Superior Ink Jet Printing with Pictorico Papers

Most photographers are aware of the amazing results available from a home ink jet printer.

Sample on regular paper...

Printing on regular laser paper produces results that are less than perfect. Because the paper is usually thin, porous, and relatively rough, the inks soak in too much and oversaturate the paper. This causes the image to look dark and less than tack sharp. Also, regular paper is often more off-white than white; this reduces contrast and makes the image less pleasing to look at.

Better results can come from simply using better papers. Specialty photo-quality papers are smoother and often heavier, thicker, and brighter. They come in a wide variety of different thicknesses, textures, and ... Some are coated to produce even sharper results and protect the print from water and other elements.

Users of some ink jet printers may already know about such papers. Epson, for example, makes a line of wonderful high quality ink jet papers. Combined with their super high-resolution, micro piezo printers, these papers produce outstanding results.

You can, however, go even further. With Pictorico papers, for example, you can achieve even more stunning results. You can also have fun printing on special papers and fabrics such as canvas, polysilk, and watercolor card stock.

Why go further? You can distinguish your work from the work of other photographers; you can impress your friends and family; you can sell more prints at craft fairs; and, most importantly, you can find satisfaction in creating a thing of beauty.

As our first foray into the world of ink jet printing, this first article will examine these Pictorico papers in detail. The keywords with any ink jet paper are color, detail, and durability - and Pictorico has it all.

It may surprise you that some of the best ink jet printer paper comes the Asahi Glass Company rather than a lumbermill. Even more interesting is that the secret ingredient to this magnificent paper is something you may have worked with in your high school pottery class - ceramic.

By applying a coating of uniform, fine ceramic particles - with all particles pointing in the same direction - Pictorico makes a line of papers that works especially well with the inks. By drying virtually on contact, the inks retain their sharp definition; the dots remain perfectly crisp instead of bleeding into microscopic blobs. When viewed by the naked eye, your image shows clear details and accurate colors.

Furthermore, the ceramics make the paper more durable and water-resistant.

The Pictorico line includes Premium Canvas, Photo Gallery Hi-Gloss White Film, Photo Glossy Paper, WaterColor Card Stock, Polysilk Fabric, OHP Transparency Film, and Adhesive Film.

We recently had the opportunity to test all but the adhesive film. We printed several images that had been captured with a Canon Elan, scanned on an Agfa DuoScan, and then worked in Adobe Photoshop. We used an Epson printer, outputting samples on the Epson Photo Glossy and Photo-Quality ink jet papers for comparison with the Pictorico papers.

We were very impressed with the results. Color and detail was rendered beautifully. Under a loupe, you could see the usual dots - some more than others. To the naked eye, though, these prints were the next best thing to silver based photographs. The White Film, for example, looks and feels exactly like a quality print from the lab.

Another nice touch is that Pictorico notches the top right corner of many of their papers, so you never have to guess which way to load the it into the printer. This sounds like a minor point but we can't tell you how much time it saves.

Note: Most of the samples below look similar on the Web, even when enlarged. The distinguishing qualities do not get displayed in the digital scan. Therefore, we attempt to describe the texture, weight, caliber, etc. and keep the digital sample just so you can get a rough idea of the paper.

Premium Canvas
The Premium Canvas was one of our favorite Pictorico papers. You can use it to make almost any print into an instant work of art. The texture causes the image to shimmer in light and creates a unique, interesting look.

We found that it works especially well with scanned Polaroid transfers, combining the rough edges and muted colors with the textured paper. It also worked well for portraits and landscape images that we wanted to see with an "oil on canvas" effect.

Our test with a black and white image showed a bit of banding or blotchiness but this seems to occur with most ink jet output options.

We noticed a bit of a transparent quality to this paper so consider how you are planning to mount the photo; whiteboard will probably work better than the cardboard insert that comes with most inexpensive frames.

Photo Gallery Hi-Gloss White Film
The prints on this material are absolutely amazing! It is called 'white film' but it you can translate that to 'photographic print.' This is as close as you will get to a photo from the lab. It's ultra-white, ultra-glossy look - as well as its weight and caliper - make it ideal for gallery quality limited editions and professional exhibition. If you are shooting for a glossy photo of your digital image, use this film; it's fantastic!

Photo Glossy Paper
We found the blacks to be nice and black and the colors to be rich.

WaterColor Card Stock
Stunning! Our images printed on the watercolor card stock looked beautifully sharp and rich. The texture is smooth and the felt finish is soft. You can print on both sides of this paper, making it ideal for greeting cards, calendars, brochures, and invitations. It comes in a creamy, off-white color that further accentuates the artistic side of this paper.

Polysilk Fabric
With this, you can print your image onto a soft, artistic fabric. It is soft in both color and texture. You peel away the backing after printing and are left with what can be best described as a photographic napkin. This would be a great option for those interested in working photos into quilts, tapestries, or other crafty fabrics.

The edges caught black ink due to the fact that they curled up a bit. However, these were easily trimmed off with a scissors.

OHP Transparency Film and Adhesive Film
Use this if you would like to present images on an overhead projector or in a backlit display.

Our Epson print driver defaulted to a low output resolution (360 dpi) when we selected the 'Ink Jet Transparencies' and this caused the image to seem faded and fuzzy. However, this may be appropriate when used with an overhead; we did not have one at hand to test this out.

However, we did, in the process, find out that you can go to the Pictorico Web site to get their recommendations on the most appropriate printer settings for each paper and printer combination. We were impressed with the company's good use of Web technology.

More samples we printed...

Here is an Epson Photo Glossy sample to compare.

We also compared the prints to the Mitsubishi Diamond Jet double-sided water resistant paper. Both the Pictorico papers and this paper really do resist water damage. We applied several drops before seeing a difference.

The Mitsubishi paper has been reported to bleed occasionally - this may be due to the inks not drying as fast as on the Pictorico papers. It is very glossy. The double-sided nature is great for making your own calendars, business cards, etc.

Where to Buy
You can and buy the Pictorico papers direct from Amazon.com. Learn more about each by reading the reviews in the BetterPhoto Reviews section:
Pictorico Canvas - 8.5 x 11 Printer Paper, 10 Sheets

Pictorico Hi-Gloss White Film - 8.5 x 11 Printer Paper, 40 Sheets
Pictorico Photo Glossy Paper - 8.5 x 11 Printer Paper, 20 Sheets
Pictorico WaterColor Card Stock - 8.5 x 11 Printer Paper - 20 Sheets
Pictorico Polysilk Paper 8.5 x 11 Printer Paper, 10 sheets Here are a few good resources to continue learning about ink jet printing options:

InkJet Wilhelm Research

International Association of Fine Art Digital Printmakers , an organization dedicated to standards and education on the subject.

You will also find a wealth of good promotional material at the Web sites of Pictorico, Epson, and Mitsubishi.