Which Photo Paper Should You Use?
This is a common question due to the amount of choices on the market these days. A few years ago, there was just regular copy paper and then photo paper and that was pretty much it. Things like “semi-glossy” and “matte” really didn’t mean anything. Photo paper was thicker and shinier and worked better, and that was all you needed to know.
Today, none of the printer manufacturers make it easy for you. If you combine different types of photo papers from the major brands (HP, Epson and Kodak) there are over 50 different papers to chose from. If you have looked at the photo paper selection in any store, you have probably seen that there is a seemingly endless range of gloss levels for photo paper, and there is really no way to tell them apart except for the price. HP Premium Photo Paper sounds good, right? Well, not really. That is pretty much just their standard paper, as the only thing lower than that is HP Everyday Photo Paper (at least the title is fairly accurate). You have 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 a little more simple by making Premium their best paper. In reality, it is the same situation as with their ink cartridges. Printer manufacturers 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, since it is your only chance to test things out for free and see if certain types of paper are worth it.
- Figure out what type of gloss you want and stick with it.
- 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.
- Do you print out tons of photos? If not, then maybe consider starting with a 25-pack of paper instead of the 100-pack. The 100-pack would be 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.
Interested in other helpful guides? Check out the guides section on our main site for information, troubleshooting and tips about printers and cartridges.
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3 Comments about “Which Photo Paper Should You Use?”
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April 13th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
I don’t believe in printing my own photos. To much room for error. With places like CostCo and Walmart offering prints for as cheap as they do why bother. Just let them do the work and I can enjoy looking at them.
April 20th, 2006 at 8:40 am
Thanks a lot for such a nice guide on Photo papers. Though I have heard about their fancy names but I didn’t know about the real differences on their types and uses. I think now, it won’t be a problem for me to select the photo papers according to my work. I hope many other people, like me, who were ignorant about this topic will definitely receive ample amount of help from this article.
March 21st, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Each to their own but I sure don’t agree with the first comment. (Don’t knock it until you try it!) I bought a Canon Pixma ip5200 this past November 2006 and it is absolutely fantastic. It is very fast and prints beautiful sharp vivid photos. The program that organizes your photos and prints them (Easy Photo Print) is simple and SO easy to use. I have made many small photo albums for family members who do not use a computer and love to look at family photos. I can crop photos the way I want, zoom in on faces, adjust brightness, erase blemishes and so on. Personally, I could not be bothered fiddling with photos to disc, and then taking to a store to develop. I honestly don’t find the overall cost of printing at home very high either. And more than all of this, I enjoy my photo printing projects and am so grateful for all of the technology and products that make it possible.