anyone stick with name brand paper only?

[Glen S]

I picked up some 4x6 and 5x7 epson glossy paper for my R300 yesterday,
at 9$ & 11$ per 20 sheets of each that's getting pretty pricey per print
when factoring in all the other costs. Mind you, this was at a well
known shop carrying a lot of high end stuff, I'm sure that it would be
less $$ at a big box store. The salesman told me that most of the
"serious" users stick to the same paper as their printer name brand for
best overall results. Later in the day I noticed costco carried both
these sizes of kodak glossy paper for around 24$ per 150, a lot more
palatable and makes creating your own prints more feasable.

Costco also had 125 8x11.5 sheets of their "kirkland" brand for 24$, a
tad cheaper than their epson paper that was 120 sheets for 29$, both a
relative bargain in any case. Anyone tries the "kirkland" brand? curious
as to what it is really, as kirkland is usually a well known name brand
under their own moniker.

Just curious how many in this group stick to whatever their printer name
brand is, and would like to see what paper pref's people here have in
general.



tia

 

[Jon O'Brien]

Just curious how many in this group stick to whatever their printer
name brand is, and would like to see what paper pref's people here have
in general.

I started using Epson's Archival Matt in my 2100 but then heard that it's
liable to yellowing. I now use Hahnemuhle Photo Rag and double-sided
Bockingford Inkjet Watercolour paper almost exclusively.

Jon.

 

[measekite]

I am going to try the Kirkland paper. Rumor has it that it is made by
Ilford and is quite good. I have a Canon IP4000 and when I want to hang
stuff I use Canon Photo Paper Pro. I would recommend you try Kirkland
and use the Epson paper for the stuff you want to hang.

 

[measekite]

What exactly is watercolor paper?

I started using Epson's Archival Matt in my 2100 but then heard that it's
liable to yellowing. I now use Hahnemuhle Photo Rag and double-sided
Bockingford Inkjet Watercolour paper almost exclusively.

Jon.

 

[Hecate]

On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 16:10 +0000 (GMT Standard Time),

I started using Epson's Archival Matt in my 2100 but then heard that it's
liable to yellowing. I now use Hahnemuhle Photo Rag and double-sided
Bockingford Inkjet Watercolour paper almost exclusively.

All sorts of papers - Permajet, Somerset, Ilford (and since John
mentioned it before) Hahnemuhle too. I'm sure I must have used some
Epson paper at some time because you get some in the box with the
printer...

 

[Kevin]

I've used Epson papers as well as Staples, Office Depot and Office Max
branded papers in my various Epson printers with very good results on all
brands. I have not, as yet, tried HP, Costco or Kodak papers, although I
don't see any reason why they wouldn't perform very well in my current Epson
printer, an R200.

 

[Burt]

I've done side-by-side comparisons with epson glossy paper, canon photo
paper pro, and Kirkland paper. They all make excellent prints with my canon
I960 printer. Kodak paper did poorly on my epson stylus 900 and my canon
I960 that I bought to replace the epson printer. I would definitely stay
away from the Kodak paper. I had "bronzing" and ink pooling. Kodak
customer service suggested different settings on my printer and their own
software, but I never did get satisfactory prints with their paper in my
Epson or Canon printers.

In my estimation, the Kirkland paper prints looked every bit as good as the
Canon pro paper. I don't know about longevity of the prints, but the
Kirkland prints look great. 20 or 30 minutes with a good paper cutter and
you will have 375 sheets of 4x6 paper for about a nickel a sheet with the
Kirkland paper. Great for everyday printing. I don't know how it will
perform with the Epson R300, but it is worth a try. I have read that the
Kirkland paper is made by Ilford.

 

[JC Dill]

I picked up some 4x6 and 5x7 epson glossy paper for my R300 yesterday,
at 9$ & 11$ per 20 sheets of each that's getting pretty pricey per print
when factoring in all the other costs.

That's because you are buying the 20 sheet packs, the 100 sheet packs
are a MUCH better value.

Mind you, this was at a well
known shop carrying a lot of high end stuff, I'm sure that it would be
less $$ at a big box store.

I paid $14.95 for a box of 100 sheet of Epson Premium Glossy 4x6 at my
local high-end photo store, = ~15¢ per 4x6 compared to your price of
45¢ per 4x6.

The salesman told me that most of the
"serious" users stick to the same paper as their printer name brand for
best overall results.

This is true especially if you care about longevity, as the printer
companies design their inks and papers to work well together. Other
papers may not work as well with the same ink, and your results will
definitely be poorer if you use non OEM inks. Now, the results may
still be "good enough" but you have to do direct comparisons to be
sure.

Later in the day I noticed costco carried both
these sizes of kodak glossy paper for around 24$ per 150, a lot more
palatable and makes creating your own prints more feasable.

Costco also had 125 8x11.5 sheets of their "kirkland" brand for 24$, a
tad cheaper than their epson paper that was 120 sheets for 29$, both a
relative bargain in any case. Anyone tries the "kirkland" brand? curious
as to what it is really, as kirkland is usually a well known name brand
under their own moniker.

There are several review sites that have reported good things about
the Kirkland paper:

<http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&q=inkjet+printer+kirkland+paper+comparison+&btnG=Search>

One also mentioned a great deal on Ilford paper at Sams Club.

jc

 

[Hecate]

What exactly is watercolor paper?

Watercolour paper is paper originally developed for artist's using
watercolours The idea is to give images a base which is similar to an
artist's watercolour paper.

 

[measekite]

Thanks!

But how do the results differ when using dye based ink on glossy photo
paper as opposed to watercolor paper?

 

[Hecate]

Thanks!

But how do the results differ when using dye based ink on glossy photo
paper as opposed to watercolor paper?

That's going to depend upon how the paper was formulated You'll find
that the same paper gives you different results on different printers
to include different results from two different versions of the *same*
printer. (E.g if you have two Epson 2100s side by side they'll give
you different results for the same image on the same paper due to
manufacturing tolerances. That's why you can buy custom profiles for
printers ).