Thursday, July 14, 2011

Getting Technical With Inkjet Photo Papers


There has always been some confusion as what can be called inkjet photo papers. At times we hear that from our customers and we often read it online. Some papers are described as photo quality papers others as photo papers and some as premium photo paper etc. In this article we intend to get technical and highlight the different qualities of the papers with the distinguishing characteristics. Once you have this information at hand, the choice of which paper to buy should be easier.

There are 4 main types of papers: 

The Very Basic Bond Papers: This paper is normally packed in reams of 500 sheets in a paper wrapping. The paper is normally between 80-100 gsm (grams per square metre). This type of paper is universal for both laser and inkjet printing and not suitable for inkjet quality image printing, however for letters and other office document printing it makes a wise economical choice.

Matt Coated Paper: This paper is a bond paper with a top matt coating (normally on one side only) to accommodate the ink droplet and to enhance the colour of the image.  Inkjet Matt Coated papers are between 90-200gsm and in some cases even more which may cause some problems in feeding with some desktop inkjet printers. The matt coated papers will result in a nice matt image, however still not up to standard when a photographic image is required. Coated papers are mainly used for low cost printing of images, graphics, charts and are ideal for economical professional presentations.

Photo Gloss Instant Dry (Cast Coated): The most common photo paper in the market and being sold in all  the major high street chains and websites. The instant dry (or some will skip the word; instant) is a paper with a gloss coating which is normally coated with a technology called; Cast Coating. This technology which initially started in Japan spread quickly to Europe, China, Korea and Taiwan. There are different qualities of cast coated papers and it is due to the based paper, however more due to the coating. This can be measured by vibrancy of colours, colour gamut (the ability to have all tones and sub tones of colour shown clearly on the paper) and bleeding (amount of ink the paper can handle with out colours bleeding one into the other). Because of the paper properties, Instant Dry with its low glare is ideal for outstanding photo prints and high quality presentations

Photo Microporous Premium Paper: This paper can produced in gloss or satin (semi-gloss) finish.  Normally, produced in high grad based paper of around 250gsm and more. The Microporous coating known to be the highest quality coating and use a base paper which is coated with a polypropylene resin on both sides to create stability and act as a barrier for the ink not to be absorbed into the paper. By that, preventing cockling (waves) and increase the longevity of the image. This paper, as well as, having a better image and colour definition is ideal for high quality professional photo prints. It is important to mention that there are many different types of Microporous photo papers in the market and they vary qualities.                     




Joseph is the founder of Photo Paper Direct, an inkjet consumables store selling photo paper and Inkjet Ink Cartridges.



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