Photography News | Issue 33 | absolutephoto.com
52 Accessories test
From £12
Inkjet papers When was the last time you took the trouble to print an image, rather than just looking at it on screen? If it’s longer than a few weeks, you’re missing one of photography’s central thrills, so check out these superb inkjet paper options and get printing today… Buyers’ guide
PERMAJET FB Gold Silk 315gsm
HAHNEMÜHLE William Turner 310gsm
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From £19
DAVINCI Crystal Satin 330gsm
EPSON Traditional Photo Paper 330gsm
From £28
Permajet FB Gold Silk 315gsm from £12
accommodated. Standard sizes are A4 to A2 and there are rolls up to 44in in width. William Turner stock is a genuine mould-made 100% cotton paper that wonderfully suits most arty images, limited-edition prints, and even greeting cards. The paper is compatible with pigmented and dye inkjet systems, and its premium matt inkjet coating guarantees the highest archival standards. What really catches the eye though is its expressive, textured surface which guarantees images with great density, and perfect colour gamut, graduation and sharpness. Expect to pay around £30 for 25 A4 sheets and £59 for 25 A3 sheets of the 190gsm paper; for the 310gsm paper, it’s £40 for 25 A4 sheets and £79 for 25 A3 sheets. If youwant to find outmore, make some prints and see Hahnemühle’s range of papers first hand, the company is having a pop-up shop event in Old Street Station, London. The event runs 13-19 June and the shop is open 10am to 8pm. hahnemuehle.com Alongside its range of high-quality inkjet printers, Epson has a fleet of first-class papers to match. There are loads to choose from, but one of our favourites is Traditional Photo Paper, an archival media aimed at photographers requiring the very best darkroom-style finish. Nominated in the Inkjet Media: Photographic Finish section of this year’s PN Awards, the paper is available in sizes of A4, A3+, A2 and 24-36in sheets (25 per pack, starting at £31.12), and 15m rolls from 17in to a whopping 64in in width. The acid and lignin free, microporous smooth gloss surface has a bright white finish offering excellent tonal reproduction, high definition and wide gamut of colours. It has the look and feel of traditional silver halide papers, but provides greater creative control thanks to its excellent tonal 3 Epson Traditional Photo Paper 330gsm from £31
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Permajet’s FB Gold Silk 315gsm has longbeenoneofourfavouritepapers, and in this year’s Photography News Awards it proved to be very popular with PN readers, too, scooping the Inkjet Media: Photographic Finish prize. FB Gold Silk 315 is a baryta paper with a smooth and classy satin-style finish and its 315gsm weight gives it a proper fine-art feel. In fact, despite being inkjet media, it very closely matches the look and feel of traditional silver halide papers. You can expect deep, velvety blacks and smooth highlights, while the paper also has a natural, warm base tone making it great for monochrome work. Away from first-class photographic prints, the 315gsm weight means you can use the paper for a variety of presentation purposes, including invitation cards. It’s fully compatible with both dye and pigment ink systems and has been designed, manufactured and tested on Epson, HP, Canon and Lexmark printers. The paper’s acid-free, water- resistant characteristics mean your prints will stand the test of time, and it’s available in sizes from A4 to A2, as well as 24in and 44in rolls (both of which are 15m long). A typical 25 sheet A3 packwill set you back £52.95, but if you just want to try it out, consider the A4 Launch pack, with ten sheets for just £12. permajet.com Picking the right paper for the style of image you’re printing is important, and so when you have a special shot to print, you need to use a paper worthy of your efforts. Offering a first-class finish is Hahnemühle’s William Turner fine-art matt watercolour texture paper, available in two weights, 190 and 310gsm. The paper won this year’s Inkjet Media: Fine Art Finish category as voted for by PN readers. It comes in a broad range of sizes, so even the largest prints can be 2 HahnemühleWilliam Turner 310gsm from £19
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From £31
range. If you’re working in black & white, you’ll be impressed by its high dynamic range with crisp highlights and deep shadows. The paper is optimised for Epson’s superb UltraChrome inks, as used in its latest generation of printers, including the brilliant P800 (see panel far right), and its coating also supports instant drying, so there’s no waiting around. epson.co.uk Da Vinci produces a wonderful range of matte and semi gloss inkjet papers for photographic and fine art inkjet purposes, and we’re particularly fond of the Da Vinci Crystal Satin version, which has a stunning natural white finish. The paper’s base is 100% cotton rag and this gives it a beautifully subtle texture that sits perfectly between the more exaggerated feel of watercolour papers and the smoother, darkroom-style surface of traditional photo papers. This means it lends itself especially well to black & white prints, with its coating adding a subtle semi- gloss look, and a glorious crystal ‘shimmer’, hence the name. The 4 Da Vinci Crystal Satin 330gsm from £28
a strong resistance to fingermarks, its base weight and creasing ability make it ideal for layflat book production and albumcovers as well as for boxed, mounted and framed work and display prints. Portrait and wedding photographers will love its controlled dynamic range and the subtle palette achieved. This is a paper which merges the feel of the best velvet matt papers of the past, the unique colour gamut of C-Type and the depth of fine-art giclée in a modern material capable of high volume rapid output. fujifilm.eu/uk If you want to try a range of printing looks without the cost of multiple packs of paper, checkout Fotospeed’s Panoramic Test pack. The pack contains four sheets of six different Fotospeed papers, so you get 24 sheets in total and it now includes the company’s latest Signature Range papers, with Platinum Baryta 300, Platinum Etching 285 and Smooth Cotton 300 sheets. The Signature range was tested last issue where we found it performed excellently, giving very punchy results for matt finish products and 6 Fotospeed Panoramic test pack £29.95
paper’s crystal layer also helps to enhance fine detail and improve the tonal range of images printed on it, with excellent response in the highlight and the shadow areas. The paper is available in sheet sizes from A4 to A2 (£28.20 and £111.60 per 25 sheet pack, respectively) and also in 15m rolls from 17in to 60in, starting at £96.60 and it’s been very well received by working photographers, including the likes of Giles Revell, Mark Newton, Joakim Blockstorm and KubaWieczorek. chaudigital.com Developed for use with all mini labs and medium to large-scale printer systems, Fujifilm Crystal Archive Professional Velvet is a new archival C-Type paper with a smooth matt velour finish, giving the look of a fine art reproduction with the longevity and robust handling of a real silver photographic material. Although resembling matt laminate, Professional Velvet has a rich photographic d-Max and matches the dynamic range of conventional finishes when used with the recommended printer profiles. With 5 FujifilmCrystal Archive Professional Velvet
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