ImagingInfo.com |

Paper Trail

Today’s photographers can revel in the wide range of media available for their output needs. It’s understandable if the sheer volume of product options can be daunting at times. Watercolor, canvas, fine-art, velvet, metallic media are just some of the products available, in multiple weights, thicknesses, lusters, and sizes. And with advancements in longevity and archivability, you can be assured that your works will last for many, many decades to come.

Find out in this year's Studio Photography paper guide—which also includes tips on selecting inks—why several photographers have clear favorites when it comes to output options. Also, turn to the chart for an overview of what’s out there.

Adorama

“For me, part of the joy of printing digital images is working with different kinds of paper. As a guy who photographs cars, I flipped over ProJet Elite Mirror Finish. This stuff can’t be called paper in any traditional sense. It’s dimensionally stable polyester with a highly reflective mirror finish that looks like you’re printing on metal! With monochrome portraits, I switch to Adorama’s ProJet Picture Rag, a 100% cotton rag acid-free smooth paper whose warm tone version always adds to the mood.”
Joe Farace
www.joefarace.com

“Pigment ink printing is forever changed for the better with Crane’s Museo Silver Rag. This paper provides a wonderful palette to produce original art. With a small custom-print studio with a background in historical photography, I have to know the best paper for the photographer’s image. My clients remain thoroughly impressed as I am able to achieve rich tones and colors that are impossible on other papers. It’s substantive at 300 gsm, so large prints handle well.”
Ken Allen
www.kenallenstudios.com

“I specialize in macro photography. It is imperative to capture the vibrant detail and natural color required to bring nature right up close without any compromise. I have found that FullColors’ 270 gsm Professional Premium Glossy Photo Paper, rated at up to 5760 dpi, is the perfect media to achieve a precise photo expression without loss. The ultra-white color accurately reproduces the brightest highlights, which can be difficult to capture in the close proximities of macro photography. This resin-coated, microporous paper yields uniform and thorough ink absorption. Since I prefer borderless prints, the almost instantaneous ink drying is a distinct advantage. Plus, the resulting durability allows for worry-free handling and archivability. This photo paper is the perfect answer for me.”
R. Paul Kucera
www.blesk.ca

Hahnemühle

“There are certain qualities that we look for in a digital fine-art paper. It must offer full tonal range and maintain the qualities we have in our image capture, including holding detail in the blacks, as well as providing beautiful surface luminance. Not until we tried the Hahnemühle Photo Rag Satin had we found such a paper. For us, it is truly an excellent choice.”
Tim Walden
waldensphotography

“Since most of my work is either portrait or landscape photography, I produce nearly all of my final prints using Hawk Mountain paper. Of all their papers, my favorite is Grayhawk BrightWhite, which is a 12-mil sheet, coated on both sides. The color saturation and tonal quality I get with this sheet is fantastic! I particularly like the rich blacks and overall tonal quality I can achieve with black-and-white images.”
Jim Markle

“My favorite paper to use with my HP Designjet 90 printer is HP Premium Plus Satin Photo Paper because of its heavy weight, subtle surface texture, beautiful color palette (especially with skin tones), and ability to hold shadow detail. My current choice for semi-gloss prints on the HP Photosmart Pro B9180 is HP’s Advanced Photo Paper Satin-Matt (250 gsm). Color gamut is outstanding, the paper is water-resistant, and I’m amazed at the shadow detail that I’m able to see in my prints. For fine-art matte prints, I’ve been getting excellent color and B&W output from HP’s Hahnemühle Smooth Fine Art Paper. The paper has a smooth surface with excellent Dmax and very smooth transitions, especially when printing black and white.”
Andrew Darlow
www.imagingbuffet.com

“I have only recently produced a new digitally printed portfolio and come to grips with digital prints. After experimenting with various inkjet papers, I selected Olmec 260-gsm heavyweight glossy photo paper. It has been pleasing, both financially and aesthetically, to discover a product that allows me to produce high-quality material that I feel confident to show to new clients.”
Richard Mildenhall
www.richardmildenhall.com

“In my continuing quest to deliver the best possible prints to my clients, I’ve tested many papers over the last several years. I usually found myself experiencing the ‘Goldilocks phenomenon’: Most papers were either too thick or too thin, too contrasty, or not contrasty enough. It wasn’t until I tried the Premium Chrome Luster from InkPress that I found the paper that was ‘just right.’ I use the luster paper for my standard output, and my clients are raving about their prints. In addition, I’ve just tested the new glossy canvas by InkPress, and have decided it will be my first choice for my signature collection images.”
Victoria Kelly
victoriakellyphotography

“As a longtime large-format, film-based photographer, you would expect that I print on paper. However, due to a giclée clients' request for clear, saturated color prints on canvas, I found Magiclée Torino 17M matte canvas for inkjet printing. The client loved the results. Since then, I’ve been printing my fine-art photography with an Epson 9800 on Torino 17M-black edged and gallery-wrapped on heavy-duty stretchers. One hundred percent of my gallery sales this year have been these canvas prints. Torino 17M provides exceptional color and clarity. Its availability in cut sheets for proofing and wonderful finishing properties are added bonuses. This is a fabulous product!”
Alan Epstein

“I was introduced to Kodak Endura Metallic Paper when I was organizing a show of my work at The Spike Gallery. I wanted an archival paper that would accentuate the black-and-white work in my photo book about the 1980s, so8os: A Diary of a Decade. I shot this body of work almost exclusively with Kodak Plus-X film. My thought was that the metallic sheen of the paper would enhance the black and white of the film. I was surprised at how it flattered skin tones. Since then I have used Endura Metallic Paper to print my color work from my two other books, InTents and Kiss Kiss. The tones really make the subject matter illuminated and give that extra ‘pop’ in the prints. Everyone is always asking me about the richness of my prints.”
Patrick McMullan
www.patrickmcmullan.com

“While I always relied on Somerset Photo Enhanced Velvet paper for brilliant color and an exquisite tactile texture for exhibition of my flower photographs (from SEARCHINGS: Secret Landscapes of Flowers) and black-and-white nudes, it was in my most recent exhibition of all-white flowers, with fantastic subtleties of shades of white, that the paper exceeded even my expectations. Legion Matte is often my choice for black and white, giving deep blacks, and nothing compares to Legion Silk for matchprints rendering a perfect accuracy from which to reproduce commercially. I consider these papers to be an integral part of my photography.”