe I received a bad batch cos' I see a lot of vertical thing, seems like banding or light head strikes, but is definitely paper structure (who knows, maybe is normal but i don't find it appealing) Kokopelli satin is great for general purpose, maybe a tad bit bluish, but i found many RC gloss satin papers bluish

HM Fine Art Pearl, my current favorite although i have problems with sheet: - leaving pizza wheels, ordered roll, hope it will print ok This paper is absolutely stunning IMHO.

I also used some of Canon papers, mostly in roll, note, names are probably different but those are for Europe:

Canon Pearl photo Paper 26gsm, RC good all rounder, made some BW also with good results, surface similar to kokopelli satin

Canon fineart extrasmooth I think is 250gsm, yellow appaerance but base is RC??? paper is nice but i wouldn't call it fine art. Without profile results are so so, I have lots of problems in shadow area: perceptual too open relative too blocky.

Canon Glacier, cheap, structure somewhat more polished than Canon Pearl, results are ok; bad smell, probably too much chemistry anyway, I had 5mtrs test roll, don't wan't to buy again, price is half of Canon pearl.

Canon Satin and Canon glossy both in 240gsm, still haven't tried, bought that for printing to other photographers friend in area or for posters, etc. Guess results will be same as glacier, they come in 30mtrs rolls and they are cheap enough to have them in stock

Agfa satin 170gsm, I got this one with printer purchase, acctually quite nice but toooooo thin for large prints.

Hahnemuhle Torchon, bought made 3 prints and store it away, reason? no profiles available at that time (there are now on HM website) to coarse for my taste and i even don't know what photo would go with that paper. Now that I have profiles I will give it another try, but I must select photos first for that.

EFI matte, also got it with printer, haven't tried yet, I think is mostly for CMYK proofing.

Canon Photo Paper Pro I used that one when i was printing with i9950, high gloss, expensive scratchy, and with i9950 very low archivability (Im talking months not years) Previously I used that one because i didn't know better but i don't think that im going to buy it again, ever. Done few prints with ipf5000 and they are all good, but... Comes only in sheets, did I say that it's freakin too expensive?

I still must try HM Photo Rag with ipf, i think this will be my selection paper for printing fine art based on prints from epson 2200. Especially because I can't find Moab dealers in Croatia so I must order from swiss, after all the customs and shipping price is same as for HM photo rag, shame, i really like entrada line.

Innova FibaPrints, waiting for few test sheets, based on other ppl experience surface is kinky, either you love it or hate it. I'll have to see myself.

I haven't try any of ilfords or red rivers, but a lot of users are happy with those papers

Bottom line for me, HM FAP, Entrada (while supllies last:) and HM Photo Rag for any photo that is great or for selling, all others for everyday-printing-giving-to-friends-type-of-photo


 * Hahnemuhle Rag Pearl 320**: Differs from Hahnemuhle FAP as follows:

No OBA so it's probably warmer in base My dealer told me that surface is smoother He tried using it with Mk ink but ink rubbed afterwards (epson9800) So i guess it's still Pk ink From Press Real. i found out that base of paper is from photo rag but top layer/coating is from FAP

Conclusion: Paper is a keeper! specially for BW

Usinare concurs - "wonderful paper"

Les Burstein
My old standby of Ilford Smooth Pearl in the Red box (not Sam's club) works very well with Eric's profile

My personal favorites are the Hahne Fine Art Pearl to replace the Ilford for final prints, and I am using the HPR 308.

The price difference between the Entrada 300 bright white and the HPR308 is not that significant to save much: my first test print showed the Entrada to have a slight pink cast compared to the HPR, and I have not run a second test. For $5 more, I'll buy the roll of HPR from ITSupplies.

Lastly, my Epson velvet fine art I like with the Canon and the Sommerset velvet test sheets did not compare to it, in my opinion.

Alaska
If you are interested in very inexpensive paper give Kirkland gloss a try. For a box of 150 sheets it is under twenty bucks. It is 8.5 x 11 so it will also conserve ink.

Not much of a fan of glossy but the Costco paper does print out nice and for 12.5 cents per sheet it is great to have around for smaller proofs and tests. Picked up a box of Kirkland at CostCo this past week to get the feel of the iPF 5000. For 12.5 cents per 8-1/2 - 11 sheet it is a good deal. However, the box does now say "Made in USA". It is a 255 gsm glossy photo paper at 10.4 mil.

Like the IJA Micro Ceramic Luster for 17 x 25 prints. A very nice stock.

DJ Garcia
I've been using Hahnemuhle Photo Rag, but I got a box of 22" 330 gsm Canon Fine Art Bright White because it was so cheap to try it out, and it really looks good to my eyes, pretty comparable to the HPR at first glance. I use the same profile for both. Comparing same-size prints after suitable drying time, the HPR shows noticeable more zing and pop. Not that the Canon looks bad at all, the colors are the same pretty much, but the HPR shows better contrast and I guess better DMAX. It was an interesting conparison. Is it worth the extra $$? To me it is, especially depending on the intent, but the Canon makes a great back-up and mass production alternative, especially considering how much cheaper it is - about 1/3 the price in 17x22 size.

CR Dubeau
I have used the Entrada nautural and bright white and like both. The other Moab paper that is more affordable and in appearance is slightly smoother is the Kayenta (more like the bright white) at about half the cost.

Ats1911
Red River has some inexpensive papers with which I've been pretty pleased. GC Matte is ridiculously cheap, but nothing spectacular. Their Premium Matte is pretty cheap as well. Booksmart Studio even has profiles for a couple of RR papers.