Thanks for these comments. One of the difficulties is we have too many paper choices/brands. Nobody has the time to fully review and test all of them. Sometimes coating formulations change and the 'new' paper does not yield the same results.
I print on both matte and glossy papers with success that is highly dependent of the image. Soft proofing gets you so far but there are always nuances that are not revealed until you have a print to view. I have settled on four papers that I routinely use these days. I have had enough time with each to figure out all the idiosyncrasies.
We're planning a few different "Guides to matte/baryta/etc papers". We did one on Moab papers, and a limited comparison of baryta papers a while back that may prove helpful. We are working on a few more now.
Even in the context of matte and glossy, the choices can seem daunting. As pointed out, there are so many different types of matte and glossary papers. I don't recall where I read it, but I think good advice is to don't be afraid to experiment with various kinds of paper.
Good point on coating formulations changing. I really enjoy testing as many papers as possible and have noticed that different batches of the same exact paper render different results. I find paper texture (or lack thereof) and color gamut to be 2 of the most significant factors that influence my choice of paper for any given image. While this does not alleviate the inconvenience of inconsistency in formulation, it does better enable me to find what I believe is the best choice.
Thanks for these comments. One of the difficulties is we have too many paper choices/brands. Nobody has the time to fully review and test all of them. Sometimes coating formulations change and the 'new' paper does not yield the same results.
I print on both matte and glossy papers with success that is highly dependent of the image. Soft proofing gets you so far but there are always nuances that are not revealed until you have a print to view. I have settled on four papers that I routinely use these days. I have had enough time with each to figure out all the idiosyncrasies.
We're planning a few different "Guides to matte/baryta/etc papers". We did one on Moab papers, and a limited comparison of baryta papers a while back that may prove helpful. We are working on a few more now.
Even in the context of matte and glossy, the choices can seem daunting. As pointed out, there are so many different types of matte and glossary papers. I don't recall where I read it, but I think good advice is to don't be afraid to experiment with various kinds of paper.
Good point on coating formulations changing. I really enjoy testing as many papers as possible and have noticed that different batches of the same exact paper render different results. I find paper texture (or lack thereof) and color gamut to be 2 of the most significant factors that influence my choice of paper for any given image. While this does not alleviate the inconvenience of inconsistency in formulation, it does better enable me to find what I believe is the best choice.