This is a beautiful paper. Canson claim a 500 year history for Rives BFK as a traditional printmaking and drawing paper. This mould-made, 100% cotton, 310gsm paper has a vellum texture and a warmth that adds class to images that will benefit from its subtle but distinctive character. (Where more neutrality is required Arches Velin Museum Rag is probably preferable.) (more…)

Arches Velin Museum Rag, based on the centuries old Arches Velin, is another new paper from the Canson Infinity range. It shares the same class leading OBA-free whiteness as Rag Photographique and most of what has been said about Rag Photographique applies here. Where Arches Velin Museum Rag differs is with its fine-grained texture and slightly warmer paper colour. (more…)

Hahnemühle William Turner is a mould-made, 100% cotton paper with a true cold-pressed watercolour surface. It is available in 190gsm and 310gsm weights, with the latter more suited for hanging. The paper colour measures CIE L*a*b* values of 96.1, 0.1, 1.5 (a natural white), presumably achieved by the addition of a small amount of OBAs. With Ultrachrome HDR inks, the gamut is very large for a matte paper and it achieves a satisfying Dmax of 1.66. (more…)

Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Silk is a new paper here at Macquarie Editions. It’s another example of a baryta (barium sulphate) paper modeled on traditional fibre photographic paper (see also Harman FB Gloss Al). What sets Gold Fibre Silk apart is its almost neutral base colour (measured with CIE L*a*b* values of 97.9, -0.1, -0.4). (more…)

Hahnemühle Museum Etching is one paper that elicits an immediate and positive response and is also one of my personal favourites. This 100% cotton, 350gsm, 0.6mm thick paper is almost like cardboard. It’s the natural warmth and distinctive “copperplate” surface texture that sets this apart. It is definitely one where you’ll want the paper itself to feature prominently in its presentation with generous borders and/or float mounting. (more…)

Harman was formed by six former managers of the long established Ilford company who bought out their manufacturing facilities in the UK. It is named after Alfred Hugh Harman who founded the original company in 1879. With Gloss FB Al, Harman has specifically targeted the B&W fibre-based gelatin silver look to the extent that it uses the same baryta (barium sulphate) as its base … and with a smell that will remind many of their darkroom days! The paper has been further tweaked with the addition of alumina for “a high degree of glossiness, optical image density and vibrancy”. (more…)

Hahnemühle Bamboo has been quite a popular paper here at Macquarie Editions, in large part due to its uniqueness and versatility. This 290gsm, 0.5mm thick matte paper is made from 90% bamboo and 10% cotton and Hahnemühle touts its feel-good credentials: “Bamboo represents spirituality, naturalness and resource-saving paper production”. It’s a warm paper with a lovely organic texture but its strength is its ability to take ink and deliver really beautiful prints, in B&W and colour. (more…)

This is the first in a series of short guides to some of the papers available from Macquarie Editions for the printing of your images. These papers have been selected because of their outstanding and unique qualities. Matching the paper to the image can have a significant impact on the success or otherwise of the print.

The Infinity range from Canson is a new series of papers and supersedes other inkjet offerings from this French manufacturer (such as those previously marketed under just the Canson or Arches name, or Arches Infinity). Canson are trumpeting the fact that all papers in this range are OBA free and instead use added natural minerals to achieve their class leading whiteness. (more…)