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by James W. Milligan on Thu Mar 26, 2015 9:59 pm
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I just purchased an Epson 3880 printer and would like to use one paper for color work and another for B&W. If i could find one paper that produces good B&W as well as color that would be great. I would be interested to hear what  paper or papers you folks  have chosen for the Epson 3880 . I am going to try the Epson Hot press natural for starters.
 

by jgunning on Fri Mar 27, 2015 8:45 am
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I use several types of paper, but I've never segregated them strictly B&W vs. color. I've printed on whatever I felt was the best choice for the image and the final intended use. Contrary to most posting here, I tend to prefer the glossy/luster papers for most images, although I do use matte papers sometimes. Now that Ilford is not making Gold Fibre Silk, I'll have to search for a replacement. Enjoy the 3880. I've had a 4800 since they came out and other than the occasional clog, I couldn't be happier with it.
 

by James W. Milligan on Fri Mar 27, 2015 1:48 pm
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jgunning wrote:I use several types of paper, but I've never segregated them strictly B&W vs. color. I've printed on whatever I felt was the best choice for the image and the final intended use. Contrary to most posting here, I tend to prefer the glossy/luster papers for most images, although I do use matte papers sometimes. Now that Ilford is not making Gold Fibre Silk, I'll have to search for a replacement. Enjoy the 3880. I've had a 4800 since they came out and other than the occasional clog, I couldn't be happier with it.
Thanks for the reply, I used Premium Luster in the past and was pleased with the results. I received a sample of Epson Ultra Premium Luster and it looks rather good.
Jim
 

by Royce Howland on Sat Mar 28, 2015 11:36 am
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My best advice is to get some sample packs and try them out. There are many great papers out there. I could write pages about many of them but really you'd be not much further ahead until you see them for yourself and try making some prints on them. :)

Some of the favourite papers I use include Moab Somerset Museum Rag, Moab Slickrock Metallic Pearl, Moab Moenkopi Unryu, Canson Velin Arches Museum Rag, Canson Platine Fibre Rag, Hahnemuhle Bamboo, Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta, Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta, Hahnemuhle Torchon, and Ilford Gold Fibre Silk (which is back in production it seems, under revived company ownership). Probably a few others I'm forgetting. All of these are good for B&W, and they all have different characteristics that make one of them not a direct replacement for another.

I don't personally use any resin-coated papers any more, such as Epson's Luster, haven't for years. But many people do because it's a versatile all-around photo paper. The papers I use are all classed as "fine art" papers, I guess in part because that sounds fancy and justifies their higher prices. :) You can find papers that provide similar looks as Luster without being resin-coated, as well as others that are totally different. So it's mainly down to what kind of visual look and other media qualities you want for your work...
Royce Howland
 

by signgrap on Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:17 pm
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Royce, could expand on why you don't like RC paper?
In your opinion what are the advantages of "fine art" papers made from paper.
Thanks
Dick Ludwig
 

by Royce Howland on Sat Mar 28, 2015 4:41 pm
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My personal dislike of RC paper is because of the way the ink appears to sit on top of the paper, not within the surface. (In the bad old days this contributed to a lot of issues, but these days most of them have been resolved by new ink formulations. With the exception of gloss differential which can still be an issue with RC papers, as well as the glossier fine art papers.)

Also because it's plastic, the paper can't absorb anything and therefore all the off-gassing goes in the direction of the glass if you're framing the piece. Printing on fibre papers will off-gas as well, but some of it presumably absorbs into the paper and goes out the back rather than all staying on the glass side. Certainly I've seen less fogging over comparable time periods on glazed pieces printed on fibre papers compared to RC papers.

RC papers are probably less stable over time; they all contain optical brighteners as far as I know. Some fibre papers do as well, but many don't and those choices will be more stable in the long term in terms of dulling or colour shifting from the paper itself due to the absence of degrading brighteners.

In terms of variety, there's not much in RC papers. If you like to experiment with tones and textures of paper surface, well, with RC you get white glossy and white luster surfaces, and that's about it. I like to experiment with what the paper surface brings to the printed image. RC papers are good standard looking surfaces, but if you don't want standard then you're dealing with the fine art choices.

Finally, I just don't like the way RC papers feel. They feel like plastic. Even in framed pieces where it's likely nobody after me will ever touch the print, I dislike the thought of that plastic feeling material being in there. :)
Royce Howland
 

by signgrap on Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:43 am
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Royce, I just did an unintended test of how much ink RC papers absorb.
I inadvertently put a sheet of RC paper I was testing in the paper draw upside down.
I was amazed at how much ink was on the surface of the back side of the paper (it was a very dark image).
It looked like someone had poured ink on the paper to see how much ink they could puddle on the paper before it started to run off.
I left it over night and the ink is still very wet and really doesn't look like it's going to dry anytime soon.
Dick Ludwig
 

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