Inkjet Paper Vs Photo Paper (glossy/matte)

[thanhhuy123]

Hi,

Can someone help me distinguish between inkjet paper and photo paper?

From what I know, inkjet paper are just like A4/A3 plain paper with a special coated layer on top of the surface to help cope with dye ink better, and the coated surface doesn't look shiny or fancy like photo paper. Photo paper, is also coated, and has in either glossy coated or matte coated, and the printable surface is very bright and "glossy"! Outside the photo paper package and also the inkjet paper package, they are both say "photo quality" and both are reported to be capable of handling photo printing just as well.

Until now I am using just 2 type of paper: plain A4 paper from PaperOne to print document, and chinese Kodad photo glossy paper to print photo.

 

[rodbam]

As far as I know the plain paper is mainly used for text & graphs etc & the more expensive photo papers are for printing top quality mainly photo's.

 

[jtoolman]

Canon used to have an "Inkjet" paper years ago. It appeared a lot brighter or Whiter that normal copy paper which is uncoated. It did produce very nice printouts even when using higher DPI settings on printers.
Sometimes they are called bright white. Mostly they have a white coating. What this coating is, I do not know.

Joe

 

[turbguy]

Practically any uncoated paper can be "Plain Paper", such as photocopy paper (which I use for text/graphics). It's CHEAP and works fine for me.

Coated papers "accept" the inks better, and provide less "spread" of ink droplets than uncoated paper, permitting higher quality (resolution and "blackness") settings to be used in the driver settings. The higher quality settings make the printer spay more ink per square inch with overlapping passes of the print head, and the coating can absorb the additional "ink load" without puddling or ejecting a VERY damp and wrinkled print.

The better the coating, the more ink can be accepted, the better the potential output. Also,these coatings can protect the ink from deterioration from environmental deterioration.

Some uncoated fine-art papers are quite thick, and can accept high ink loads due to their thick nature.

There are several brands of coated matte "presentation" paper, which can accept moderate ink loads and produce quite acceptable photos, but tend to wrinkle in high ink-load areas. I flatten them in a dry mount press.

There's quite a range of paper available for inkjets. Perhaps the largest concern is if the paper can accept dye or pigment inks. Dye inks are absorbed. Pigment inks tend to lay atop the surface rather than sink in, and can sometimes be easily damaged by abrasion, and show surface irregularities upon reflection at certain angles. Many coatings can handle both inks acceptably.

(Once, I fed my Canon i960 a sheet of thin PARCHMENT. The dye ink did not get absorbed very well, but the output was very surprising. It took over two days to dry, and curled up into a roll doing so! Once it was flattened and back illuminated it was like looking at an image made of stained glass.)

Hint: NEVER use wax paper!

Hope this helps.

 

[thanhhuy123]

Wow! I good workshop on inkjet paper. Thanks so much. Hope you can provide some more info about paper based on what you know. Let this be a guru-thread about paper. ^^

Wax paper?? I have never seen anyone who can inkjet print on that. But I have seen some wax paper with some stuff "printed" (printed? or something, not sure) on it, and wonder how people get ink/toner to stick on wax surface.

 

[PeterBJ]

Wax paper?? I have never seen anyone who can inkjet print on that. But I have seen some wax paper with some stuff "printed" (printed? or something, not sure) on it, and wonder how people get ink/toner to stick on wax surface.

Maybe the paper was printed before it was treated with wax?

 

[Roy Sletcher]

Hi,

Can someone help me distinguish between inkjet paper and photo paper?

From what I know, inkjet paper are just like A4/A3 plain paper with a special coated layer on top of the surface to help cope with dye ink better, and the coated surface doesn't look shiny or fancy like photo paper. Photo paper, is also coated, and has in either glossy coated or matte coated, and the printable surface is very bright and "glossy"! Outside the photo paper package and also the inkjet paper package, they are both say "photo quality" and both are reported to be capable of handling photo printing just as well.

Until now I am using just 2 type of paper: plain A4 paper from PaperOne to print document, and chinese Kodad photo glossy paper to print photo.

Small volume specialty papers such as those used for inkjet printing are a niche product, and marketed more on the whims and preference of producers the marketing departments, rather than precise compliance with standardized descriptive names. (IE - We will call it whatever you like, just buy more!)

I would argue that in fact there is no oversight concerning the properties, description and claims for inkjet papers, and the names are chosen more for their perceived sales appeal, then descriptive accuracy.

Hence on a coated paper the terms: luster, satin, dull, matte may be interpreted differently by different manufacturers.

All in all naming and ranking the products is something of a crapshoot.

FInd out what you like, and what works for you, and stick with it till it disappears.

I see that ILFORD is filing for bankruptcy protection, so we may see that paper disappearing soon, or being re-branded.


Roy Sletcher
waxing eloquent on a cold snowy morning in Ottawa
I also have a big Canon and frequently shoot people and cut of their heads and limbs. Don`t make me mad!

 

[mikling]

http://www.imaging-resource.com/new...bles-once-more-for-ilford-imaging-switzerland

How can smaller paper companies compete against the deals that Canon has been putting forward? The quality of their paper is high and the cost to the consumer is extremely low. I imagine so many people would have purchased Canon paper that the smaller paper vendors will feel the pinch for at least a year...many may even not be around. Interesting times and they are changing quickly indeed.

I just acquired some Epson paper for half price the other evening directly from Epson.

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

Too bad about Ilford. I used to use their film, and I recall, their paper too. There used to be laws against selling below cost to drive competitors out of the market.