My good friend at Epson, Eddie, knows how I love to share my images via the print. He also knows I’m really, really, really a stickler when it comes to print quality. My favorite papers are Hot Press Bright and Exhibition going through a TON of it each year. Now one paper is a Matter and the other a Luster and depending on the subject (the most important), the client and the wall the print is going to be hung, I select the right paper (and at times, I go metal with Image Wizards). While we were talking about the new Epson P800 (repl for 3880) printer, a new paper (at least new to me) came up, the Exhibition Watercolor Fine Art (what Eddie affectionately calls the 80grit paper). Now I’d never heard of or tried that paper and trusting Eddie, a box of it arrived. Sadly, a couple months back. I just started test printing with it and man … it’s gorgeous!!!!
You can’t tell a thing about paper from a website, no matter what I post, visual or text but I can describe it pretty well. It keeps the subject sharp but renders the photograph like a painting. The texture to the paper you can feel quickly once you take it out of the box. It’s a Matte finish fine art so you use the Matte Ink but it renders deep blacks very well. This combination of texture and blacks it why I think I really like it so much. The new P800 which I’m anxiously waiting for I’m told is the best Epson printer for “reds” and the combo of this, Exhibition Watercolor and 17×22″ size will be a lethal combo for printing. With red such an important color in selling prints and with texture a big selling point, I think Epson has made it easier again for us to print, share those prints and probably sell more of them.