Canon papers: So many papers, so little time

Ulysses · May 20, 2001

I'm considering the Canon S800 and will most likely purchase it.

However, I'm also considering the various papers produced by Canon. I've pretty much already decided that I'm going to go with the Canon Photo Paper Pro for my 4x6 on up to 8x10 prints. But I have a question about the other papers produced by Canon. Their ordinarily excellent website doesn't really tell me how these papers "stack up" in terms of their usage for a particular purpose and their quality.

So how would you rate the following papers, and what type of things are they good for (like text, charts and solid-color graphics, photo proofs, photos finished, etc.)? Are they coated, will the ink smear when wet? Will the ink smudge into the paper fibers and lose definition? What about texture? These sorts of things:

I'll just list the papers as they appear at the site, leaving the odd-sizes out of the equation for now:

Photo Paper Pro

High Resolution Paper

High Gloss Photo Film

Glossy Photo Paper

Bubble Jet Paper

Brilliant White Paper

Any comments on this one? It would help with regard to which papers I decide to order along with the printer.

Thx.

--

Ulysses
http://www.pioneeris.net/ashton/F505V/megalist.htm
F505V Gallery Mega-List

James44601 · May 20, 2001

Ulysses,

I posted a while back on my results using various papers and the S800
at:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1003&page=1&message=1070655

Summary of my experience with Canon paper:

Canon Photo Pro - great results, only drawback is that you have to handle this paper like it is radioactive. There is a reason that you are supposed to only load one sheet at a time in the paper tray. I tried multiple and all of the prints after the first had scratches in the coating. The paper is packaged with a slick sheet between each sheet of paper.

Canon Glossy Paper - Not very glossy. Paper is thin. Prints look OK, but the paper really does not feel very "real photo" like.

Canon Glossy Photo Cards - Not very good. Paper is thin and perforations not clean.

Canon Photo Pro 4X6 - Sample comes with the printer. Great results - Perforations pretty good.

James

Ulysses said:
I'm considering the Canon S800 and will most likely purchase it.

However, I'm also considering the various papers produced by Canon.
I've pretty much already decided that I'm going to go with the
Canon Photo Paper Pro for my 4x6 on up to 8x10 prints. But I have a
question about the other papers produced by Canon. Their ordinarily
excellent website doesn't really tell me how these papers "stack
up" in terms of their usage for a particular purpose and their
quality.

So how would you rate the following papers, and what type of things
are they good for (like text, charts and solid-color graphics,
photo proofs, photos finished, etc.)? Are they coated, will the ink
smear when wet? Will the ink smudge into the paper fibers and lose
definition? What about texture? These sorts of things:

I'll just list the papers as they appear at the site, leaving the
odd-sizes out of the equation for now:

Photo Paper Pro

High Resolution Paper

High Gloss Photo Film

Glossy Photo Paper

Bubble Jet Paper

Brilliant White Paper

Any comments on this one? It would help with regard to which papers
I decide to order along with the printer.

Thx.

--

Ulysses
http://www.pioneeris.net/ashton/F505V/megalist.htm
F505V Gallery Mega-List

Ulysses · May 20, 2001

James said:
Ulysses,

I posted a while back on my results using various papers and the S800 at

Ahhh... yes, I remember that post. Thanks for supplying the link again. I did do a search, but I didn't find it, and I couldn't remember exactly when the post was initially made as I'm only recently following this forum. Thanks again. I'll go and re-read it.

James44601 said:
Canon Photo Pro - great results, only drawback is that you have to
handle this paper like it is radioactive. There is a reason that
you are supposed to only load one sheet at a time in the paper
tray. I tried multiple and all of the prints after the first had
scratches in the coating. The paper is packaged with a slick sheet
between each sheet of paper.

I have a question about this. In another forum, a Michael Geary (seems more than reliable) mentions that he had spoken with some Canon reps, who told him that the manual is in error on this point, and that it is OK to load up to 20 pages of the Canon Photo Paper Pro, just as with the 4x6 perforated Photo Paper Pro.

What you say about the scratches makes sense. But I'm wondering if anyone else can verify your findings about scratches in the coating. Are these scratches noticeable? Are you sure that this happens everytime you load in a batch of this paper? I guess it's not worth it to test thoroughly again, is it?

This seems like an important point to me. Suppose I want to print some photos in volume. I'm supposed to load one sheet at a time of this stuff?

Or is it your recommendation to go with some other paper for photos. My take is that for the S800, the "best" paper to go along with was the Photo Paper Pro, and I'd like to stick with it if this single-sheet issue would disappear.

alistaircleo · May 20, 2001

James said:
Canon Photo Pro - great results, only drawback is that you have to
handle this paper like it is radioactive. There is a reason that
you are supposed to only load one sheet at a time in the paper
tray. I tried multiple and all of the prints after the first had
scratches in the coating. The paper is packaged with a slick sheet
between each sheet of paper.

Is the surface of the Canon Photo Pro paper that delicate and fragile?

In your original review of different papers and the S800, you ranked the Epson Heavyweight Matte slightly lower. Was it because of image quality or the feel of the paper?

James44601 · May 20, 2001

The Photo Pro seems pretty fragile to me. I had a couple of prints that had the fine scatches and one that had what was most likely a big finger smudge . Maybe some others can answer with their experience, since my results are in no way broad or scientific.

As for the Matte - The Epson Heavyweight Matte is basically a very heavy paper. The paper gives a soft/flat appearance to photos. I have printed a couple photos that I really like printed on the matte paper. For most photos I prefer a semi-gloss type of paper.

James

alistaircleo said:
James said:

Canon Photo Pro - great results, only drawback is that you have to
handle this paper like it is radioactive. There is a reason that
you are supposed to only load one sheet at a time in the paper
tray. I tried multiple and all of the prints after the first had
scratches in the coating. The paper is packaged with a slick sheet
between each sheet of paper.

Click to expand...

Is the surface of the Canon Photo Pro paper that delicate and fragile?

In your original review of different papers and the S800, you
ranked the Epson Heavyweight Matte slightly lower. Was it because
of image quality or the feel of the paper?

James44601 · May 21, 2001

The paper instructions must be wrong too then, since they also indicate to load a single sheet. I specifically loaded multiple sheets to see what would happen. I assumed that the problem was with thickness and loading into the printer. I was happy when the pages loaded and printed. I found the scratches running vertically down the second page. The scratches were long and parallel, but not severe. You had to be looking across the photo to see the scratchs in the surface. It may be coincidence. The pages may have been scratched before loading. I may try again, but not until I have more to print. Hopefully, we will get some more information from others.

As for going with other papers: The Canon Photo Pro gives the best results for glossy photos. Also, as others have pointed out, there is no knowledge about the lifetime of prints made on non-Canon paper.

I personally do not have a major issue with longevity. I am more concerned about the prints that I do not have a negative or digital file for! I also prefer semi-gloss and matte to glossy. So, I have been using primarily non-Canon paper.

James

Ulysses said:
James said:

Ulysses,

I posted a while back on my results using various papers and the S800 at

Click to expand...

Ahhh... yes, I remember that post. Thanks for supplying the link
again. I did do a search, but I didn't find it, and I couldn't
remember exactly when the post was initially made as I'm only
recently following this forum. Thanks again. I'll go and re-read it.

Member said:

Canon Photo Pro - great results, only drawback is that you have to
handle this paper like it is radioactive. There is a reason that
you are supposed to only load one sheet at a time in the paper
tray. I tried multiple and all of the prints after the first had
scratches in the coating. The paper is packaged with a slick sheet
between each sheet of paper.

Click to expand...

I have a question about this. In another forum, a Michael Geary
(seems more than reliable) mentions that he had spoken with some
Canon reps, who told him that the manual is in error on this point,
and that it is OK to load up to 20 pages of the Canon Photo Paper
Pro, just as with the 4x6 perforated Photo Paper Pro.

What you say about the scratches makes sense. But I'm wondering if
anyone else can verify your findings about scratches in the
coating. Are these scratches noticeable? Are you sure that this
happens everytime you load in a batch of this paper? I guess it's
not worth it to test thoroughly again, is it?

This seems like an important point to me. Suppose I want to print
some photos in volume. I'm supposed to load one sheet at a time of
this stuff?

Or is it your recommendation to go with some other paper for
photos. My take is that for the S800, the "best" paper to go along
with was the Photo Paper Pro, and I'd like to stick with it if this
single-sheet issue would disappear.

Alan Hartmann · May 21, 2001

Ulysses said:
James said:

Ulysses,

I posted a while back on my results using various papers and the S800 at

Click to expand...

Ahhh... yes, I remember that post. Thanks for supplying the link
again. I did do a search, but I didn't find it, and I couldn't
remember exactly when the post was initially made as I'm only
recently following this forum. Thanks again. I'll go and re-read it.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1003&message=1070655

That was a great post, James. Now if I could only find some of that Epson paper locally :-( Know any reliable online suppliers?

Alan

Ulysses · May 21, 2001

James -

Thanks for your continued expertise and contributions on these points. It helps as far as building confidence in what the product will do.

James said:
pages loaded and printed. I found the scratches running vertically
down the second page. The scratches were long and parallel, but
not severe. You had to be looking across the photo to see the
scratchs in the surface. It may be coincidence.

It's good to know that these are not severe. So you anticipate that when simply placed upon a wall that these fine scratches would not be visible?

I just can't see myself loading these sheets one at a time. What other brand of glossy do you find acceptable should I find this is needed?

James44601 said:
I also prefer semi-gloss and matte to glossy. So, I
have been using primarily non-Canon paper.

So Canon themselves do not produce a glossy or a matte paper? What brand here are you using?

I'm hoping that others will weigh in on this. Actually, I see we have a few.

I'm off to read more!

Ulysses · May 21, 2001

Try this:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?masterid=360821&search=Epson%20Luster&ut=d003c64070160b33

James44601 · May 21, 2001

Ulysses,

Member said:
It's good to know that these are not severe. So you anticipate that
when simply placed upon a wall that these fine scratches would not
be visible?

I went back and tried to find the scratched prints and could not find them, so the scratches must be very minor (or less obvious after I cut out 4X6s from the sheet).

Member said:
I just can't see myself loading these sheets one at a time. What
other brand of glossy do you find acceptable should I find this is
needed?

As for other glossy papers - I really didn't try too many since I was very happy with the Canon Photo Pro. I have gotten good results with all of the Epson papers I have tried.

Member said:
So Canon themselves do not produce a glossy or a matte paper? What
brand here are you using?

Canon does not market (I expect none of these companies actually make paper ) a semi-gloss or matte paper. Canon does have a high resolution paper, but I have not tried it since it did not sound like what I was looking for.

James

angela37564 · May 21, 2001

Epson premium luster is $25.99 at http://www.onvia.com . Also carry the canon photo pro. Thanks for the tip Ulysses.

Alan Hartmann said:
Ulysses said:

James said:

Ulysses,

I posted a while back on my results using various papers and the S800 at

Click to expand...

Ahhh... yes, I remember that post. Thanks for supplying the link
again. I did do a search, but I didn't find it, and I couldn't
remember exactly when the post was initially made as I'm only
recently following this forum. Thanks again. I'll go and re-read it.

Click to expand...

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1003&message=1070655

That was a great post, James. Now if I could only find some of
that Epson paper locally :-( Know any reliable online suppliers?

Alan

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