Inkpress Papers: What say you?

[Paul Verizzo]

A few years ago I bought some Inkpress sample packs and then promptly forgot about them. So just recently I pulled them out and started playing with them. Checking the website, it confirmed what attracted me back then: A wide variety of papers at attractive prices with good online information.

One of the relatively unique papers are the two baryta coatings, yes, I know Canson and others make them, too. Inkpress has baryta in both cool and warm paper tones. As an old timer dripping from the wet darkroom still, and loving all those old Kodak papers, I can assure you that the Inkpress Warm Baryta is jumping into the Way Back Machine.

Yeah, yeah, reviewers talk about the deep blacks and all that with this paper, as if you can't get them or better with a premium glossy paper. The fact is a warm tone paper is made for people. I can't imagine using color, nor non-human subjects with this paper. But if there is flesh, the impact is not to be described. It's all in the head, how we look at at perceive things. (There's that darned Subjectivity thing again!)

The finish is unique. A sort of Luster, but much more random and over a larger area.

I've also tried the Warm Rag and Metallic, but it is the Warm Baryta that is lining me up to buy more.

Inkpress is apparently a father and son endeavor. When I asked a question I got a prompt email response. And they have the art and tech backgrounds.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

I guess 61 viewers have nothing to say!

 

[mikling]

Paper choices are very personal and mainly comes down to tonality, weight, texture and finish and uniformity from batch to batch. Papers chosen is a part of the presentation of the image as the creator wants it. With color management the choice is even more difficult since given a similar paper tone, prints can be made so similar even with different brands. Do keep in mind that there are only so many paper mills that make photographic papers around.
Inkpress is certainly not a bad choice.

 

[fotofreek]

As an old timer dripping from the wet darkroom still, and loving all those old Kodak papers, I can assure you that the Inkpress Warm Baryta is jumping into the Way Back Machine.

Same experience with me. Warm tone papers were the best for portraits. I spent many a night - often til 3 or 4 in the morning, just working to get the perfect print. I had to hide my rejects as my wife would never throw away a picture of our kids no matter how mediocre or poor the print was.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Same experience with me. Warm tone papers were the best for portraits. I spent many a night - often til 3 or 4 in the morning, just working to get the perfect print. I had to hide my rejects as my wife would never throw away a picture of our kids no matter how mediocre or poor the print was.

Ha ha ha! That got a big laugh out of me on this dark, rainy morning!

Now that we all are inundated with images everywhere due to ease, lack of cost, and lack of discrimination, there's been a huge loss of craft. "My new $1000 auto-everything DSLR says 'I'm a photographer!' I'm a budding Ansel Adams! Even if I don't know what an F-stop or a Dmax is." I'm not saying there aren't many people working with all the new stuff who aren't great artists, just as a percentage (add in the phone cameras!) they are such a small minority. They are the same who would have prevailed in the wet darkroom, too.

Many of these new folk just start clicking away on options in Picasa or whatever program they are using, full of gimmick filters. A "new professional" type of photographer who did a daughter's wedding didn't even Autolevel the images! Many were washed out. Good old (emphasis perhaps on that!) Dad spent fifteen minutes with batch Autolevel and all became well.

Part of the loss of craft is understanding why B&W is the better option in certain images. It does not mean "less valuable" than color. The ideas of warm/cold tone images and warm/cold tone papers are being lost in the fog of time. What's a chlorobromide paper?

Anyway, enough rant. It's raining harder, the coffee pot beckons, all is well on the bayou.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Well, FYI if you were pondering Inkpress Warm Baryta in 13x19" sizes. Two days ago Adorama had a box of 25 available for $43, free shipping. I went to buy today, not listed. "No longer available." I went to B&H, same thing!

Still some out there on eBay and Amazon, but a heck of a lot more expensive, like almost twice of much.

Drat!

 

[jtoolman]

I guess 61 viewers have nothing to say!

Thank you for bringing the subject of Inkpress paper up.
So happens that about a year ago, I saw an offer on EBAY for their two ample packs for only $5 a piece.
I spent about $300 there and then. If you figure out that they include 2 of each paper, they end up costing less per sheet than if you were to buy them in their prepackaged lots.

I have found them to be excellent papers for many different uses. The Baryta and others are quite good!!!

Joe

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Thank you for bringing the subject of Inkpress paper up.
So happens that about a year ago, I saw an offer on EBAY for their two ample packs for only $5 a piece.
I spent about $300 there and then. If you figure out that they include 2 of each paper, they end up costing less per sheet than if you were to buy them in their prepackaged lots.

I have found them to be excellent papers for many different uses. The Baryta and others are quite good!!!

Joe

Indeed, Joe, that's how I got started on this. Also a 5 piece sample pack of the Warm Baryta. Got them from Adorama at an attractive price, I think at about what you found.

While I found the samples of things like rag, metallic, and baryta interesting, the others were pretty much routine papers like glossy, luster, etc. For those types of papers, I'll just stick with Canon.

FWIW, I guess I don't get the metallic thing. Looks artificial, different appearances with different angles, and a weird to the touch finish.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Update on Warm Baryta: After only about a week in a sleeve, serious loss of Dmax. Very puzzling, of course. My only theory is that not being microporous or swellable gel, the dye ink went deeper and deeper, leaving less on the surface.

Obviously pigment inks hang out on the surface, regardless, so that's what this paper should be used with. Inkpress has no caveat on this issue. Sure glad I didn't spend the money I almost did for a large batch of it.