Any recommendations on quality photo paper to use in a photo printer?

December 6, 2004 7:07 PM

Any recommendations on quality photo paper to use in a photo printer? Is there any good reason to buy from the manufacturer?

On the recommendation of a friend I just bought a Canon Pixma 5000 bubblejet photo printer. I have heard (vague) comments about different quality in printer paper/ink and am wondering if anyone has experience or recommendations--ideally the combo of high quality, not too too high price. Is there any good reason t buy from the same manufacturer who made the printer?

posted by donovan to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

Inksupply.com (formerly MIS Supply) has a bunch of different papers for use in inkjet printers. The site is geared towards fine art inkjet printing and they have a bunch of info on getting the most out of your inkjet. They also have archival inks and continuous flow systems.

I've only used their quadtone greyscale inks (which were amazing), so I can't really attest to the quality of the other products they sell, but photographers I've worked for swear by them.
posted by spaghetti at 7:28 PM on December 6, 2004

Ilford makes a number of widely available photo papers and they have been making photography supplies for years, so their papers are worth a try. They typically come with suggested color settings for different printers, and I have been using their Printasia papers with my i9900 for a few months with very good results. Their papers have been tested extensively at Wilhelm, although not so much with Canon printers.
posted by TedW at 8:22 PM on December 6, 2004

Also, if you really want to get the most out of your camera/computer/printer combination, check out sites like Norman Koren's that go into some detail about color management and provide links to some good test images. All of this may seem a bit complicated at first, but learning even a little bit about the finer points of the digital darkroom will pay off if you aspire to anything more than snapshots. This was brought home to me recently when I scanned and printed some negatives and was able to see just how bad the color was in the original prints from a commercial processor.
posted by TedW at 8:39 PM on December 6, 2004

Highly recommended: RedRiverPaper for all your pre-cut and pre-scored greeting card and postcard paper. They sell paper in standard sizes, but their pre-cut card sizes save a lot of time and look great. I'd suggest getting one of their paper sample kits to make sure you know what you're buying.
posted by Hankins at 8:46 PM on December 6, 2004

Response by poster: Thanks for the help folks! TedW: That Koren link is a motherload, thank you.
posted by donovan at 10:26 PM on December 6, 2004