Guide for Choosing Your Fine Art Paper
The predominance & strengths of blacks is the key determinant in paper selection:
- Low-key images (having primarily dark tones, usually with little tonal contrast) are more suited to non-matte papers. It is hard to see distinguish between the subtleties of the dark tones when printed on matte papers.
- Predominantly high-key (primarily light tones, usually with little tonal contrast) or images with pale tones look great on matte papers.
- Papers with high OBAs could be affected in the way they appear. OBA’s require UV light in which they absorb the UV rays and ….. a process called Luminescence. The problem is caused by the introduction of LED lighting in homes which has no UV. This could result in a change of the way these photos look in your home as opposed to viewing them near a window where natural light and UV helps excite the OBAs bringing your image to life.
The main issue with matte papers is that the surface of the matte papers scatter light, i.e. the paper diffuses the light. This has a dramatic effect on the appearance of blacks. Blacks are deeper and richer in glossy/semi-gloss papers compared to matte papers.
For a print with many fine details, such as a photo of a fashion model, a glossy bright white paper may give the best result, considering resolution, sharpness, detail and wide colour gamut. A print of a landscape with picturesque scenery may look better on a watercolour paper. Likewise, a Black & White print of a portrait may look best on a paper with a slightly off-white tint, or ‘natural white’ or ‘warm toned’.
While there are many technical specifications to note when choosing a suitable fine art paper, it is still a subjective decision – there is no wrong or right choice.
We offer a wide range of fine art papers. The papers have been taken under the same light so you can see their reflective properties.
Whilst this paper is like a fine wine, we don’t expect you to eat it, but it is difficult to judge it by a photo. You have to experience the print on the paper in person to appreciate its true qualities.
Consider joining our unique Fine Art printing club. To learn more, click here.
Canson Infinity Rag Photographique
310gsm
Canson Infinity Rag Photographique is a 100% cotton museum grade white Fine Art and photo paper. The exceptional smooth white tone is achieved during manufacturing by introducing natural minerals to the process. It has been developed to address the need for continued longevity requirements in the Digital Fine Art market.
Rag Photographique offers a unique extra smooth surface with a sensual feel. It also provides one of the highest achievable Dmax currently available on the market, making it ideal for fine art photography as well as fine art printmaking.
Product Features:
- 310gsm Matte Extra Smooth Finish
- Warm-toned – perfect for portraits
- Deep blacks
Excellent for colour and Black & White images
- Fourdrinier Made 100% Cotton Rag
- No Optical Brightening Agents (OBA’s)
- Acid Free & certified to avoid paper degradation
- Designed to meet Galleries and Museums longevity requirements
Canson Aquarelle RAG
310gsm
This genuine 100% rag, watercolour paper possesses the unique structure, surface texture and warm white tone that demanding artists expect from a traditional Fine Art paper. This paper complies with the highest archival standards and is extremely age resistant.
Canson Infinity Aquarelle Rag gives a unique and unrivalled character to the Fine Art reproduction of traditional artwork and photographs.
Product Features:
- 310gsm Matte High Textured waterpaper Finish
Warm white tone is perfect for photographic reproductions and renders art reproductions accurately and beautifully.
- Mold Made (the finest and oldest paper-making technic)
- 100% Cotton Rag
- Specifically coated to be water and scuff resistant
- No Optical Brightening Agents (OBA’s)
- Acid Free & certified to avoid paper degradation
- Designed to meet Galleries and Museums longevity requirements
Canson PrintMaKing
310gsm
This 100% cotton printing paper manufactured on a cylinder mold is available in the Canson® Infinity Digital Fine Art & Photo line. Canson Infinity PrintMaKing Rag has a unique pure white without optical brighteners and an incomparable, fine and silky touch.
This exceptional paper is ideal for fine art prints and photographs and gives them a very prestigious aura.
Product Features:
- 310gsm Matte Finish
- Mold Made the finest and oldest paper-making technic
- 100% Cotton Rag
- No Optical Brightening Agents (OBA’s)
- Acid Free & certified to avoid paper degradation
- Ideal for medium to high-key images but not recommended for low-key images (i.e. predominantly dark tones)
- Better suited for colour rather than Black & White images. Perfect for portraits
- Designed to meet Galleries and Museums longevity requirements
Canson Velin Museum Rag
315gsm
The Velin has been chosen throughout the centuries to make lithographs, intaglio etchings, aqua fortis etchings and collotypes by world-renowned artists. Canson Infinity Velin Museum Rag is now available on the market for digital art and photography printing.
This paper is naturally age-resistant and has a unique fine grained, smooth surface and structure and offers a pure white tone without OBAs. It is ideal for sophisticated photographs and museum-grade applications, as well as fine Art printmaking.
Product Features:
- 315gsm Matte Finish
- Mold Made 100% Cotton Rag
- No Optical Brightening Agents (OBA’s)
- Acid Free & certified to avoid paper degradation
- Designed to meet Galleries and Museums longevity requirements
Canson Edition Etching Rag
315gsm
Canson Infinity Edition Etching Rag is a 100% cotton Fine Art paper with a smooth texture, reminiscent of the original genuine etching and printmaking papers. The paper has the purest white tone available on the market, without any Optical Brightening Agents, also called OBAs. Optical Brightening Agents are artificial brighteners that deteriorate in time. Canson Edition Etching Rag offers a high paper shade stability and a resistance to aging by using natural minerals.
This museum grade paper provides deep blacks, excellent image sharpness, optimum colour graduation and its unique slight grain makes it ideal for printing detailed work, colour photographs and exceptional black and white portraits.
Product Features:
- 310gsm Matte Finish
- Fourdrinier Made 100% Cotton Rag
- No Optical Brightening Agents (OBA’s)
- Acid Free & certified to avoid paper degradation
- Designed to meet Galleries and Museums longevity requirements
Satin Finish
Canson Platine Fibre Rag
315gsm
Canson Infinity Platine Fibre Rag is the combination of the premium 100% cotton Platinum paper that Canson has supplied for many years to the original Platinum and Platine photographic market, with the latest microporous coating, making the traditional darkroom paper now available for your digital printing.
Setting the benchmark for Digital Darkroom papers, Platine Fibre Rag provides the aesthetic and feel of the original F-Type Baryta Fibre paper, having a true pure white tone without using optical brighteners that are known to affect the longevity of digitally produced images.
Platine Fibre Rag’s extremely high Dmax and exceptional grey tones make it the product of choice for the more discerning black and white as well as colour photographic prints.
Product Features:
- 310gsm Lustre Finish
- 100% Cotton Rag base with a platinum microporous coating
- No Optical Brightening Agents (OBA’s)
- Acid Free & certified to avoid paper degradation
- Designed to meet Galleries and Museums longevity requirements
Canson Baryta Photographique II
315gsm
The next generation of Baryta Photographique, offers photographers and printers the opportunity of creating a photograph with the true look and feel of a traditional darkroom print with improved handling and finishing characteristics.
Baryta Photographique II has a true 100% barium sulphate layer (baryta) which offers exceptional contrast and detail as well as a wide colour gamut. The product has an extremely high D-Max (black point) to produce black and white images with depth and clarity and colour images with vibrancy and intensity. The new generation product has a more structured surface aspect which is reminiscent of the traditional fibre-based darkroom papers and a fine satin finish.
Product Features:
- Version II of this product
- 310gsm Smooth Finish
- 100% Alpha Cellulose base with a barium sulphate coating
- Acid Free & certified to avoid paper degradation
- Designed to meet Galleries and Museums longevity requirements
BARYTA PRESTIGE
340gsm
Canson Infinity Baryta Prestige 340gsm is comprised of an acid-free alpha-cellulose and cotton white paper base with a true barium sulphate coating. It is a smooth Baryta Gloss paper which evokes the look and aesthetic feel of traditional darkroom papers.
The paper characteristics are truly unique: providing excellent durability, outstanding black optical density (D-max), and superb image sharpness. The paper offers a good level of flatness, excellent surface homogeneity, very good cuttability, and its printed and non-printed surfaces differ only very slightly in glossiness. It offers an extraordinary wide gamut which improves colour reproduction and increases visual impact.
Canson Infinity Baryta Prestige is an innovative product for the more discerning photographer and printmaker, whether creating black and white or colour archival prints.
Product Features:
- 340gsm Lustre Finish
- Cotton & Alpha Cellulose base with a barium sulphate coating
- Very little OBA but some is present in the Barium Sulphate
- Acid Free & certified to avoid paper degradation
- Designed to meet Galleries and Museums longevity requirements
Gloss finish papers
Ilford Metallic Gloss
260gsm
Ilford Galerie Metallic Gloss offers photographers the ability to print images with a true ‘wow’ factor. The iridium finish gives every image a three-dimensional look ensuring that each print truly comes to life.
The resin coated paper is 260gsm and is suitable for creating display and exhibition prints or alternatively prints can be added to photo albums or portfolio work to create additional impact.
Although the media adds an additional creative angle to portrait and studio photography, it also lends itself perfectly to enhancing mechanical, industrial or architectural images.
Features and Benefits :
- Smooth Iridium metalic finish
- Instant dry nanoporous surface
- Heavyweight look and feel of a traditional photograph
- Superb photographic image quality and consistency
Canson Photosatin Premium RC
270gsm
Canson Infinity PhotoSatin Premium Resin Coated consists of an alpha cellulose acid-free art paper coated with a structured polyethylene and a microporous receiver layer. This exceptional photographic paper has been designed to comply with the highest lifespan requirements. The surface aesthetic of PhotoSatin Premium RC is reminiscent of the original photochemical papers traditionally associated with the Baryta market.
This paper gives softened reflections on photographs. It is a great choice for black & white and colour photography.
Features and Benefits :
- 270gsm Satin Finish
- Alpha Cellulose base with a microporous resin coating
- Optimised for pigmented inks & compatible with dye inks
- Acid Free & designed to comply with the highest lifespan requirements
- Fade resistant to guarantee maximum conservation of your prints
Self Adhesive
GamutDisplay Repositionable LowTac Tex
GamutDisplay LowTac Tex Matte is a smooth re-usable material that will adhere to any flat surface and removes easily with no residue for sharp looking, seamless graphics and superior photographic images every time.
Indoor and Outdoor Applications
GamutDisplay LowTac Tex Matte is ideal for life-size photographic cut-outs for walls and wall murals. It also works great for a variety of indoor and outdoor applications, including windows, backlits, doors, sign boards, and other flat surfaces.
Seamless Wall Graphics with Easy Removal
The adhesive is removable, reusable, and repositionable. It does not remove paint from a primed wall, is safe to apply over wallpaper, applies without wrinkles, and does not rip.
Features and Benefits :
- Adheres to Any Non-Porous Flat Surface
- Like: Windows, Doors, Sign Boards
- Re-Usable Adhesive
- Removes Easily without Residue
- Won’t Damage Paint or Wallpaper
- Great for Cut-Outs and Wall Murals
Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Metalic
340gsm
Hahnemühle Photo Rag Metallic is a silvery-shimmering FineArt inkjet paper with a specially formulated inkjet coating for FineArt use. The natural white cotton paper contains no optical brighteners and has the characteristic Photo Rag® surface structure and sumptuous feel. Photo Rag Metallic features a special silvery-shimmering surface finish. The high-gloss premium inkjet coating with a unique metallic effect guarantees impressive printing results with bold colours, deep black and the perfect reproduction of colour and detail. The sophisticated silver metallic effect underscores the image and makes motifs with metallic elements, reflections, ice and glass, architecture and landscape shots, as well as black and white photographs with high-contrast tones shine. Photo Rag Metallic is acid and lignin-free and meets the most exacting requirements in terms of age resistance.
Features and Benefits :
- 340 gsm and 100% cotton
- Natural white, without optical brighteners
- Sophisticated surface texture
- Silvery shimmering metallic effect
- Acid and lignin-free