[Leica] Re: Printer Paper

[daniel.ridings at edd.uio.no (Daniel Ridings)]

> the meantime, any suggestions as to good photo printer paper....I've
> tried some of Legion's products and have been pretty happy, although,
> the glossy finish seems to show the limitations of my old Hewlett
> Packard printer a bit too much. Is Hahnmule (spelling?) any good? Other
> brands? Thanks much! chris

Hahnem?hle makes great paper. But it costs. Probably the best bargain
paper to be had (and awful good even if it's not bargained priced) is
something you can get at Costco. Kirkland glossy. Costs pennies. It's made
in Switzerland and rumoured to be Ilford in the long run ... but not one
the papers Ilford markets under their own name. Over on the
"DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint" list, this is a big hit.

Hahnem?hle Photo Rag (100% cotton) tends to flake. And with the flakes
goes your image. It might be too thick to load properly too. There is a
thinner version. Just as good.

Permajet Classic Portrait is a very nice paper (JOBO carries it). This
paper and Classic Museum from Permajet are my favorites.

I like Ilford papers, but with some dye inks they fade away after about 2
years (Ilford Gallerie). I'm not an archival fetish, but that's a little
too ephemeric for my tastes. I don't have that problem though because I
use pigment inks (Ultrachrome (Epson) and MIS Utratone EZ (carbon inks)).
The smooth pearl is really nice with the MIS inks.

Probably the best bargain matte paper is Epson Enhanced Matte Heavyweight.
Cheap and good. I've got a few prints up on the wall in front of me and
from a viewing distance, you'd be hard pressed to pick out it from a group
of one the papers costing many times more. You can buy it in boxes of 50.

For the print exchange (LUG-prints) I used Somerset Enhanced Velvet. It
was a real pain because it wouldn't load automatically and was as stubborn
as a mule about loading manually (in my printer).

All this assuming you are printing letter size. On rolls there are some
more nice papers. If you're thinking of color ... I wouldn't really know.
I only have experience with Epson printers.

Daniel