Fine Art Paper for Canon Pixma Pro 100

[purplehaze]

So, when I went to the local camera store to stock up on samples for my new printer, the owner dissuaded me from buying the textured Hahnemuhle cotton rag I was drooling over, saying that the Pro 100, being a dye-based printer, did not print "properly" on cotton rag. I was taken aback, as I thought the Pro 100 was going to open the door to a range of fine art papers for me.

So, Pro 100-owners past and present, what say you? What fine art papers have you used with success and which would you recommend I avoid? I am being turned out to pasture in a few months, so can no longer afford to waste money.

[loosecanon]

I use fine art paper in my Canon 9000 II with no problem.

However Canon does require a wide margin for the paper, mine asks for 35mm when set to fine art. My printer has a front feed for fine art papers which keeps them flat. If the margin is too wide for the image I have printed onto sheets taped to a larger sheet , I should say carefully and strongly taped, as there could be a risk to tape gunging up the drive rollers.

Canon list lots of papers with profiles

[Manfred M]

Janis - check on the Hahnemühle website to make sure, but I suspect that the local camera shop likely gave you incorrect advice. While most photo printers are pigment based, most papers will work well with both pigment and dye inks.

https://www.hahnemuehle.com/en/hahnemuehle.html

Look up the paper and if you can find a printer profile for your printer, then you are good to go, regardless of what the store told you.

[DanK]

Janis,

I have never used Hahnemuehle papers (I have a sample pack right here waiting for me), but I have used a wide variety of papers dye-based printers, including the Pro-100, and I have never had unsatisfactory results. This has included a few papers that are marketed specifically for pigment inks. There is a risk, however: dye-based and pigment-based inks spread differently, and I think some manufacturers worry that dye inks will spread too much on porous papers.

I agree with Manfred that you are probably safe if the manufacturer posts an ICC profile for the combination of printer and paper. However, to play it safe, you could buy a sample pack, if there is one that has the paper you want. The Hahnemuehle sampler I have includes two sheets of 7 Matte Fine Art smooth papers, including 4 of the rag papers.

Dan

[Round Tuit]

Janis - I have bought sample packs of Hahnemuhle mat and glossy paper and they all work great with my pro-100. My favorite for mat textured paper is the Museum Etching which is also sold under the Canon brand.
You can order most of Hahnemuhle papers on line from Henry's or Vistek.

[Shadowman]

Hi Janis,

I print with quite a few 3rd party paper suppliers and the biggest challenge is making sure the right profile is loaded when printing,

[Manfred M]

Hi Janis,

I print with quite a few 3rd party paper suppliers and the biggest challenge is making sure the right profile is loaded when printing,

Hahnemühle is very good this way as they supply printer specific settings with every specific ICC profile. The information as well as the profile are in a zip file.

[DanK]

Hahnemühle is very good this way as they supply printer specific settings with every specific ICC profile. The information as well as the profile are in a zip file.

I use primarily Moab and Red River papers, and they also provide both ICC profiles and specific printer settings for the Pixma Pro 100.

I print from Lightroom (no tomatoes thrown my way, please), and in Lightroom, it is trivially easy to make sure the right ICC profile is used. Once you have installed them into the OS, you simply tell LR from a list of all of them which ones to have active within the software--that is, which will show up when you have to choose control of color before printing. You then simply choose the one you want in the print module when you are ready to print. These selected ICCs will also show up as softproofing choices. When you soft proof, there is a drop down menu that you use to tell it which paper you want to emulate, and that choice will show up on the image if you have LR set to show identifying information. It's all extremely simple once you have it set up and have done it once or twice.

[purplehaze]

Oh, thank you all for your input. Manfred, I found the Hahnemuhle profiles for my printer and they include the William Turner and Museum Etching papers I was looking at. Dan, I think you are right about the concern being related to how the two kinds of ink spread. In any case, I think I would like to see for myself how I like them, so thanks, André, I will try to order up a sample pack from Henry's. I also want to try the Moab and Red River papers at some point. So much fun ahead!

I didn't tell you, but a bunch of co-workers and I got a lay-off notice a couple of weeks ago, for the end of March. Given my latest round with the big C, I have decided to retire and take on just enough freelance work to feed my appetite for luxury yarn and photo paper. Soon enough, you will be seeing much, much more of me around these parts, so watch out! I'll be making good on that threat.

[Manfred M]

The timing of my wife's and my retirement were largely driven by her brush with the big C, so I can appreciate your decision. Our timing was our own choosing, so we did not have to cross that bridge. In your line of work freelancing is always an option so you should be able to keep your hand (and income) and time to do other things at an appropriate level.

The problem with printing is that the material out there, both on the internet and in books, is much more scarce and less reliable than for other aspects of photography. Unless one can hook up with a solid "master printer" who is willing to teach the subtleties, this is much more challenging to master. Good luck in this next phase of your life and your photography!

[Donald]

..... I have decided to retire and take on just enough freelance work to feed my appetite for luxury yarn and photo paper.

Good on you Janice. I celebrate 4 years retirement on 31st December (which is unfortunately the same date as Sheila died). But that is something I've had to deal with. But retirement is a wonderful state to be in. I tremble when I think I could have been still there, slogging away and getting more and more frustrated by the drawing in of public care services. I hope you have a wonderful retirement.

I won't comment on papers, because others have done it above and, anyway, I use an Epson printer.