Glossy or Matte.. Which do you use?

michealj · Jan 13, 2003

I am wondering what type of finish you prefer on your prints and does the size of the print make a difference. What prompted this question... I worked at an International circuit judging this weekend, we looked at 1000+ prints and noticed that most of them were glossy. Some were so glossy they looked wet. Locally at the club I belong to, our salon judging most seem to be matte or a satin type of finish.

TIA,
--
Mike

'The reason for time is that everything doesn't happen at once.' - Albert Einstein

Erichatch · Jan 13, 2003

Mostly use what's called matte by the printing services, but is actually a lustre finish. (For real matte, try the Epson matte paper, it's excellent for inkjet work).

MikelJ said:
I am wondering what type of finish you prefer on your prints and
does the size of the print make a difference. What prompted this
question... I worked at an International circuit judging this
weekend, we looked at 1000+ prints and noticed that most of them
were glossy. Some were so glossy they looked wet. Locally at the
club I belong to, our salon judging most seem to be matte or a
satin type of finish.

TIA,
--
Mike

'The reason for time is that everything doesn't happen at once.' -
Albert Einstein

michealj · Jan 13, 2003

Erichatch said:
Mostly use what's called matte by the printing services, but is
actually a lustre finish. (For real matte, try the Epson matte
paper, it's excellent for inkjet work).

I am leaning towards the glossy, I printed the same picture on Epson paper, matte and glossy and the glossy had more contrast and was sharper.
Maybe it's just "old" eyes.

kmorris · Jan 13, 2003

Just my two cents, but I use matte paper for portraits and glossy for mostly everything else

-Ken

MikelJ said:
I am wondering what type of finish you prefer on your prints and
does the size of the print make a difference. What prompted this
question... I worked at an International circuit judging this
weekend, we looked at 1000+ prints and noticed that most of them
were glossy. Some were so glossy they looked wet. Locally at the
club I belong to, our salon judging most seem to be matte or a
satin type of finish.

TIA,
--
Mike

'The reason for time is that everything doesn't happen at once.' -
Albert Einstein

fonebone · Jan 13, 2003

Is there are a reason why you use matte for potraits?

-fb

kmorris said:
-Ken

MikelJ said:

I am wondering what type of finish you prefer on your prints and
does the size of the print make a difference. What prompted this
question... I worked at an International circuit judging this
weekend, we looked at 1000+ prints and noticed that most of them
were glossy. Some were so glossy they looked wet. Locally at the
club I belong to, our salon judging most seem to be matte or a
satin type of finish.

TIA,
--
Mike

'The reason for time is that everything doesn't happen at once.' -
Albert Einstein

Click to expand...

pj_photo · Jan 13, 2003

Hi Mike!

I use Matte (epson heavyweight) for proofs and for photos that I consider throw-away (to send to school with the kids, hang on my wall at work, etc) and I use glossy (epson premium glossy) for final prints that I give to relatives, friends or that I sell. I've tried epson's Colorlife and at first I loved the finish and the detail. But I soon changed my opinion. Since I live in south Florida, the humidity causes the Colorlife paper (with its water-soluble coating) to curl badly. It's OK if I were to frame the prints immediately, but otherwise, I prefer the glossy.

--
Doug --
It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

michealj · Jan 13, 2003

for the portraits/ Softer?

kmorris said:
-Ken

MikelJ said:

I am wondering what type of finish you prefer on your prints and
does the size of the print make a difference. What prompted this
question... I worked at an International circuit judging this
weekend, we looked at 1000+ prints and noticed that most of them
were glossy. Some were so glossy they looked wet. Locally at the
club I belong to, our salon judging most seem to be matte or a
satin type of finish.

TIA,
--
Mike

'The reason for time is that everything doesn't happen at once.' -
Albert Einstein

Click to expand...

--
Mike

'The reason for time is that everything doesn't happen at once.' - Albert Einstein

michealj · Jan 13, 2003

pj_photo said:
Hi Mike!

I use Matte (epson heavyweight) for proofs and for photos that I
consider throw-away (to send to school with the kids, hang on my
wall at work, etc) and I use glossy (epson premium glossy) for
final prints that I give to relatives, friends or that I sell.
I've tried epson's Colorlife and at first I loved the finish and
the detail. But I soon changed my opinion. Since I live in south
Florida, the humidity causes the Colorlife paper (with its
water-soluble coating) to curl badly. It's OK if I were to frame
the prints immediately, but otherwise, I prefer the glossy.

--
Doug --
It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not
have it.

--
Mike

'The reason for time is that everything doesn't happen at once.' - Albert Einstein

Macro rick · Jan 13, 2003

Satin is now my preference. (Office Depot)

Ulysses · Jan 13, 2003

I'm not crazy about glossy because of all the reflections.

I don't mind matte because I'm going to put the prints behind plastic or behind glass anyway, so you get the glossy effect without the

Matte is also more resistant to fingerprints, etc.

MikelJ said:
I am wondering what type of finish you prefer on your prints and
does the size of the print make a difference. What prompted this
question... I worked at an International circuit judging this
weekend, we looked at 1000+ prints and noticed that most of them
were glossy. Some were so glossy they looked wet. Locally at the
club I belong to, our salon judging most seem to be matte or a
satin type of finish.

--

Ulysses

Valentyne · Jan 13, 2003

Is it the Office Depot brand?

I prefer matte finish to glossy for pictures I want to frame of give to people who will frame them...I use HP's "new & improved" Premium Plus and I love it...It 'feels' more like a picture and you can handle it a little less carefully w/out the worry of fingerprints and smudges.

I use the Premium Plus Glossy 4x6 with tab for prints that I intend to put in an album or give to people for 'fun'.

Just my opinion...

--
Get in the pit and try to love someone!

Archie · Jan 13, 2003

Matte is much much cheaper here in Canada. Epson Premium Glossy is 26.00 for 20 sheets and matte heavyweight is 20.00 for 50 sheets. I use the matte and the keepers go into page protectors and they look like glossy. By the way, I use refill inks too with great success.

Archie

ME_wwwing · Jan 13, 2003

i just spent $250 looking for the best paper to print on my epson 925.
i use Adobe 5.5 and sharpcontrol with a trinitron monitor

epson pre. glossy - had a yellow or greenish cast
Jet pre. glossy - had lighter yellow or greenish cast
Kodak 'hi gloss' ??? - best truest color, ""no gloss""

office Depot - a lite gloss, good colors. NO cast. best so far for a gloss finish.

i think its in the coating they put on to get the glossy look.

Epson heavy weight matte - THEE Best. ( so far )

Matte wins my vote on just about every kind of 'picture', scenes looks real.

epson high gloss for art work - gives me no cast, don't know why! and a great selling point is the high gloss.

protraits go on Office Depot high gloss, but i offer a printout on each paper to start with.

matte i can use light ink and they look real good, med ink for sales.

high glossy only on high ink - it seem to leave tiny white dots that i think the ink didn't stick.

Note - sharpcontrol program gives me the best blacks!!

--
just waving a hand
Michael

Michael McCarthy · Jan 13, 2003

MikelJ said:
I am wondering what type of finish you prefer on your prints and
does the size of the print make a difference. What prompted this
question... I worked at an International circuit judging this
weekend, we looked at 1000+ prints and noticed that most of them
were glossy. Some were so glossy they looked wet. Locally at the
club I belong to, our salon judging most seem to be matte or a
satin type of finish.

I use glossy paper or have prints finished in glossy from the local photo shop. Better apparent sharpness and contrast. I do miss the matte's ability to not show fingerprints when passed around a non-photo oriented crowd.

Michael

michealj · Jan 13, 2003

Archie Where do you buy your ink cartidges and for which printer?

--
Mike

'The reason for time is that everything doesn't happen at once.' - Albert Einstein

michealj · Jan 13, 2003

Ulysses do you find the matte paper to offer the same detail and contrast as a glossy paper? I have not seen this, not that I could be doing something incorrectly. My wife tells me I have screwed up once or twice before.

)

--
Mike

'The reason for time is that everything doesn't happen at once.' - Albert Einstein

michealj · Jan 13, 2003

ME_wwwing said:
i just spent $250 looking for the best paper to print on my epson 925.
i use Adobe 5.5 and sharpcontrol with a trinitron monitor

epson pre. glossy - had a yellow or greenish cast
Jet pre. glossy - had lighter yellow or greenish cast
Kodak 'hi gloss' ??? - best truest color, ""no gloss""
office Depot - a lite gloss, good colors. NO cast. best so far for
a gloss finish.

i think its in the coating they put on to get the glossy look.

Epson heavy weight matte - THEE Best. ( so far )

Matte wins my vote on just about every kind of 'picture', scenes
looks real.

epson high gloss for art work - gives me no cast, don't know why!
and a great selling point is the high gloss.

protraits go on Office Depot high gloss, but i offer a printout on
each paper to start with.

matte i can use light ink and they look real good, med ink for sales.
high glossy only on high ink - it seem to leave tiny white dots
that i think the ink didn't stick.

Note - sharpcontrol program gives me the best blacks!!

--
just waving a hand
Michael

--
Mike

'The reason for time is that everything doesn't happen at once.' - Albert Einstein

Old Ed · Jan 13, 2003

Hi Mike -

Since no one else has mentioned it so far, I'll be the grinch
that stole Christmas: Epson and Canon inks are notoriously
unstable and short-lived on the glossy papers, unless sealed
under glass, plastic, or spray. The reason is "gas fading,"
wherein atmospheric gases attack the inks, particularly cyan.
This produces the "orange shift" phenomenon.

Many threads, and even entire web sites have been devoted
to discussing this problem over the last couple of years.
You can find them fairly easily, if you're interested.

My first Epson 870 prints on the Premium Glossy looked
fabulous when printed, but faded into uselessness within
four (4) weeks! I have since used Heavyweight Matte
almost exclusively. The look is really very nice, once you
get used to it.

I wish there WAS a good, all-around glossy solution. But
not even the Epson "Ultrachromes" can really deliver one.
They allegedly have much improved lifetime on glossy papers,
but suffer from metamerism--which kind of spoils the effect.

MikelJ said:
I am wondering what type of finish you prefer on your prints and
does the size of the print make a difference. What prompted this
question... I worked at an International circuit judging this
weekend, we looked at 1000+ prints and noticed that most of them
were glossy. Some were so glossy they looked wet. Locally at the
club I belong to, our salon judging most seem to be matte or a
satin type of finish.

TIA,
--
Mike

'The reason for time is that everything doesn't happen at once.' -
Albert Einstein

Erichatch · Jan 13, 2003

Maybe -- though we could probably compete for "ancient eyes" awards. What printer were you using?

I got amaingly sharp, intense results using the Epson heavyweight matte and an Epson 785 printer (I'm not saying anything about color accuracy, just incredible sharpness). Oh, well, these things just don't standardize... but I've wished I could get a finish that flat and non-reflective from a photo processor.

MikelJ said:
Erichatch said:

Mostly use what's called matte by the printing services, but is
actually a lustre finish. (For real matte, try the Epson matte
paper, it's excellent for inkjet work).

Click to expand...

I am leaning towards the glossy, I printed the same picture on
Epson paper, matte and glossy and the glossy had more contrast and
was sharper.
Maybe it's just "old" eyes.

Richard91758 · Jan 13, 2003

Mike,

If I'm going to print that has a lot of black in the photo, I'll use matte.

The print then doesn't have the annoying reflective properties that you'd get from gloss in the same situation.

Richard_

MikelJ said:
I am wondering what type of finish you prefer on your prints and
does the size of the print make a difference. What prompted this
question... I worked at an International circuit judging this
weekend, we looked at 1000+ prints and noticed that most of them
were glossy. Some were so glossy they looked wet. Locally at the
club I belong to, our salon judging most seem to be matte or a
satin type of finish.

TIA,
--
Mike

'The reason for time is that everything doesn't happen at once.' -
Albert Einstein

Glossy or Matte.. Which do you use?

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