Choosing the Right Paper to Print Your Digital Photos

Storm on Great Sand Dunes national park in Colorado in US. Black and White photo by Amar Guillen.

Storm in the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado in the U.S.

Tip #2: Use Different Types of Photo Paper

The choice of paper is crucial for quality printing.

Unfortunately, there is no universal paper. Everything will depend on the type of photo you are going to print and especially on your taste. You may like high-gloss, glossy, semi-glossy, or matte papers.

Maybe you like textured papers, or perhaps you prefer smooth papers.

The choice of paper types is large. I advise you to run some tests before making a final choice.

The same goes for the brands: Canon, Epson, Red River, Canson, and Hahnemühle are just a few of the many brands available. Assess some different ones to find out which one suits you best.

Personally, for my art photos I use the Canson brand. I use Baryta 310g paper. At first, I used this paper for my black and white prints. Since then, I have also adapted it for my color prints. On the black and white, there is a very slight yellow dominance that appears. I find it very tasteful. In a next paragraph, I will give you a tip to remove it if you so desire.

Each paper has its own characteristics and its own rendering. It is all a matter of taste and experimentation.

The appreciation of a paper is a matter of aesthetics and sensations.

It is possible to define the main criteria of appreciation as follows:

Hand or stiffness. The "hand" of a paper is called its rigidity: does it hold well in the hand? This depends not only on the weight of the paper (grammage) but also on its composition (fiber, cotton, cellulose, etc.). A strong handprint can sometimes be exposed without counter-gluing on its entire surface. A light flexible paper (e.g., 170 gr.) must be fully laminated or under glued. We do not want it to "curl" once the ink has been laid.
Touch. Touch is a physical sensation not without a certain sensuality. The touch of a paper depends on its composition, its surface state (textured, smooth, etc.) and its pressing. A paper can have a soft and silky touch, or on the contrary rough or abrasive.
The tone. There are of course "warm" and "cold" tone papers as well as glossy or matt papers.
Without treatment, the tint of a paper is in principle a warm cased white which provides a feeling of softness and roundness.
In black and white, warm papers produce grayish, sepia-like tones.
Cold tone papers generally contain optical brighteners, they "glow" with whiteness and produce sharp, energetic, and bright images, which can seem cooler.

Among the Digigraphie approved fine art papers, for prints guaranteed one hundred years exposed and two hundred years archived, are the "Photo Rag", "Turner" and "Torchons" papers from Hahnemülhe, the "Canvas" from Epson and the Arches Velin, RAG Photographic and Fiber Rag from Canson.

These are papers that have a good hand, each with its own character of texture and tone and allow a wide range of aesthetic and technical possibilities.

For black and white, Canson Baryta 310g/m² or Hahnemühle Photo Rag Satin 310 g/m² provide a strong hand which is pleasant to feel and easy to work with for mounting and exposure.

I personally create fine art photos. For a final print, I always use fine art paper. The price of each sheet is high. But I expect nothing less from the results, for they are magnificent.

When I perform tests to make sure that the colorimetry or the rendering of each image is good, I use a more classic paper: the photo paper. I use Luster 240g paper. The price of a sheet is a third of the price of a fine art sheet.

Sometimes for a photo, I will print four to five sheets before finding the right balance in the shades.

That is why I advise you to use a photo paper for the test work and a fine art paper for the final print. Your photo paper budget will remain reasonable.

I do not advise you to buy cheap paper, such as one hundred sheets for ten dollars. The print rendering is not good. Moreover, the writing heads slip and may create smears or inconsistencies on the paper.

Once you have printed your photo(s) and are satisfied with your test runs, you can then request a print from a professional lab for a larger run.

Tip #3: Install the ICC Profile of Your Photo Paper on Your Computer

If you want to use fine art paper for your final prints, you are making a good choice. It guarantees that you will end up with high quality prints. These papers are more expensive than photo papers. But you will see the difference in quality for yourself.

When you use a fine art paper, the manufacturer provides you with the ICC profile of its paper on its website.

The acronym ICC comes from International Color Consortium. An ICC profile is a set of digital data that contains information about the range of colors that a device (monitor, printer...) can use.

For example, a monitor can display a wider range of colors than a printer can print. Thus, the ICC profile is the "translator".

If you do not use an ICC profile, the results you get from your printer will not be what you expect. The discrepancies will be most noticeable in the mid-tones and shadows.

A generic profile is a profile made for a combination of printer, ink, and paper. It is not designed for the printer to highlight the best features of your photo.

A custom profile is made specifically for your printer.

By using an ICC printer profile, you manage the color of your printer.

In order for the monitor to display the same colors as those that will be printed, it is necessary to create a profile for your monitor.

My advice is to download and install it on your computer. This profile depends on your printer. For example, if you use a Canon Pro 200 printer and a Canson Baryta 310g paper, the manufacturer will provide a free ICC profile for your chosen paper and your model and make of printer.

This will allow you to make the most of the qualities of the paper. The result will be only the highest quality.

Finding the right ICC profile is quite easy. In the box that contains your paper, there is a notice that tells you the address to download the file and the installation instructions.

To install an ICC profile, just click on the file and the installation will take place automatically.

To use it with your development software, you must specify the name of the profile. In general, generic applications do not propose the application of an ICC profile for printing. That is why I recommend you use the applications or software delivered with your printer.

I guarantee that using a specific ICC profile for your paper and printer will ensure the best possible quality for your prints.

Tip #4: Save Your Print Settings

Once you have found the right settings for the test paper or the final paper, I advise you to save your settings.

These parameters concern colorimetry, luminosity, and contrast.

Most manufacturers provide an application or software to print. Currently, as I write this article, I prefer Canon printers. For one printer, which is a bit older, I use the Print Studio Pro software. For the other one, which is more recent, I use Print Canon Layout. The advantage of these free applications is that they allow you to adjust your settings perfectly. The generic applications are not as efficient. I strongly recommend that when you purchase a camera, seek out the software with which your printer is compatible, and vice versa. This ensures the highest quality.

Tip #5: Decrease the Brightness of Your Screen

7 Tips to Improve the Printing Process of Your Digital Photos

As a photographer, you take pictures. You develop them. Then they sit on your computer's hard drive or in your tablet's memory storage.

Have you thought about printing them? This option is certainly the most rewarding for a photographer. But it is not so easy. In this article, I will explain a method to improve the printing process of your digital photos.

Turret Arch in Arches National Park in Utah in the United States. The magic of black and white conveys an ethereal atmosphere.

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The Story Behind This Article

During the creation of a photo project about the Arches National Park in Utah in the United States, I captured over a thousand landscape photos.

This project lasted two years. I made several trips during that time.

Once the development phase was over, I created a collection of twelve fine art photos.

But as always in my work, developing fine art photos with a computer is a necessary, but not the ultimate step. The final step is printing.

This last step is the one which validates that a photo has been processed well, and the quality has been enhanced. Once a photo is developed, it is printed in my studio.

I carefully check the general tone of the photo: the dark, mid, and bright tones. Then I check the details.

For this collection, which will be only black and white photos, I re-printed three out of the twelve photos at least five times each. I was never satisfied with the result of those three.

In the end, I managed to create a coherent and consistent collection.

It is during the development of this photo project that I realized that I had to share with you the result of my experience and my thoughts.

In the rest of this article, I will explain my method to print your photos correctly whether it is on a personal printer or by a professional lab.

Two Steps to Fully Understanding a Photo

A Photo Should Always Be Printed

I used to say that a picture only exists when it is printed.

As long as a photo remains on a digital screen and not on paper, it is merely an image.

I believe that the ultimate goal for a photographer is to have prints of his photos in front of his eyes, whether in a book or in a frame.

However, few photographers take the plunge. As a photographer shoots, develops, and posts on social media, something seems unfinished, even when capturing an incredible work. Often, the photos are stored on the computer. They will never see the light of the day. For me, these photos do not even exist. It is as if they are just fleeting ideas and unfulfilled dreams sitting in one’s mind, waiting to be shared with others.

Do Not Be Ashamed or Afraid to Print Your Photos

I have talked to many photographers in the last few years. Some of them had the idea that photo printing is reserved for the elite, professional photographers. Believing this is a big mistake. Printing photos is the culmination of any photographic project, regardless of your skill level.

If you are ashamed of wanting to print your photos or if you are afraid of criticism or the gaze of others, remember that we are all humans, therefore, we experience these same emotions.

Printing a photo is an essential step. It is like giving birth. It occurs in stages. It is difficult. Indeed, we will reveal to others who we really are. I can vividly remember experiencing each stage of the printing process.

Printing a photo is a magical moment. The exhilaration is at its peak.

This is what I call the moment of truth. Looking at a photo on a screen is a fleeting moment. We do not take the time to really look. After the first glance, our eyes naturally tend to move on to the next image.

Holding a paper photo is an entirely different exercise. The reality of a photo becomes tangible. It exists. We are no longer in a virtual world. We can now see, feel and even smell the paper or medium upon which our photo rests.

If you offer a printed photo to someone, they will take the time to look at it carefully and analyze it. To print a photo is to enter another dimension within our world. It is a portal to another moment in time, and yet at the same time, we are grounded in the reality of the moment surrounding us.

Do not be ashamed to print your photos. It is the only way for you to progress and refine your photographic approach.

How to Use Your Printed Photos

At this stage of the article, you will certainly ask yourself what purpose a printed photo can serve apart from the fact that it exists concretely and not only virtually.

There are many uses for a printed photo:

You can mount it to a wall in your living space, office, home, workshop, or studio.
You can submit it to a photo contest. Many contests require paper photos for judging.
You can participate in an exhibition.
You can show it to your club members as part of a photo review.
You can gift it to someone in celebration of a birthday or holiday.
You can print it for yourself, so that you can be reminded to stop and enjoy the fruit of your hard work.

You have so many options to choose from. As you can see, there is always a good reason to print a photo.

Tip #1: Print at Home on Your Printer

The first tip I will give you for learning to print is to have a personal printer at home.

Why do you want to do this? To be able to perform dry test runs and practice. Indeed, if you send your photos to a laboratory, you will never know which settings have been applied. Moreover, if you are not satisfied with the result, you will have to start again. The process can be long and tedious.

It is not necessary to have a printer that prints large formats.

I personally have two printers. The largest size they can print is thirteen x nineteen inches (40 × 60 centimeters). But this is a size I use very rarely. For my tests, I always print in letter format (21 × 29.7 centimeters).

The result is satisfactory. The important thing for me is to judge the tones, the details, and the general rendering of the textures.

I know that if the result is satisfactory with this format, it will be satisfactory on an enlargement. One of my printers has twelve cartridges. The other has eight.

Finally, for reasons relating to cost, I use the one with eight cartridges. On this letter size, I do not notice any difference.

To print at home, I recommend that you purchase an inkjet printer. Choose a well-known brand, it does not matter which as they all produce the same result.
Eight ink cartridges are sufficient.
Be sure that it has the possibility to print on letter format (A4 format).

Ink cartridges for inkjet printers are expensive. For a cartridge sold by the manufacturer's brand, the price is often between thirteen and twenty-five dollars. It all depends on the model of the printer.

If you have a printer with eight or twelve cartridges, the price of the total refill can exceed one hundred dollars.

This fact will certainly encourage you not to print much. That would be a mistake!

If you do not use your printer often, the cartridge nozzles will dry out. You will have to change your cartridges more often than if you use them often. My advice: if you have a printer, use it as often as possible.