On Oct 1, 2007, at 3:40 PM, Mark Cassino wrote: > Does anyone have recommendations regarding a good, > high quality, acid-free, archival, paper for use in an > Epson 2200? ... > I generally do mono prints on Enhanced Mat / Pemium > Presentation paper. Color prints look fine on it as > well, with the MK inks. ... > Epson's velvet fine art paper is wonderful - but the > image is exceptionally fragile. Just dropping a sheet > of typing paper on it can chip the pigments, which > seem to rest in a very fragile layer on the surface of > the paper. I've been using it in framed prints, but I > worry about selling such fragile prints unframed, > since people will invariably damage them and expect me > to take them back.
I have the R2400, not the 2200: the inkset is different. On that basis, this can only be a data point. I standardized at the outset on matte surface papers only: I like the finish more and prefer its tonal qualities to the contrasty nature of glossy, or the detail-loss of pearl and lustre papers that I see. I find EEM to be darn good for average work. Yes, the paper surface tends to go warm, this hasn't bothered me for the work I've printed on it ... even aged a few years, the prints look good. What does bother me is that EEM's maximum black is limited by how much ink it can contain and how it is bound to the paper surface ... Some of my B&W prints just can't hit the tonal values I want on EEM. That's when I move to VFA, Hahnemühle Photo Rag Smooth, Crane Museo, Somerset Velvet, or Red River Smooth Rag. But it seems that amongst my current profiles for these papers, the Epson set for VFA is one of the best. I've only done a little printing on the Red River ... It seems nice and somewhat tougher in feel, but I don't really know how well the ink bonds to it. I have seen lots of chipping with the Hahnemühle paper until it drys down all the way. None with the Somerset Velvet ... that's an uncoated surface and has beautiful texture at the expense of some sharpness. But it really feels nice when you handle it. My experiments with VFA haven't shown it to be that fragile. I use it as a higher-end standard paper as it is easily available and reasonably priced for a rag paper. I took a test print I made on it last week, with very deep blacks and luscious tonal transitions, and forcibly bent it to see if I could get the ink to chip. I dropped paper on it, etc. I only get chipping if I bend the paper backwards or forwards with a 90 degree or greater crease. That seems tough enough to me ... anyone putting their photographs through that kind of torture shouldn't be looking at me for a refund. ;-) VFA's coated surface is a hair sharper than the others too, although EEM is the sharpest of this set of matte papers. One of these days I'll try the Lustre again... > So - paper that is archival, heavy weight, presents a good image - > and is tough... Anything fill the bill? All of the above have done well for me, but again I haven't got your inkset. Godfrey -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
