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Here's What We Print On
KODAK PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Photo Paper- for Photos-Snapshots only- not recommended for ART PRINTS
Kodak says -
KODAK PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Photo Paper - a high quality, instant-dry paper that is universally compatible with dye and pigment based inkjet printers. Professionals and photo enthusiasts alike can enjoy the benefits of this photo quality inkjet paper. Our Inkjet Photo Paper features a true photographic base with high quality pulp and state-of-the-art paper composition that presents the look and feel of classic photographic paper. All this comes with a professional touch - our popular luster and glossy surfaces. Printed surfaces are extremely consistent and even, with no trace of bronzing. They can be directly compared to the surfaces of our silver-halide papers.
We say -
This stuff indeed has the feel and appearance of the old Kodak "wet process" paper many are very familiar with. But it has a depth and brilliance never seen before. Quite possibly the best choice for photographs and reproduction of vibrant original art work created in media such as acrylics.
EPSON Somerset Velvet
Epson says -
A high-performance, velvet surface, fine art paper for professional use. This is a 100% cotton rag, mould made paper, that is also acid-free and lignin-free.
They go on to say...
Somerset® has always been the first paper choice among serious artists and printmakers. Ever since the 1700s and the days of handmade paper,
We say -
Simply THE BEST for the reproduction of watercolor originals. After all, this is watercolor paper. 'nuff said.
LEXJET Sunset Smooth Fine Art Hot Press Rag
Lexjet says -
Sunset Hot Press Rag 310g is a 100% cotton, white art paper with a silky, smooth surface. It is ideal for reproducing paintings and art photographs that have unbroken swaths of color or a lot of detail. Because it has the look and luxurious feel of a traditional art paper, Sunset Hot Press Rag is a good choice for print projects that need to convey a sense of timelessness or quality, such photo restorations, memory albums, greeting cards, and postcards.
We say -
Now here's a weird instance where we pretty much agree with the manufacturer's description. The "unbroken swaths of color" part seems a little peculiar but we can roll with it. This stuff is what we refer to as our Fine Art paper, it's a material that's surface texture falls somewhere between Enhanced Matte and Somerset Velvet. As with many fine art papers, it's surface is a bit more delicate than others. We use this paper most often.
Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl
Hahnemühle says -
The bright white of FineArt Pearl enables impressive contrasts and pictorial depth in black and white or colour photography. The special coating provides a pearl-finish.
FineArt Pearl – a bright white, 100% α-cellulose paper – guarantees archival standards. With its premium pearl inkjet coating. FineArt Pearl meets the highest industry standards regarding density, colour gamut, colour graduation and image sharpness while preserving the special touch and feel of genuine art paper.
Applications
Photographic and fine art reproduction complying with highest archival standards, digital art, black & white and color photography, limited edition prints, presentation prints for display purposes and exhibitions, albums, greeting cards etc.
We say -
This is a great heavy weight semigloss paper with a very interesting unique subtle texture, it reminds us of the best lithographs of old. While excellent for photographs, it's a must for the graphic artist.
LEXJET Sunset Select Matte Canvas
Lexjet says -
The bright-white, matte-coated surface of this poly/cotton blend canvas provides the wide color gamut and color-consistency needed to fulfill a wide range of art-reproduction and photo printing requirements while facilitating stretching and other forms of finishing and display. The relatively smooth Oxford 2 over 1 weave is ideal for photo and art reproduction.
Sunset Select Matte Canvas works with both dye and pigment inks and is compatible with current and legacy-model printers from Canon, ColorSpan, Encad, Epson, HP, Mimaki, and Roland.
LexJet Sunset Select Matte Canvas is a 2010 Hot One Award winner.
We say -
We just keep burning up roll, after roll, after roll, of this stuff. "I can't tell 'um apart," is common when artists are comparing their originals to our prints. No need to say more than that. Remember that we offer stretching now so canvas are "Ready-to-Hang"!
Actually there is more to say -
While Lexjet seems to infer that this material is pretty tough, it isn't. No canvas is. Or, to be fair, the inks on it's surface are not tough, they're delicate. So ALL of our finished canvas prints are spray lacquered with multiple coats of PremierArt Eco Print Shield before they leave the door. This insures that your prints will have longevity and can be carefully cleaned if needed. And because it's so important, it's included in the price. Plus, you have your choice of two finishes, Satin or Glossy. About ninety percent of our customers prefer the Satin, it preserves the traditional canvas look. Then there's the 10% that like the Glossy... Look around you, are you one of... THEM?
A Special Note About Canvas Prints
When you order a print on any other media, you receive a product that is pretty much “stand alone”, it can be popped into a frame or you could do nothing at all if you like. But canvas is a bit different – because it is a fabric it needs to be stretched to make it flat. Stretching involves attaching the canvas to a wood frame. This can take on a number of forms that primarily involve the depth of the frame. [Depth is the distance that a stretched canvas stands out from the wall that it is hung on.] This distance starts at .75 inches and increases from there and is called “the wrap”. By default we print the wrap to a depth of 3 inches and our default is to "mirror" the wrap.
When your canvas is stretched it is affixed to stretcher bars. These bars determine the depth of your final work. Our default is to use 1.5 inch JACK RICHESON bars.
Here's What We Use To Print This Stuff
EPSON SureColor© P9000 Printers
EPSON says -
For more than a decade, Epson has set the standard by which all other photographic printing technologies are judged. So, when we decided to develop an entirely new generation of photographic printing technology, the significance of this effort inspired our engineers to rethink everything.
They continue...
Designed for professional proofing and photographic applications, they incorporate our latest imaging technologies – including an exotic Epson PrecisionCore® TFP® print head, along with our unique Epson UltraChrome® HDX ten-color pigmented ink set ...
With advanced media handling options from cut sheet to roll, from plain papers to photographic, fine art, and even 1.5 mm thick poster boards, the new Epson SureColor P-Series continues to redefine the state of the art in wide format photographic imaging applications.
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All-new Epson UltraChrome® HDX 10-Color pigment ink
- Optional Epson SpectroProofer, in-line spectrophotometer
- Optional Internal Print Server for higher productivity
- Powerful controller on-board and Gigabit Ethernet
- Professional roll and sheet media handling
- Latest PrecisionCore® TFP® print head
The permanence of displayed prints created with new UltraChrome HDX and HD inks far exceeds that of the very best silver-halide color (chromogenic) papers – including silver-halide color papers that are face-mounted to UV-filtering acrylic sheet. The result is a new level of color print permanence for the fine art, museum, documentary, portrait/wedding, and commercial photography markets that have been relying on silver-halide color papers for their customers. The enhanced display permanence ratings of the new Epson UltraChrome HDX pigment inks set a new benchmark that the comparatively low-stability chromogenic dye images of traditional silver-halide color papers simply cannot deliver ...
What really grabbed us initially was the promise of the UltraChrome HDX ink set. Archival AND great color? Ok, we'll see. We did the research and found, amongst others, Wilhelm Imaging Research - http://www.wilhelm-research.com/index.html - (Try taking a bite out of that website, whew!) So now we were confident that not only the ink would be archival but all our papers were as well. We committed.
It wasn't until we installed our first HDX printer and created our own paper profiles that we realized what a great choice we had made. The color saturation was way better than anything we had been able to do in the past - now we've got a whole bunch of these machines.
So there you go!
Or better yet - use https://wetransfer.com/ as noted on our website.