Printing on Watercolour Paper

[Ian Barber]

Fine Art Matte paper although very nice can be expensive, Hahnemuhle Museum Etching for example is about £70 for 25 sheets.

Has anyone has actually tried printing on Art Water Colour Paper with an inkjet printer using pigment inks.

 

[Emulator]

I tried with dye inks and printed one of @jtoolman 's artistic creations of a cafe scene and it worked well. I would have thought pigment inks would have worked as well. If I remember correctly Amazon provides some low cost packs, so it will not cost much to try.

 

[3dogs]

80% + of my printing is done on Canson Arches 300gsm smooth.
Required profiling to get best results. I will post my printer settings later....slo passes and increase ink ( pigment on 3880)

Cheers

Andrew

 

[martin0reg]

...
Required profiling to get best results. I will post my printer settings later....slo passes and increase ink ( pigment on 3880)...

I'm curious to read about your special settings -
- because recently I have tried some of the water color paper from canson (aquarell, arches hot pressed satine, cold pressed 300g) But I have to say that I am missing contrast and deep blacks on all of these art papers, wether I print with pigment (3880) or with dye (r285).
Some kind of inkjet coating seems to be necessary for vivid colors and deep blacks I think..

 

[Roy Sletcher]

Joe Toolman has a very good video printing on Canson Watercolour at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6KjUKXwW3U

As a regular contributor on this board he will probably answer questions.

I recently purchased 60 sheets 12 x 18 for US$30 from Michael's during a US visit. Cannot document my results yet as shortly after purchasing left for six week vacation on the Atlantic coast with no access to printers. Practical implementation will be a project for this fall.

rs

 

[W. Fisher]

I'll add I just saw this stuff at the local artist's supply store the other day: "Golden's Mixed Media" pack.

http://www.goldenpaints.com/product...l-imaging/sets/digital-mixed-media-sample-set

Looks like it has some pre-coating stuff, and then a post printing coating in bottles so I don't know how you apply it evenly (Spray?). I have some rare Yucatan papers I thought about applying the stuff to and see how it goes, just the paper has rough edges and the Epson edge scanner doesn't like deckled-like edges.

W. Fisher

 

[The Hat]

I have said this many time before so once more wont hurt.

When you’re going to print on any new paper especially if it’s expensive, then reduce your print down to 25% and set your profile and other requirements to where you think it will give you the best results before you commit to print.

This will give you the chance to try out four different complete settings without wasting time paper or ink, and should provide you with almost the perfect print..

 

[jtoolman]

I think the secret to a great print on these uncoated WC papers is to overcoat it with either a matte UV spray or even a glossy one. Believe it or not about 90% of the spray literally sinks into the paper surface and does leave a tiny bit of a sheen that does enhance the image immensely. Your shadows will pop instead of being a bit dull as one would expect from a totally uncoated paper.

I've tried a custom ICC profile but in my case the shadows were a bit too dark and dense. Which would be great on a coated paper but not with this paper. So I experimented with many ICC for other Coated and Uncoated 3rd party papers and decided to simply use the EPSON Water Color Paper ICC which is included in the PR 3800 driver.
Results are open shows with a good black wherever the image had an actual black point. Pure white ( paper base color ) if you set a white point during editing of the file and great range of mid tones. Color gamut is reduced as compared to a bright glossy or luster paper but I love the more subdued look anyway!

Joe

 

[martin0reg]

@jtoolman,
I've actually tried the canson aquarelle and also arches after watching your presentation on youtube.
But even overcoating with different sprays could not really change the "muted" impression compared to matte papers made for inkjet printing.
Besides it's difficult to buy the same paper in USA and Europe. I am not sure using the same "canson aquarelle" like you.. mine looks like yours in the video (blue cover) but it's spiral bind and it's "made in france".
On the other hand this kind of printing is also a matter of taste - and of experimenting.

Some good varnish spray (with the best vaporizer I used) I've got from "Schmincke".

And regarding the price:
some water color art papers seems to be not (much) cheaper than "digital" photo papers. I found a reasonably priced fine art paper with a nice texture, Photolux FineArt Velvet 270gsm... compare the price with "arches 300g"...

 

[Roy Sletcher]

I think this concept of paper selection is part of the artistic enjoyment of printing. Matching the colour and content of the image with the texture and tonal range of the paper surface. Sometimes even adjusting the post processing colour, texture and sharpening to produce an optimized effect. Matched with appropriate matting and framing then turns it from a print into a picture worthy of hanging. It is all part of the process.

rs