PHOTO PAPER THOUGHTS

[FUJI]

I have learned something today.....( I think).........The LEAMINGTON Spa Photographic Society opened an exhibition in Kenilworth today, it will be open for the rest of the week......

NANNY?

Amongst the large display of photographs there are a couple that really stood out for me, not so much for their content but what they were printed on.....The subject was Macro......the best being a spectacular black and yellow caterpillar climbing a green stem.

It was printed on Ultra-High-Gloss ink-jet paper, so glossy that I could see my face reflected mirror-like in the darker areas. Just lately I have taken to doing most of my printing on a beautiful .....Art-Paper ....a bit like that used for water colour painting.

But these two very shiny prints amazed me........on the strength of that I have ordered a pack via EBay tonight.......I will report back, when I have tested the results on some of my better Macro shots.

FUJI

[bugmeister]

That's interesting and could start a whole debate on what paper people use and for what kind of subject (if, indeed they print at home).

 

Please do feed back on the results.

 

p.s. I often see exhibitions by camera clubs/photo groups but seldom do they give information about the paper or printer used which could be helpful information. (isn't that what camera clubs and the like are for?)

Edited June 25, 2013 by bugmeister

[FUJI]

That's interesting and could start a whole debate on what paper people use and for what kind of subject (if, indeed they print at home).

 

Please do feed back on the results.

 

p.s. I often see exhibitions by camera clubs/photo groups but seldom do they give information about the paper or printer used which could be helpful information. (isn't that what camera clubs and the like are for?)

Hi, Bugsy,

Looking at all the beautiful photographic prints at the exhibition yesterday, I honestly thought that Society members had use of a jointly owned A3 specialist printer.....but No!

They all print their own at home or send special pics to pro printers.......the show is on for the remainder of the week, I will do my best to meet the very keen Macro togger exhibiting......but he may not be retired. It is such a popular Society that they have a waiting list for potential new members.

I was pleased when four of the Society top men agreed to look at examples of my work.....they gave them all a good going over whilst I showed a mate the exhibits.......They made very favourable comments about my folder of prints.

Because of my age and the fact that I don't drive, membership of clubs and societies is out, which is why I enjoy my active participation in this and other socialist Photo Forums.

Back to the subject ......What papers and printers do other TIPF members prefer and use.

I use an Epson all in one, using compatible inks .....most of my best work is printed on a beautiful water- colour quality Art Paper.....or cheap glossy for odds and sods.....occasionally I might use Matt Paper.

FUJI

[NannyFerret]

Thanks, Fuji. Just in case we come over one day , where is the exhibition and what day is it on?

We have plans for today and not sure for the rest of the week.

I have used all sorts of photo paper in the past but have only printed a few in the last year so I i'll have to check which I have in my cupboard as I used to buy packs when they were on offer and when one that I liked came on offer, I used to buy a couple of packs and stocked up.

[FUJI]

Thanks, Fuji. Just in case we come over one day , where is the exhibition and what day is it on?

We have plans for today and not sure for the rest of the week.

I have used all sorts of photo paper in the past but have only printed a few in the last year so I i'll have to check which I have in my cupboard as I used to buy packs when they were on offer and when one that I liked came on offer, I used to buy a couple of packs and stocked up.

Hi Nanny,

The exhibition is on until Saturday in the basement exhibition room under Kenilworth Library just across the road from the bus stops......the best thing to do is to Google .......

LEAMINGTON SPA PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY...I'm sure that full details will be available there

Look here Nanny.

http://www.lsps.org.uk/

I am usually in town every morning............ Thursday is good because it is market day, not forgetting a good choice of eateries, pubs, and charity shops ;-).....Not forgetting the Abbey a fields and Castle.

Please let me know if you intend to come this way.

FUJI

[bugmeister]

When I print at home I have a couple of Canon printers used with Canon Inks and normally Canon paper, either "photo paper pro" or "photo rag" depending on the effect I want.

 

I've tried a couple of Epson papers but even when profiled, they don't seem to work very well with the Canon inks.

 

I keep meaning to try some other papers so it'll be interesting to hear what others use.

 

If I can't be bothered doing it myself, I may use Photobox or DS Colour labs (who even provide profiles for their printers)

[Guest DaveW]

You will get higher resolution with glossy papers than matt or semi matt ones. The main trouble, as you found Fuji, is that glossy paper at certain angles reflects. It depends what you go for, if you are the arty type and want to print on weird papers or surfaces you always sacrifice resolution of the image for effect. Depends whether fidelity or artistic effect is what turns you on.

 

http://jayce-o.blogspot.com/2013/01/printing-tips-choosing-best-photo-paper.html

 

http://www.photopaperdirect.com/blog/?p=405

 

The problem of course with any texture on the paper is whilst it interferes with resolution it can also provide false texture on parts of a subject that do not actually occur on the subject itself.

 

BP knows more about this than I do  Bugs, but I think you need to profile your printer as you say to use different papers if you want really true colours, but also may need to use their inks too. Obviously Canon profile their printers to suit their own papers and inks, just as Epson do theirs. It's not always that some papers and inks are better than others, just that they are matched to each other.

 

http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/colorcalibration/a/cal_printer.htm

Edited June 28, 2013 by DaveW

[Guest]

I stick pretty much to two papers these days.

Epson Archival Matte - cheap as chips for most of my colour work

Hahnemuehle FineArt Baryta for mono - hellish expensive.

 

I have good profiles for both.

[DaveS]

A bit 'late to the party' on this one, but then I only joined the forum yesterday 
 
I have always been a Epson man, when it comes to inkjet printers for photographic work, and my faithful, and now 'long in the tooth' printer is an Epson Stylus Photo R300 (5 ink).
 
Recently, considering that my R300 won't last for ever, I thought I'd give Canon a try, and bought the Pixma ip7250. I don't print that many photographs, and am not a competition or exhibition man, so I didn't need a 'high end' A3 printer.
 
Having a good stock of both Epson and Ilford premium glossy photo paper, I tried both of these on the Canon, and the results were very disappointing, with poor colour balance and lacking the vibrancy of the Epson prints.
 
Suspecting that the Canon might be critical when it comes to photo paper profile, I bought some Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy ll.
 
With this in the Canon printer, the results were very acceptable, at the default colour balance settings. The Epson still has the edge, but the Canon prints are pretty close.
 
Even though the Canon is missing the additional Light Cyan and Light Magenta of the five colour line-up of the Epson, the 1 pico litre print heads of the Canon seem to enable it to fill in the gaps (transitions) very well indeed, and I cannot see any transitions difference between the Canon prints and those from the Epson, with its larger 3 pico litre print heads.
 
With further experimentation, I found it is possible to obtain good prints from the Canon, using Epson or Ilford paper, but the colour balance settings need to be wildly different to those for Canon's own brand paper.
 
So, the 'bottom line' is that I'm now very happy with the Canon Pixma iP7205.
 
I now need to compare the running cost of the Canon with the Epson.
 
I should add that for a long time now, I have been using Jetec compatible ink cartridges in the Epson R300, and am unable to tell the difference in print quality, between prints made with Epson original, and Jetec ink.
 
Some of these Jetec printed photos are quite old now, and still look the same as Epson ink prints of the same age.
 
Dave

[DaveS]

Hmmm?

 

I don't know why some of the text is highlighted, but not having any edit facility as yet, I can't do anything about it.

 

Dave

[Creativesnaps]

A bit 'late to the party' on this one, but then I only joined the forum yesterday 

 

I have always been a Epson man, when it comes to inkjet printers for photographic work, and my faithful, and now 'long in the tooth' printer is an Epson Stylus Photo R300 (5 ink).

 

Recently, considering that my R300 won't last for ever, I thought I'd give Canon a try, and bought the Pixma ip7250. I don't print that many photographs, and am not a competition or exhibition man, so I didn't need a 'high end' A3 printer.

 

Having a good stock of both Epson and Ilford premium glossy photo paper, I tried both of these on the Canon, and the results were very disappointing, with poor colour balance and lacking the vibrancy of the Epson prints.

 

Suspecting that the Canon might be critical when it comes to photo paper profile, I bought some Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy ll.

 

With this in the Canon printer, the results were very acceptable, at the default colour balance settings. The Epson still has the edge, but the Canon prints are pretty close.

 

Even though the Canon is missing the additional Light Cyan and Light Magenta of the five colour line-up of the Epson, the 1 pico litre print heads of the Canon seem to enable it to fill in the gaps (transitions) very well indeed, and I cannot see any transitions difference between the Canon prints and those from the Epson, with its larger 3 pico litre print heads.

 

With further experimentation, I found it is possible to obtain good prints from the Canon, using Epson or Ilford paper, but the colour balance settings need to be wildly different to those for Canon's own brand paper.

 

So, the 'bottom line' is that I'm now very happy with the Canon Pixma iP7205.

 

I now need to compare the running cost of the Canon with the Epson.

 

I should add that for a long time now, I have been using Jetec compatible ink cartridges in the Epson R300, and am unable to tell the difference in print quality, between prints made with Epson original, and Jetec ink.

 

Some of these Jetec printed photos are quite old now, and still look the same as Epson ink prints of the same age.

 

Dave

 

Used to have the R300.  It was OK but then it started giving my prints a slight green tint .  After plenty of research i found that the lower end epson printers tended to do this.

IMO you get a better print with the canon printers with the canon being more expensive to run as well

[DaveS]

Hi ........?

 

I haven't experienced any green tint problems as yet with the R300, albeit its now several years old, but maybe its something that will happen eventually.

 

However, if and when problems occur, and it gets 'pensioned off', the Canon will be a worthy replacement.

 

Dave

[Creativesnaps]

Hi Dave,

Yeah it was down to the amount of use and just one of those things with the lower end epsons but some start setting down the green tone earlier than others.

[Guest]

Hmmm?

 

I don't know why some of the text is highlighted, but not having any edit facility as yet, I can't do anything about it.

 

Dave

All sorted now, there was a rouge command in the text for some reason

[Creativesnaps]

All sorted now, there was a rouge command in the text for some reason

I think its to do when you copy and then paste it on here.

[DaveS]

Thanks Richard

 

Dave

[Barbara]

I should add that for a long time now, I have been using Jetec compatible ink cartridges in the Epson R300, and am unable to tell the difference in print quality, between prints made with Epson original, and Jetec ink.

 

Thanks for the jetec tip Dave,, I don't print much, mainly just for fun and have tried some compatibles for my epson but never been happy with the results. I guess it's just a case of finding a compatible that's compatible

[DaveS]

Unfortunately, not all compatibles are the same, and some just aren't at all good, albeit I've only ever tried them on the Epson.

 

I was recommended Jetec, tried them, and have been using them ever since.

 

They came out top of the compatibles group, in two magazine reviews.

 

I've yet to try them on the Canon Pixma, but I will in due course.

 

I get mine from Britink, but Premier and other retailers also stock them.

 

Dave

[ChrisLumix]

I switched to Canon from Epson for one very simple reason - when the ink feed tube on the Epson dries out (as it will - I went through 3 or 4 Epsons in my time) the printer becomes just a pile of plastic junk. Yes, they deliver superb quality prints, but in the end I got sick of the inevitable burnout and replacement sagas. On the whole, I've found the Canon Pixma to be so near in quality it's almost undetectable.

Edited August 29, 2013 by ChrisLumix

[DaveS]

You are right Chris, the ink drying out in the delivery system, which includes the print head, has always been a significant issue with Epson inkjet printer.

 

It happen if the printer isn't used for a while.

 

I had to rescue my R300 by flushing it through with the 'Print Hospital' kit.

 

The secret to keeping them working, is to print a test page every couple of weeks, if its not been used for normal printing jobs.

 

Dave