Photo paper recommendations?

J

JaCkaL829

it was my first time...
As the title says, for the Autopians that print their own photos what type of paper do you prefer and recommend? I've been helping my father finish our basement and we now have a bunch of sheetrocked walls. I plan on sprucing it up a bit by printing some of my "better" photos and framing them. Mainly 8x10s. Anyway I went to Staples a couple weeks back and picked up some Fuji Premium Plus Photo paper (glossy), free after rebate :chuckle: .

When I printed out my picture(lake shot), it was eaten by reflections in my basement, mainly from the fluroscent lights. My friend's father who is like an Autopian in photography, gave me some sample papers (glossy, semi-glossy, matte) to play around with. I wanted to talk to him more on it, but he was in a rush. After reading a little bit online and taking a ride to Staples and smoking my brains in all the brands/types of photo paper :nixweiss , I'm thinking the Kodak Ultima Satin photo paper is my best bet. I'm looking for a high quality, consumer photo paper. Nothing to crazy, my camera isn't insane(FinePix S5100) neither is my photo printer (HP Photosmart 7450). Just curious as to what some of you Autopians use??

:xyxthumbs
 
There is no universal best photo paper. The best photo paper is the one that is made for your printer. Each of the major manufacturers have different ink formulations and their papers are tailored for their inks.



Papers from Kodak and others who may not manufacture printers typically try to make papers that will look decent with most printers but they're definitely non-optimal.



Most of my users in my department (I'm an IT Administrator) don't believe me on this so I suggest getting a pack of HP Premium Plus Photo Glossy paper and comparing it to what you've used so far. The difference should be dramatic. You can find papers for the Photosmart 7450 here:



HP Premuim Plus Photo Papers
 
It is true that most printer manufacturers' own photo paper is best matched to their particular printer and ink. For instance, I have a Canon i860 that prints amazingly well on Canon Photo Paper Pro and Photo Paper Pluss Glossy. I've tried some paper from Sam's Club (no name) and the prints on it were very grainy and the ink bubbled up a little. It has a lot to do with compatibility between the ink and the paper. Good rule of thumb is Canon Printer -> Canon Paper, Epson Printer -> Epson Paper, etc.
 
What they said... Also if you are looking to avoid reflections look at some flat matte photo paper. I prefer the glossy papers for most prints but if you're trying to avoid reflections go matte.
 
Well I printed the same picture out on two different sheets (glossy vs. semi gloss aka satin). I think the semi gloss is for me. It gives nice color, without really bad reflections from the glossy paper. The glossy paper really had a nice look almost 3D, but the reflections were destroying the picture. I didn't print the picture on matte, because I feel it won't look as good. I'm printing 8x10s of wildlife and scenic picture, and i'm sure the matte will dull the picture.

Today I noticed Staples had some Kodak Ultima paper I was looking at on sale now, so i'll probably go with that, unless HP has a similiar paper for the same price if not cheaper.
 
maecrispy said:
There is no universal best photo paper. The best photo paper is the one that is made for your printer. Each of the major manufacturers have different ink formulations and their papers are tailored for their inks.



Papers from Kodak and others who may not manufacture printers typically try to make papers that will look decent with most printers but they're definitely non-optimal.



Most of my users in my department (I'm an IT Administrator) don't believe me on this so I suggest getting a pack of HP Premium Plus Photo Glossy paper and comparing it to what you've used so far. The difference should be dramatic. You can find papers for the Photosmart 7450 here:



HP Premuim Plus Photo Papers
Click to expand...



What paper do you recommend for color laser photos from an HP color laser?



Do they even make color laser photo paper ?



I do prefer glossy for ink jets.
 
doublel said:
What paper do you recommend for color laser photos from an HP color laser?



Do they even make color laser photo paper ?



I do prefer glossy for ink jets.
Click to expand...



For color laser, you don't have to use anything special. The toner they use for the colors is fairly similar in attributes to the toner that's used for monochrome laser printers (i.e. they don't vary wildly in composition like inkjet inks can between different manufacturers.)



Whatever you normally use for a monochrome printer, you can you use for everyday use with a color printer.



There are some thicker, bright white papers you can use with a color laser to get more vibrancy in your colors like this one:



HP Laserjet Tough Paper



That type of paper is mostly for presentation type uses. Lasers in general are just not that great for photo type work. For photos, stick with a good quality 4/6/8 ink inkjet printer.
 
I have been printing color on HP Premium paper in my HP 5550 with a photo print cartridge (c6658a) and have been pleased with my results. I set my print preferences to best quality, etc.



Good Luck.
 
maecrispy said:
Lasers in general are just not that great for photo type work. For photos, stick with a good quality 4/6/8 ink inkjet printer.
Click to expand...



How about some of the newer color lasers are advertising 2400 ret. Is that closing in on inkjet quality? I have not gone to see one of these yet, I was hoping the new color lasers are going to get close to inkjet quality because the prices are falling dramatically.
 
doublel said:
How about some of the newer color lasers are advertising 2400 ret. Is that closing in on inkjet quality? I have not gone to see one of these yet, I was hoping the new color lasers are going to get close to inkjet quality because the prices are falling dramatically.
Click to expand...



They're getting closer but nobody will mistake a photograph printed on a color laser for a traditional film print let alone an inkjet print. The problem lies with the inherent technology that laser is based upon. Toner particles, for the most part, are uniform size. In order to approximate smooth color transitions, they have to use dithering patterns (i.e. the graininess you see in color laser prints.)



Inkjets on the other hand can vary droplet sized based on what they need producing much smoother transitions which make for much more realistic skin tones.



Now sometimes, you see a color laser printer spit out a demo page with a photo that looks fantastic. However, you'll notice that the sample image is a photo of a setting with really vibrant colors, sharp edges between differing colors, and hardly any areas with smooth gradients of similar color (like skin for instance.) The image is purposely chosen to minimize the weaknesses inherent in color laser printing.



For now, I still think inkjets are the best for producing film like prints. Ask me again in 2 years and I may tell you differently. :grinno:
 
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