Fine art photographer Keith Dotson explains his current photo paper of choice, with print samples
What paper should I print on?
That’s a question every photographer must face if they plan to make a print of a photograph, whether it’s in-house or with an outside print shop.
There are a wide variety of photo paper surfaces, textures, substrates, weights, and even brightnesses.
I’ve tested luster-surface papers, matte-surface papers, glossy papers, baryta papers, and exotic papers like Japanese washi, and for my own black and white photographs I love baryta surface papers.
Video: Detailed examination of two large prints on baryta rag paper
My current favorite paper
I’ve been printing almost exclusively on baryta papers for years. There are many great baryta papers to choose from, including Canson Infinity Platine Fibre Rag, Canson Infinity Baryta Photographique, Epson Exhibition Fiber, Hahnemühle Fine Art Baryta, and Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta.
I’ve used all of these papers, but my current paper is Moab Juniper Baryta Rag.
As the name suggests, Moab Juniper Baryta Rag is a baryta surface paper on a cotton substrate.
Baryta paper gives sharp details, strong Dmax with a wide range of tonal contrast and rich blacks.
What is a baryta paper?
Baryta paper consists of these basic components:
- Substrate or supporting layer, which could be made of cellulose (derived from wood pulp and other plant materials), 100% cotton, mixtures of cotton with other materials like bamboo, hemp, or other plant fibers.
- On top of the substrate is a thin coating of barium sulfate, which gives the paper a surface texture and level of gloss, and causes it to look similar to traditional fiber-based darkroom papers.
- On the barium sulfate surface is an ink-receiving layer, which helps the paper receiver the printer’s inks.
- Optical Brightening Agents (OBAs) are sometimes included in the composition of the paper, giving it a higher apparent whiteness. OBAs can help papers have a beautiful, bright white look, but they also introduce a potentially non-archival level of instability — the whiteness may fade in an unpredictable way over time. For me, OBAs are an unknown, making them undesirable for fine art prints.
What is a rag paper?
As mentioned earlier, some paper substrates are made of 100% cotton linters. These are known as “rag” papers — the name comes from the fact that rag papers were once made from remnants of cotton textiles, but as textiles began using more and more synthetic materials, paper shifted away from textiles and more to cotton fibers that come from cotton plant processing. (Source)
Cotton is acid-free and cotton fibers are stronger and more resilient than some other paper substrates.
As for sustainability, cotton requires no alpha-cellulose from trees, but it does require more water to grow than other fibers like hemp or agave, which are used in Hahnemühle’s Naturals line of papers.
Signing a baryta surface paper
The gloss coating on baryta papers makes it difficult or impossible to sign your print with a pencil. I use an archival black ink pen called the Pigma Micron, which makes a clean, permanent, non-acidic mark on the paper, and is available in many tip sizes.
I prefer a 05 or 08 tip size for most of my small and mid-size prints.
Sources and Links
Strathmore. “Cotton Paper Vs. Rag Paper.”
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