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Paper Curl
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Last Updated
28th of November, 2011
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Summary: Discuss paper curl/warp with inkjet papers and gives some tips on how to solve it.

Introduction and Causes of Paper Curl

Paper curl is a fact of life with inkjet papers - especially fine art hand made papers, and papers that have come off a roll.  Indeed, all paper ultimately comes of a roll - the way paper is made means that there is a giant 'mother roll' that all the little children rolls and paper sheets are cut from.

Further, due to the grain of the paper (the direction in which most of the paper fibres run), and due to the coatings used (which will react differently to the paper base to changes in temperature and humidity), paper is destined to curl.  It's part and parcel of the entire production process and not really a fault per se, more something that is a fundamental part of the natural paper making process.

If you really hate paper curl, then you have a few choices.  Double sided papers, being coated on both sides, tend to curl less.  Museo Portfolio Rag is not really a double sided paper but they've treated the back side to help the paper resist curl.  In general, resin coated papers curl less than fibre based ones as the resin helps them fibres resist the urge to curl.

But largely, if you want to use beautiful fine art papers, paper curl is a fact of life you are bound to encounter.  Here are a few tips for working with papers exhibiting curl:

General Tips


  • Use the platen gap settings in your printer driver to move the print head out from the page - this is probably the best way of avoiding head strikes.  Set to 'Wide' or further.
  • Keep the paper in a plastic bag (usually paper comes back in one inside the box but if not use readily available polypropylene bags (do not use PVC bags as these will age the paper!).  The plastic bag slows down changes in humidity in particular and can really help prevent curl.
  • Keep paper in a dark, cool place, do not leave paper boxes anywhere near the sun!
  • Purchase a better inkjet printer that is more capable with fine art papers - experience has shown basically all models below the Epson 3880 are a compromise and can't really be expected to be consistent performers with thick fine art papers.
  • Recognise that inkjet prints on fine art paper straight out of the printer are not really fully finished products - they may need clean up edge trimming and/or coating to be complete

Sheet Tips


  • Store your paper flat, NOT vertically.
  • Store sheets upside down in the box - paper is always packed with the printable side up, but this also means that you're not taking advantage of gravity - so the first thing to do with any new box of paper is to open it and flip the paper over in the box so that gravity will naturally bear down on the paper and help keep it flat
  • Before loading the paper in your printer, gently but firmly bend the paper back against itself in the opposite direction of the curl
  • If all else fails, try loading the paper in landscape orientation instead of portrait - you will probably need to create a custom page size in your driver to do this.

Roll Tips


  • Regard the last metre or two (where the curl is worst as the winding is tightest) - as waste material suitable for tests etc. but not final prints
  • Save empty inner roll tubes and roll your paper backwards on these before loading the paper for printing.
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