Something scares me about printing on paper that isn’t meant for the printer but I guess it depends on the printer. I know Grant has mentioned he’s used watercolor paper in the past. Maybe he’ll come around and give you his thoughts on this. Unless he’s soaking in the bathtub again.
Pat
I have used premium quality water paper with great results. Of course it in not high glossy and probably hasn’t got long life but it is very attractive with the right image.
g.
Jodi
You are psychic … I did come around with some thoughts and I was soaking in the tub. Trying to read The King of Torts by John Grisham while luxuriating in the tub with a warm mug of tea. My motto is "Clean mind , clean body … have your pick."
g.
I’ve printed on fabric (adhered to freezer paper) before with my Epson C82. I wouldn’t do it on a laser printer because the ink is heat set, but inkjets have a little more flexibility in this regard. I wouldn’t try any paper that is heavier than the thickest media reccommended by your printer, which is usually card stock or heavy matte paper. Art papers are very absorbent, so keep that in mind for ink usage.
I’m going to experiment more with printing some of my photo-to-charcoal sketches, I will let you know the results.
Patti
I believe most printers will take 120 lb stock and that is about where water colour paper is. I always suspected that the paper was lapping up the ink but I never found that I want through more than usual ink.
My first try was with a 600 dpi Laser. I"painted" some oriental ink brush stroke images of bamboo and ran them off on the laser the results were spectacular. Later I did a bunch of vistas using colour the images came out wonderful muted in tones resembling pastel. An extra joy is that the texture of the paper give a great effect. You are moving away from the look and feel of photo-paper but the results are well worth it. I also think it makes a stunning portrait, all soft and wispy.
Grant
I believe most printers will take 120 lb stock
It depends on the paper feed. If your printer feeds straight through, ala canon/epson, you can use very heavy paper, but if you have a front loading paper tray like my HP, it’s begging for trouble because the printer can’t bend heavy stock very well.
I have printed to a couple of different brands/weights of watercolor paper on my canon i9100 but I have to say I didn’t like the result–it would have taken beacoup tweaking to adjust the color for the right effect.
Grant, c’mon, you know I’m not psychic. I’m too stupid to be psychic. I smelled the moisture of lillac and shaving powder 😉
A few days ago I bought a 30ft roll of "Hahnemühle German Etching" paper that is recommended for Epson printers with pigmented inks. Next week I will try to produce some tests and I will tell my findings on this forum.
I will be using it for two purposes. first is to print reproductions of paintings by a local artist that, signed by teh artist, will be sold as "giglée prints", mainly by her art gallery in the USA.
Next I consider printing portaits on this paper and instead of bobbiting it straight with my cutter I intend to tear it off alongside a ruler. This will produce nice rough borders and I hope to be able to sell these images at a premium price. 😉
Leen
Leen
A while back I mentioned attending a lecture by a Laurence Acland
http://www.acland-photo.com/ he printed his 11 x17 on an Epson 2200 using a French made watercolour paper with ragged edges and the effect was wonderful. .
"giglée prints" Fancy name for raise the price on ink jet technology?
Grant
Grant, I always expected those people on the other side of the ocean to be the inventors of most marketing principles.
So let me explain…sorry, you are right.
This is a rather good explanation:
<
http://www.worldprintmakers.com/english/giclee.htm>
Leen
This isn’t exactly an answer to your question, but…. I’ve used Burlington’s Watercolor Paper for Inkjet Printers, which has a very nice texture and seems to hold the inkjet ink well. Available in art supply stores; more info at www.burlingtonpaper.com
Leen made me curious. Here’s a good link for FAQ’s about giclée. Be sure to check out the gallery. Dean Teegarden’s work is all computer generated paintin. Jodi, your artwork should/could be there!
<
http://www.bigtreeseditions.com/facts.htm>
Patti
Leen
I was at the rim of a the Grand Canyon and there was an art sale. The photographs were pleasant but very pricey. Not being one to shut up I said louder than I should to Doreen "Look at the nerve of these prices and they aren’t in on photographic paper (now they are also favouring some equally snobby term something like "silver suspension prints"). The "artist" tilting his head and looking down his nose to me said "Oh but they are giglée prints" I snapped back "Bullsh*t giglée they are ink jet and bad ones at that! Not only can you see the rasterization but also you can see the scan lines from a poor printer." Doreen dragged me off saying " This is the southern States he might have a gun"
You can make darn good ink jet prints, archival in fact, but calling them giglée seems a tad bit pretentious. As far as is it art or not well … calling it a giglée doesn’t make it art anymore than painting in oil necessarily makes it art. Would I buy a work of art that is a ink jet (giglée) print. Yes I already have some.
Grant
To quote my favourite playwrite:
"What ‘s in a name".
If it sells, it’s OK with me.
Since going digital, I learned one extremely important thing: never tell your customers they will be buying an inkjetprint as often they consider inkjetprints to be inferior as they relate inkjetprints to the crap coming from their own $50 inkjetprinter on scrap paper.
Leen
Another thing about people who have money to blow or burn or spend. They assume because something is ‘pricey’ that it must be better. So, this guy that Grant encountered in the hills is obviously taking advantage of people with more wealth than knowledge….and the story never ends. It pays to have knowledge and i’m glad Grant raised his voice for the photographer to hear.
James
I would prefer if it was never in place of seldom!
Grant
If everyone has a gun, you don’t need one yourself to feel safer. It is unsafe. If nobody had a gun, this world would be much safer.
So I don’t understand why people want to have a gun at all. And I know I’m not the only one.
I think so many people think they need a gun because the manufacturers love to sell guns.
But this is way off topic. So back to Elements.
Leen
Leen, I agree with you.
To get it back on topic, have you ever used a shoulder stock (like the back end of a rifle) in lieu of a tripod.
🙂
No, I haven’t.
But a friend of mine who is involved in birding uses a Novoflex 600mm that comes with such a grip. After getting used to it he produced pin sharp images of birds in flight at 1/60!
I went with him to France to photograph cranes that gather around the Lac de Der near the river Marne in spring. He even used 1/15 with his body supported by his car. One out of each three was sharp. But this is a pretty expensive, well balanced focussing and support tool, designed to be used handheld at full aperture.
Anyone eager to know what it lookes like?
<
http://www.novoflex.de/english/html/products.htm>
Quite impressive.
Leen
To get it back on topic, have you ever used a shoulder stock
Chuck,
I thought the topic was paper? 🙂 🙂
And concerning paper; Don’t forget when experimenting that home inkjets don’t print white 🙁 You may/will find some very poor results using colored paper and even off white paper.
Pete
Pete, the reason I put in my disclaimer was that the original poster was asking about using watercolor paper in an inkjet printer. The one I cited was an inkjet paper that happens to have a watercolor paper texture.
A subtle difference, perhaps….but I didn’t want to offend any of the water colorists in the group!
🙂
Oh, NOW I see to what you’re referring. I won’t even try to explain that divergence….and I wasn’t even drinking at the time…
😉
wrote in message
You may/will find some very poor results using colored paper and even off white paper.
Pete
…. or interesting results …
Grant
Thanks for all the comments. I have learned the yeas and boos of giglee, that Arizona is one of the southern states, several links to more info on papers, including sites to order papers…what more could a girl want..
No one has mentioned trying to print on canvas. I probably lose 3 sheets for every 1 I successfully print. Heavier papers, as Barbara commented, need to flow straight in and straight out and not loop back. My canvas often gets chewed ……
