Papers For Pigment Printers

Almost all serious photographers and artists now choose pigment ink printers, for the simple fact that you can't really sell a print that is going to fade in 3-4 years with good conscience. Pigment inks perform beautifully on matte and semi-gloss papers, and are getting better all the time with high gloss papers as well.

It is critically important you use the correct black ink for the paper type for best results - the matte black ink must be used with all matte papers (the key improvement is a vastly improved D-Max), and the photo black ink must be used with gloss and semi-gloss papers.

For top class results, it is also critically important to custom profile, and use the right media settings with each paper.

We've divided the papers into 6 surface types:

Fine-Art Matte Papers (with a smooth surface)

These papers work very well with pigment inks and offer the best archival characteristics, and so are the papers of choice of fine art photographers around the world. They're more subtle than traditional photographic surfaces and, if you're used to things like Cibachrome and the like, may take some getting used to. They are seen by a few to be somehow less 'photographic' than gloss and semi-gloss papers, but this is largely a product of what has been sold out of mini-labs for so long, so people are visually attuned to semi-gloss and gloss surfaces. This is changing, and will likely carry on changing in the years to come - certainly in the art photography world matte papers are very common and growing in popularity all the time.

These papers, combined with pigment inks like the Ultrachrome inks, now offer wide gamuts and strong blacks. It's true the d-maxes are still below gloss papers (matte surfaces will always offer less strong blacks due to their very nature), and the gamuts slightly smaller than gloss papers. But framed work is visually almost identical (and often better due to reduced reflections), and you gain MUCH better archival characteristics, and there are no issues whatsoever with gloss differential or bronzing. So all in all, with pigment inks, they're really the best option if you don't require the initial punch of glossy prints.

Hahnemuehle Photo Rag is traditionally held to be the best fine art inkjet paper in the world. If you're new to fine art papers, or papers other than the standard Epson range, this is a great place to start. It really is quite beautiful, offering the widest gamut and deepest blacks of any fine art paper on the market. It's not the cheapest paper in the universe, but it really is superb.

Crane Portfolio Rag is a new arrival in 2007. It's chief benefit over Photo Rag is that it has absolutely no optical brightening agents (Photo Rag has a low amount). It's 300 gsm, actually brighter than Photo Rag (despite the lack of OBs), and a bit smoother as well. It's an excellent paper for gallery quality prints.

Finally, if you're looking for a really slick and smooth fibre based matte paper, then the new Harman Fibre Based Baryta Matte has a lovely, silky feel. It's a lovely bright white too, so has a very clean look.

Fine-Art Matte Papers (with a textured surface)

Textured papers can really suit some images and applications, and while some photographers get a little precious about photographs trying to imitate paintings, these sorts of papers really can add a whole new element to your work and limiting all your output to smooth papers as a matter of principle is silly - you should always seek to use the best expressive medium for your images.

We carry a number of interesting options, all with superb quality coatings for inkjet printing:

Hahnemuehle Torchon - A classic watercolour Torchon paper with an irregular texture

Hahnemuhle German Etching - Absolutely classic etching style paper with a classy texture

Canson Watercolour Digital - Inexpensive and great for art reproduction work, with a natural warm tone.

Fibre Based Equivalents

Since 2006, a number of papers have appeared on the market, specifically designed to mimic the traditional air dried fibre based look.

Crane Silver Rag - the first to market of this new type of paper and a truly excellent paper for high impact printing. Surface has some texture. Still our favourite paper in this category, has the most amazing tonal range and is very strong and easy to work with.

Harman FB AL- Very smooth, air dried fibre look, quite glossy. Launched in late 2007 to great acclaim.

Ilford Fibre Gold Silk - Somewhere imbetween the two above papers and very beautiful indeed.

Hahnemuehle Fine Art Pearl - visually similar to Silver Rag but brighter white (contains OBs) - prints beautifully, especially good for very high saturation colour images.

Semi-Gloss (Lustre)

Semi-Gloss papers are probably the best option with pigment ink printers if you move away from fine art matte papers. Semi-Gloss offers a robust surface to work with (resistant to fingerprints and the like), but with the good D-Max and large gamut typical of gloss papers. Semi-gloss papers exhibit much less bronzing than high gloss papers with pigment inks.

Canson PhotoSatin - Beautiful 260 g/m2 Semi-Gloss paper. Instant drying, high weight paper that is resistant to marking, scratches and water! Offers excellent gamut and very high D-Max. Has a less sparkly surface than the Ilford paper below and is the paper I personally use for all our family photos etc - very classy.

Ilford Smooth Pearl - Classic pearl surface with considerable sparkle. Beautiful photographic results and the most popular inkjet paper in the world.

Gloss Paper

Pigment inks on high gloss papers is still a bit of a problem. The Epson R800 and R1800 have solved this problem with their Gloss Optimiser system, and so can cope with almost any gloss paper. For the rest of us still using the 2100, 2400, 3800 (or x600 or x800 large formats), the issues are phenomena known as 'Gloss Differential' and 'Bronzing' (see FAQ).

With truly high gloss papers, the gloss differential problems with the Ultrachrome inkset can be pretty severe, so much so that many people have abandoned printing on high gloss papers with Ultrachrome inks altogether. Many others don't find the bronzing to be such a big deal - especially if they are framing their work.

Bronzing is much reduced with the Ultrachrome K3 inkset. Bronzing is also much reduced, often eliminated, by spraying with a high quality coating.

Ilford Smooth Gloss - Classic gloss surface, classic high impact photographic results.

Canson PhotoGloss - 260 g/m2 High gloss paper. Instant drying, high weight paper that is resistant to marking, scratches and water! Offers excellent gamut and very high D-Max.

Canvas

Canson Canvas is a truly superb option. Canson Canvas offers truly photographic results with all the qualities of a true artist's canvas. It is aesthetically far superior to alternatives such as GMS, Breathing Colour, Magic, Tetenal etc and is really worth trying if you've been disappointed (or anything less than seriously impressed!) by other brands.

Unhesitatingly recommended (and used here for our own very popular fine art canvas printing service).

Canson canvas is exactly the same canvas that Matise/Picaso etc used, so it has stood the test of time already. The inkjet coating is unique to Canson and is as good as it gets.