photographic @ge - Ink Jet Printing Papers

Why can't I use loose leaf filler paper?

In the digital darkroom we have found that today's ink jet printers produce excellent photo quality prints. But what is even more amazing is the extremely low cost of these printers. We soon realize that the cost is so low because we will need to buy ink cartridges for them when the starter cartridge runs out. So we have welcomed the idea that manufacturers can put out such high quality printers at such a low price. At the same time we have accepted the fact that when the ink runs out we will just go buy a pair of refills (black & colors) for around 50 dollars.

Since we love the quality of the prints so much, we decide not to take any shortcuts and proceed to go out and buy brand name refills. But now with the introduction of refill kits, instead of laying out 50 dollars for refill cartridges we could buy a kit that would let us refill the empty cartridges three or more times for less than 50 dollars.

I have friends who have gone with that system and are very happy with it and noticed several companies with the kits at the PMA show in February. But I myself had not tried them yet. Like many photographers I still have some kind of unexplainable doubt about the quality of such systems.

But that is only half of the picture, the other half of course is the paper. Having an extensive background in offset printing I have handled a lot of different types of paper. As soon as I got my hands on the ink jet paper that I bought with my printer last year I sensed that there was a lot more marketing involved in the paper (for use with dye based inks) than there was actual difference from ordinary printing and artist papers.

I have gone through my house, to the store and elsewhere in search of different papers to test. And, yes I did even try loose leaf filler paper. One very important note to remember in this test is that these prints were made on printers using dye based inks, do not attempt to use an uncoated specially manufactured ink jet paper with pigmented inks. Since pigmented inks do not work properly when absorbed into the substrate the prints will look horrible, but for those of us using dye based inks the results I achieved can be reproduced on your printer as well.

No Special Packaging

My first try was going to be 140 lb. water color paper. I picked this up at a office supply store in 9x12 and 11x15 pads costing under 5 dollars apiece and each pad having 15 sheets. Not only was this paper very thick & acid free it also has a great stipple finish.

I knew before printing on this paper that it would absorb a good bit more ink than the coated glossy paper. So I set the enhance setting in the print driver to saturation and the print came out at about the same density as on the normal settings on photo glossy paper. I also tried the same paper in the Epson 777i with the same great results.

The next paper on my test list would be from a drawing paper pad of acid free 70 lb. stock. Although I am not sure of the whiteness value of this paper, it was close to a comparable 90 to 95 whiteness paper. So the images were a little warm and not so stark and contrasting as the same images on the 100 to 110 whiteness range. This again has a lot to do with the image, as some images need the added contrast and some don't. And, as in the previous test, I also ran a sheet with the same image through my smaller printer and got excellent results as well.

Out of fairness to the name brand papers, I ran a print on ultra heavy weight and photo weight glossy papers. As expected, the print quality was excellent and other than the differences in surface I could still not see any difference in the quality of the image or the colorfastness of the prints.

On 13 x19 sheets I was actually more pleased with the stability of the paper from the drawing pad than the flimsy feel of the Epson brand photo glossy paper in that size. And I saw less curling and buckling, but then again remember that the drawing paper was a 70 lb. stock.

To my surprise some ultra heavy weight photo glossy paper that I got online from a so called ink jet printer supplier produced the worst images yet. It looks like the ink piled up where it was heavy and did not seem to lay smooth on the surface. No doubt I should try to send this garbage back and get a refund. The package says that it produces excellent photo quality prints, but even at 360 dpi they looked like crap.

Of course the test prints on Epson heavyweight matte paper were outstanding. This paper is really suited great for graphic designers to use for proofs of a printing job. Yes it does a wonderful job on photographs too, but it is very bright and has the tendency to add a little too much contrast.

After testing just about any paper I could find in both the art supply store and the computer stores, I wanted to do one more testing... yes, I wanted to even try some loose leaf filler paper. After all of the previous tests I was sure that the image would probably look okay, but to my surprise it was much more than just okay. The ink actually covered up the rule lines and the color, detail and contrast were amazing. I did forget about leaving room for the 3 holes down the left side but other than that the image was amazing. I think some artist could do a whole show on loose leaf filler paper and have quite a unique display.

Final Passing

I could probably run any paper known to man through one of these amazing printers and get great results. Two things to keep in mind is that I tested only with Epson photo quality printers and I also did not try to print onto napkins. So the results on HP or any other printer are unknown and if a napkin would feed through the printer it's not something I am ready to try as of yet.

I am not sure if the archival qualities of the inks will change on these other papers. And if you were to ask the printer manufacturer about attempting to run this paper through their printer, I am sure they would give you many reasons why you shouldn't. That is of course if they don't take into consideration how cheap you can buy these printers for. If you are selling your prints and you trashed a $99 printer after a few months, then you are not really out much. So, the next time you go out to purchase more printer paper, consider trying another less expensive brand for a change. You might just like it better.