"They're Selling Us Crap Paper"

[johnastovall]

"I've just finished printing up a bunch of "art quality" 11 x 14 prints for my Contributors, and I'm so frustrated I feel like tearing my hair out. (Yes, I have plenty to spare. What's your point?) The amount of time and money I waste because of shoddy inkjet paper manufacturing practices is appalling..."

Details by Ctein

[venchka]

Are you positive it's the paper? Jeff, Murph Ken print a lot. except for the odd glitch like Murph's run in with Bamboo, none of them fuss.

What paper gave you fits? Sending off to a link written by someone we don't know isn't as up close and personal as the problems you had. Printer. Profile. Ink. Paper.

I missed all of the quotes. So what????????????

[jeffkohn]

I can't say that I've seen any glaring defects like the first picture in that article. Sometimes you do get some really subtle surface anomalies, that may or may not be noticeable depending on what gets printed on them. But definitely not to the extent where I'm throwing out half 1/4 the sheets in a box.

One thing I've seen is flaking with some of the cotton rag papers. Hahnemuhle Photo Rag in sheets has been bad about this in the past, I learned to brush the sheets off before printing on them (doesn't seem to be a problem with the rolls, thankfully). I think there's more opportunity for things to go wrong with cut sheets, whether it's cutting and packaging at the factory, or dinged corners during shipment. I've had fewer problems in general with roll paper.

Honestly though, if I have to throw out a print it's more often because of a kink, scratch or some other damage from clumsy handling on my part. Some of these papers are pretty delicate. For instance you really have to watch out for scuffs on the matte papers.

I do think quality and consistency varies by brand. Funny that Harman FB AL is the only paper he mentions by name. I found that paper to be extremely fragile; you can't even stack prints without fear of scratching. And I think the fact that it's so smooth and so glossy means any surface defects will show more than they would on a paper with a bit of texture. Most fiber-gloss papers are more durable than that in my experience; I've found Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta to be pretty good (and with the new Lucia EX inks prints should be even more durable).

More than defects, what bugs me is batch variations. For instance, I currently have a 24" roll of Photo Rag 308 as well as a box of letter-sized sheets. There's a noticeable difference in texture between the two, with the roll being smoother; and it's not something subtle where I had to compare them side by side. First print off the roll I immediately noticed the smoother texture. I also measured the papers' white point with my spectro, and there's a small difference (Delta E of 0.3, which just barely qualifies as being perceptible).

I haven't been methodical about keeping track of this stuff, but my gut feeling is that the gloss and semi-gloss papers are a little more consistent than the matte papers.

[Big Dog]

I think Ctein often just needs something to write about with a weekly deadline. As usual, I could be wrong ...

In any event, I've been reading his stuff off and on for years and he seems rather AR about a lot of things.

[Murph]

I agree that Ctein needs to whine about something. I print a lot, not as much perhaps as some, but I print a great deal. I brush all my matte paper, especially the Moab, and Hahnenmuehl offerings. And while Ctein is anally retentive, he is an excellent printer for traditional black and white papers. Jeff's assesment is right on the mark. As is David's. Ctein is annoyed that ink jet paper does not work 100% as silver halide photo paper. And Mike Johnson has jumped the left wing shark, his site has gotten....boring.

[sjordan]

I happen to agree mostly with this article. I do a ton of printing and have seen so many different paper issues.

Right now Epson seems to have the best track record in my case.

I have a roll of Ilford GFS that had scratches on the first 10ft! I didn't notice until I made a 16x20 print. I took it off of my 7900 and sure enough it looked like someone took the roll out and let it slide down a sidewalk. Still waiting for a replacement :(