Photography News | Issue 67 | photographynews.co.uk
53
First tests
EpsonFineArt CottonSmoothBright £41.76
Specs
One of the absolute joys of modern photographic printing is the huge choice of finishes available, especially with art finishes. There are boundless ways to give your images an individual look and part of the fun for me is trying different finishes to see what the potential is. Epson Fine Art Cotton series comprises four finishes, Textured Bright, Textured Natural, Smooth Natural and Smooth Bright. I tried the last-named. Although not mentioned in their specification, the two Natural finishes are OBA-free so their bases have a marginally creamy look. The Bright versions have small quantities of OBA to produce a whiter base but are used in a way that they are more stable than existing Epson art papers. Cotton Smooth Bright is a matt material and as its name tells you, this is a fine art material and not suitable for every printer and only those using pigment inks. Epson’s website lists which of its own devices it works with andthelargemajorityarefreestanding pro machines. For desktop printing the SureColor SC-P600 and SC-P800 are compatible and it is the latter A2 machine furnished with Epson inks that I used for my test. Fine art media in this printer is fed into the printer from the front rather than the rear tray where most other papers go. Slide the paper in carefully and once at a certain point, push ‘load’ on the LCD; the printer swallows the paper in and positions it correctly. The process is straightforward provided the paper is flat but any corner curl can make life difficult. I was using paper from a roll and so I cut sheets off well in advance and flattened it the best I could before printing. Most sheets went in at the first time of asking while a minority needed a little persuasion. Obviously, you need to take care otherwise you could spoil a corner or edge. The instructions say that the paper needs careful handling and fingers should be kept off the printing surface. I used cottongloves to be extra careful. I printed through Epson’s Print Layout app which is up to date with these papers and generic ICC profiles are available. I also took the opportunity to make my own custom profiles using an i1 Studio outfit. Epson’s app is a little clunky but it has its plus points too. You can create your own presets, border adjustment
Prices 25 sheets A4 £41.76, £1.67 a sheet; 25 sheets A3+ £106.02, £4.24 a sheet; 25 sheets A2 £170.28, £6.81 a sheet Roll sizes: 17inx15m £127.44, 24inx15m £170.28, 44inx15m £320.16, 64inx15m £401.58 Surface Matt Base 100% cotton rag Compatibility Pigment ink printers Tint (L*a*b*) L* = 97.5 a* = 1 b* = -3.5 M1 (D50) Weight 300gsm Thickness 490 µ m ISO 0534 Contact epson.co.uk
If you want a haptic experience, this paper certainly delivers
Above The paper has a good heft and a nice, fine tooth
is easy, it has generic profiles for Epson papers built-in and your system’s on- board ICC profiles can be used too. It works with JPEGs and TIFFs too. If youwant a haptic experience this paper certainly delivers on that front. It might weigh 300gsm but it has the heft and feel of a heavier paper and the surface was a very fine toothwhen you run your fingers over it. Colour accuracy is good with a restrained delivery that suits fine art
use. Perfect, for example, for moody seascapes and portraits too. Matt papers don’t suit every image although that of course is a matter of opinion. I personally would not use a matt paper for my contrasty mono images where deep possible blacks are key. But fully toned mono shots sit very well with this material. You do get decent blacks with plenty of shadow detail too and tonal gradation is nice and smooth. WC
Below With this paper you get good blacks and crisp highlights in mono shots, and decent accuracy in colour images, too
Verdict
Epson Fine Art Cotton Smooth Bright is undoubtedly capable of very good results. It has a lovely feel although it is probably fair to say how it handles is irrelevant because finished prints will be destined for mounting and framing rather than for passing around at a coffee morning. With excellent archival properties and good colour presentation this paper has all the potential for fine art use. Pros Heft, smooth finish, delicate colour presentation Cons Premium price, needs careful handling
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