Matte photo paper

[Ian Watson]

As a first attempt with matte photo papers, I tried the black-and-white plague doctor from the October thread on Canson Rag Photographique. The result is underwhelming. So what subjects might suit matte paper? Or is this simply a matter of taste?

[Bent Hjarbo]

It might be a matter of taste, I use semi gloss paper.

[David H. Hartman]

So what subjects might suit matte paper?

Those where you don't care about the dynamic range of the print.

My paper of choice when I printed for myself was fiber based Glossy Dried Matte.

For my PR customers I printed on Glossy RC with a goal of half toning for offset printing (the old days).

Matte paper results in prints that to me are dull and flat so after trying matte I never returned. I want to look into the print and see the subject rather than notice the paper it's printed on.

Best,

Dave

[pluton]

I might favor matte inkjet paper if the image is purely graphic, such as a map, a repro of a painting or other flat artwork, predominantly light or pastel, and will be exhibited in bright light.  Otherwise, matte can look dull for "straight"photography. I like look of the baryta papers, which on Epson (and probably Canon?) printers use the glossy ink setting.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

It might be a matter of taste, I use semi gloss paper.

I'm a fan of semiglossy and luster papers myself. The printers I have used recently produce odd effects where the colors change depending on the viewing angle and as a result of this, I've found that either matte or semiglossy/luster papers work well. I have used glossy paper to print black and white images though which is where it works perfectly. My preference for semiglossy and luster papers instead of matte has to do with the more vivid appearance of the images printed on semiglossy/luster rather than the more muted appearance of images printed on matte paper. Another reason for me to use semiglossy/luster is that the ink on matte paper is fragile and easily damaged by touch or other mechanical stress while semiglossy/luster seems more robust to handling.

Matte has the advantage that the image does not change meaningfully depending on viewing angle or position of the light, while semiglossy/luster and of course especially glossy paper shows reflections which can ... well, they can add to the more lively appearance of the images but the reflections are not part of the content of the image so they could be seen as artifacts. But overall I prefer semiglossy and luster papers for the appearance and ruggedness. I do buy matte paper also on occasion and am not dismissing it as a legitimate medium but it's not my first choice, as a rule.

[Ian Watson]

Thank you all for your thoughts. I will chalk this up as an interesting experiment and return to my usual semi-gloss paper.