Is brightness important for photo papers?

[Fenrir Enterprises]

In the past three years or so I've noticed most companies have been
advertising how bright their paper is (whiteness). About five years
ago the average consumer would never have even heard of the term.
While I think that brightness of standard paper used for documents can
be important (i.e. the e-mailed directions to a store can be printed
on 88 bright recycled paper, while a presentation or newsletter should
be printed on brighter paper), how important is it for photographs,
where, in general, the paper will have nearly 100% ink coverage?

I've noticed that generic photo papers tend to be brighter. Office
Depot Professional Photo Paper and Staples Premium Plus Matte are
extremely bright white, probably 96 or higher. But if you put it next
to a piece of HP Premium Plus paper or Epson Ultra Premium Glossy
paper, it makes the HP and Epson paper look yellow and not white at
all. I was surprised, as I would have thought that the top of the line
HP and Epson papers would be just as bright as the generic. However, I
was thinking that the brighter paper might actually change the color
balance. I haven't noticed much of a difference on the Epson printer
(R340 with OEM ink). I usually use the Epson paper because I like the
gloss much better than the generics (Epson paper seems to be the
glossiest of any brand). I can't really tell on the HP because my
model (1100D with OEM ink) doesn't work properly with the HP photo
paper. While I know the printer is not designed for photos at all, I
prefer to make master copies on photo papers in order to bring them in
to be photocopied. But if I use the HP paper the ink never really
seems to dry, and the black ink sits on top of the paper and smears
easily.

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[Arthur Entlich]

Brightness is VERY important in inkjet papers. It is not the only
consideration, but it is important. All inkjet inks are transparent or
translucent (pigment) and they get their brightness from the white of
the paper. Try printing on black paper and see what you get ;-)

However, brightness is not as simple as it sounds. First of all there
are at least two scales used. One in European and one North American.
The one that has papers reading over 100 is the European scale.

Also, brightness doesn't tell us how neutral the paper is. Some optical
brighteners contain UV fluorescent dyes that phosphoresce blue, even in
visible light, and this can throw the color balance off as much as a
yellowed paper can.

Part of the need for paper printer profiles is due to these differences
in brightness and color balance.

Anyway, the main point is that inkjet ink is not opaque and doe snot
create it's own reflective source. Without the white behind it, you
have almost no reflective color rendition (as I mentioned, print on
black paper if you want to see the result), so the paper brightness is
critical in the result.

Art