Photo paper - favourite make, and how to store it?

[ehasler]

For those who print their own photos, what paper do you prefer to use?

I've tried a few types on my Epson 2100, and have found that Tetenal Premium Fine Art Glossy Paper 290gsm along with the Tetenal print profiles gives the best results, with almost perfect colour reproduction.

Ilford Gallerie Smooth Pearl paper is probably my 2nd favourite, as it has a really nice finish and you don't see any hint of the ink sitting on top of the paper which you can get with the 2100's pigment inks on glossy paper. The only downside is a slightly green tinge to the output, although this is reduced by using the Tetenal print profile rather than Ilford's one.

One downside of these papers, especially the glossy ones is that they seem really susceptible to scratching and general handling, so does anyone have any ideas for storing and transporting them?

I'm getting some of my photos framed which will do the trick, but even getting this done involves carrying delicate A3 prints to the art shop without damaging them, which isn't the easiest thing to do, and I could do with some sort of felt-lined portfolio case or something - any suggestions?

[bacchus180]

I use lyson darkroom paper with lyson small gamut inks for monochrome and fotonic inks for colour, the darkroom matt, and satin work well, or fine art paper, the gloss is like all gloss really bit high street. they are all 250g+

comes in a great box for storage, prints like a dream when you set up the right profiles. never a problem transporting. if I'm sending prints I put them in the big bog roll type tubes wrapped in tissue, no probs there.

[ehasler]

What printer do you use? Do you use the Lyson continuous ink system? I've thought about converting my 2100 as the Epson ink gets expensive at around £11 for each of the 7 catridges, and they don't last that long when you're printing A3!

[bacchus180]

i use a canon 9100 with continous inks for monochrome and an epson 2100 with continious inks for colour.... yes its a huge saving using continious inks

[ehasler]

How does the output of the Lyson inks compare to the original Epson cartridges? Is there any difference in quality, colour range or saturation? Are there any advantages to staying with the Epson inks?

[bacchus180]

no idea... I bought it as a printer to use with lyson inks.. so I never plugged in the epson inks.
the canon was pants which is why I moved to monochrome...... and then realised I needed a colour printer as well... duh.

I think alot of it has to do with profiling, I have a guy coming end of nest week to build custom profiles AND show me how to do it, he reckons the results will be very noticable, and I apparently will be able to build profiles for my output files for any machine.... even the one at Tescos!!

[te51cle]

Will be interested how you get on with print longevity on the Tetenal paper. I had some when it was new on the market. The prints looked great when they were fresh but the prints started going off after a couple of months. They stabilised after 6 months but ruined anything that wasn't an abstract ! I haven't tried any for a couple of years so would be interested to see if they've improved.

At the moment I'm sticking to Epson Premium papers for anything that isn't draft quality.

For the photo club we get A2 sized portfolios that are really just glorified ring binders. Photos are stored in large polythene sleeves. Art shop or weird wide web to find those, here is a place I have used for example www.jacksonsart.com/acatalog/Jacksons_Mapac_Portfolios_269.html

[ehasler]

I've got prints on Tetenal paper that are about 8 months old now, and they look exactly the same as they did when they were printed. One of them is a test page, and you can't tell it apart from one I printed last week.

[te51cle]

Hmm, maybe I'll have to give it another try. Thanks.