DeeDoo's Digital Do's and Don'ts - Number 4

This week's topic continues last week's article on printers by discussing inks and papers. I'll be discussing what the different types of ink and paper options there are and which are best for the digital scrapper. I'll also provide some useful links for you to do some further research.

What are the paper options?

There are a lot of options for types of paper - which are available for you to use depends on your printer. Matte paper is uncoated paper. Various coatings in different amounts gives you semi-gloss, satin, gloss, and high gloss. Matte paper will work with most inks and printers. It gets trickier with the coated papers.

If you have a laser printer, for best results you will need to use paper specially designed for toner. Specially coated laser paper is available for color laser printers as well as specialty papers such as coated glossy paper that is waterproof and tear and fade resistant. Photo laser paper tends to be high gloss.

Dye sub printers also use paper specifically designed for them and for best results it is recommended you use the papers specified by the printer manufacturer.

It is the inkjet printer that offers the widest choice when it comes to print media. Since digital scrapbookers are interested in high quality prints, we'll look specifically at photo inkjet papers. Whether to use glossy or matte paper is strictly a matter of preference. Both have their camps of followers. Fingerprints don't show up on matte as they do on gloss finishes. Gloss finishes tend to be sharper and have brighter colors. Matte paper tends to be much cheaper. An excellent in-between, if you can find it, is a lustre or satin finish. Printer manufacturers recommend you only use their lines of inks and papers. This is good advice for someone who wants what will probably be the best quality with the least amount of fuss from their printer. However, it is possible with some experimentation to find other combinations that will provide good results, usually with less cost. Another factor to consider when choosing inkjet paper is whether the ink is dye based or pigment based. Most regular inkjet printers use dye based inks. Some photo printers, and those specified as archival, use pigment based inks. Archival paper is best used with pigment based inks. For scrapbooking acid free paper is important. However, not all paper labeled as such is truely acid free. Some papers are acid free only on the front and some are not acid free at all. You can purchase an inexpensive pH testing pen and check the paper before using it for scrapbooking.

Photshop User, the magazine put out by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), recently did a test of glossy photo papers from ten manufacturers including Canon, HP, and Epson. The only five star paper was the Kokopelli Photo Gloss from Moab Paper Co. I've looked at their web site and they have a wide variety of papers besides the Kokopelli Gloss at reasonable prices. Photoshop User listed the price of the Gloss as 56 cents per sheet. To give you a comparison, they listed the Canon Photo Paper Pro at 86 cents a sheet.

Another thing to be aware of is that you need to set up your printer for the type of paper you will be using. Some printers will automatically sense the paper type, but most will require you go into the printer preferences on your computer and choose the proper paper in the setup.

Inks

If you are using dye sub printers, your options for ink are usually limited. Many of the printers require the ink be from the manufacturer. The upside is that many times the ink and the paper are sold as a package, so you know they will work well together and approximately how long the ink will last.

Laser printers use toner rather than ink. The toner cartridges are much more expensive up front, but they will last much longer and the price per print is substantially lower than inkjet. Also you can buy OEM and remanufactured cartrdiges for added savings.

If you are using inkjet printers, the ink cartridges are where the manufacturers make their money. Inkjet printers are cheap - it's the supplies that will get you. If you are just starting out and want to be sure you get good quality, then I recommend you follow the guideline of using the paper and ink suggested by the manufacturer. For the more adventurous and price conscious there are some alternatives. Ink cartridges are marked up enormously over what it costs to produce them. Many of the printer manufacturers sell recycled cartridges at a reduced price. You can recycle a cartridge several times and reduce cost. Unless you have a Hewlett-Packard printer, another option is using compatible cartridges. If purchased from a reputable source, these compatibles will last as long and the quality will be just as good as manufacturer cartridges. Something else you can purchase is an ink refill kit. This option, however, can be messy and there is a risk (slight, but there) that the refilled cartridge could leak and damage the printer. Refilling ink cartridges does not void your printer warranty, but damage covered from leaking refills is not covered and you will have to pay for the repairs. Still, considering that purchasing a full replacement of ink cartridges at retail can cost more than half of the price of the printer itself, it it might be worth looking into.

Archival inks are also available. Manufacturers claim that with the right paper and the archival ink, a print can last for 75 - 100 years. As a general practice, I would recommend you back up and save to cd or dvd your layouts and the digital elements used to create them. This is one of the advantages of digital scrapbooking. You can replace damaged layouts by simply reprinting them from your saved copies. In 25 years or so when the regular ink and photo paper print starts to fade, you can just reprint it. But, if you are concerned about longevity, using archival papers with the pigment based archival inks should give you what you are looking for. In the useful links below, I have included a link to the authority in testing of papers and inks, so you can research the options. Right now, it seems that Epson inks have a slight edge.

Of more importance to those interested in quality prints is the number of ink cartridges. As mentioned in the printer article, the more ink cartridges, generally the better the quality of the print. Some of the newer (and most of the wide format) printers have seven and eight separate cartridges. I would recommend one with at least six. With careful setup and the proper papers, four cartridge printers can achieve good quality, but six cartridge printers will almost always yield better quality. If you are serious about your prints, avoid the two or three cartridge model printers. These just cannot achieve the tonal depth and color purity you need for quality printing.

Wrap Up

What kinds of paper and inks you get will depend largely on the uses you have planned for your printer and whether you will use regular format or wide format printing. If money weren't a concern, a wide format printer with archival inks and papers would be ideal for the digital scrapper. However, as you can see, there are lots of options available. Hopefully, these articles have given you a good idea of where to start.

Useful Links

Here are some links to a few of the sites we think you might find useful.

Wilhelm Research is the authority when it comes to estimating the longevity of papers and inks.

CNET has a page with some interesting facts on the price of printing.

Steve's Digicams is more than a camera site. Good articles, reviews, and forums concerning printers are also found here.

We hope this article has answered many of the questions you may have had about printers, inks, and papers. If you have further questions, don't hesitate to contact us! See you next week with another DeeDoo's Digital Do's and Don'ts!

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