I have always preferred pearl finish papers (exhibition fiber, HFA pearl, etc) - but recently switched my 3880 over to matte black ink to see what I can get out of the matte paper world. Since I am generally printing more vivid artwork and starting to mat this artwork, my pearl prints aren't really fitting in with the matte/glass/frame combo and I am on the hunt for a good deep matte paper.
Wow the epson hot press bright paper is AMAZING - the depth and vividness of color makes other papers look like prints from a kinkos... But I need an alternative to this epson hot press bright with simiilar dynamic range -
2 reasons:
1. On the 3880 it must be fed manually one sheet at a time - (this is a dealbreaker for my workflow)
2. Obviously cost (but not a major reason).
I've tried Red river polar matte and aurora bright - but haven't been able to get even close to the epson (probably 15% less saturation/depth).
Has anyone found a matte paper they like that is thinner than the epson so it can go through the sheet feeder?
Hahnemühle Photo Rag is very very similar to Hot Press Bright. It's slightly thicker but has virtually an identical surface and a similar but not exactly the same white point. I printed an entire show for an up and coming L.A. photographer on the Epson paper - at her request - and we had to make one larger print for the show and I had some of the Hahnemühle around. When you put the two side by side, it was amazing at just how close the two were.
I just dug up the measurement files for both on a 9900 Epson. The Epson HPB black measures 16.1 L while the Hahnemühle Photo Rag is 17.1 L, both measured with the same Gretag Spectrolino T with the UV filter in place. So while there is technically a difference, it's very very slight, and you're not like to ever see it in print.
Here's a ColorThink 3D rendering of the respective gamut maps. There's a very slight overall edge to HPB, which is the wireframe, but they're so close that you'd never see the difference in the real world.
Thanks Peter - that's awesome - I think I'll be stuck looking for another option based on the thickness of the Photo Rag - but since I love the fine art pearl so much my curiosity is going to get the best of me for a few sample prints.
