How to Choose Photo Paper

Because there are so many types of photo paper on the market today, people are always wondering which kind will give them the best results. Until recently, there was just regular copy paper and then photo paper and that was pretty much it. There really was no choice and no worrying about what the best was. Things like semi-glossy?and matte?really didn't mean anything.

Today, none of the printer manufacturers make it easy for you. If you combine different types of photo papers from the major brands like HP, Epson and Kodak, there are over 50 different papers to choose from. If you have browsed through the photo paper section in any store, you have probably seen the endless varieties of gloss, and there is really no way to tell them apart except for the price. HP Premium Photo Paper sounds good, right? Well, in reality that is pretty much just their standard paper, as the only thing lower than that is HP Everyday Photo Paper (a rare accurate title). You need to get Premium Plus if you want the best stuff, and even then you have to decide which kind of gloss is best for you. Luckily, Epson makes it slightly simpler by making Premium their best paper. This whole thing is similar to what the printer companies do with their ink cartridges. They give fancy names to their products, create all sorts of terminology and give things inflated prices under the assumption that you have to pay more to get more. So, what can you do?

- If possible, use the free samples of paper you get when buying a printer to decide what looks good. These samples can be very helpful and you need to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

- Figure out what type of gloss you want and stick with it. Here is a brief rundown of what the different gloss types are:
?soft gloss is subtle and as the name suggests?soft
?glossy is basically the standard for photo paper; not too soft, not too rough
?super glossy/high gloss will give you strong, vivid results
?matte paper will produce photos that are more like traditional prints. It is thicker and has a whole different feel to it than glossy paper.

- If you don't print out a whole lot of photos, then maybe consider starting with a 25-pack of paper instead of the 100-pack. The 100-pack is cheaper per page, but what if you decide you don't like the results you get with the paper?

- Think about the type of photos you are going to be printing before buying the paper. A lot of people either print a bunch of 4 x 6 pictures, or else they use the standard size 8.5 x 11. If you take your digital camera to your drug store and print out your 4 x 6 prints there, then you probably don't need a 100-pack at home.

- If all else fails, just buy photo paper that is the same brand as your printer. This is one of those rare times we recommend buying products from HP, Epson etc. The fact is that sometimes you can't resist The Machine.

Karl Smith has dedicated his life to ink cartridges and to printers. He operates a blog at Pacific Ink.
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