Photo Printing Tips With Various Papers

When photography is your new favorite hobby, and you decide to spend a substantial amount of money after research to buy the appropriate camera you might also need to spend a little more time in finding the best paper to print your photos. After all you will understand the real beauty captured by a photograph only when you can see it enlarged on a screen or perhaps printed on a beautiful and fitting paper.

But printing is a whole another skill to learn especially when you wish to print photographs. 

Yes, we understand that cartridges and inks in a printer may be indispensable when it comes to printing photos, but you may not realize just how important paper is. 

Here we try to understand how we can ensure the best prints for your photos each time: 

The crucial role of the photo printing paper

There is a high chance that you will come about to find better photo printing paper only after having been disappointed to look at the shoddy reprints of some of your best shots. Even if you can try to print photos on any kind of paper be it linen or vellum paper, that does not mean they are ideal for high quality photos. 

Finding a good photo printing paper is crucial in following ways: 

The longevity of photos is similar to that of books. Over time your photos can begin to fade, the paper can begin to look yellow or even become brittle only because of the quality of paper. By choosing an acid free or archival quality photo paper you can ensure the photos stay the same way that they looked when they were printed for the first time for as long as possible. 

The colors over time

Another thing that is critical to printing photographs is the whiteness of the paper. You may not know that many photo printing papers are artificially whitened so that the colors look great after printing but lasts for short periods. Sometimes only one side of the paper is whitened which is noticeably visible. Natural bright white paper can be a good alternative. 

Your printer's model 

When it comes to finding proper photo printing paper, you must refer to your printer for any recommendations they have for ink and paper. You can, of course, find affordable alternatives to the recommendations so that your print can provide the best possible results on the products that are compatible to its functioning. For instance, heavier paper works better for photo printing than thinner copy paper. 

The kind of photo printing paper matters too

Another thing to consider while printing your photos at home is not just the thickness of your photo printing paper but also the surface finish of the paper. There are many finishes available with individual functions and advantages available for you to choose. 

Matte photo paper has a surface that is not shiny or glossy which means this paper is resistant to fingerprints or smudging. The color black also shows better on matt printing paper than any other which makes it suitable for everyday printing.

Most commonly used photo printing paper, glossy photo paper has a distinctive shine on one side that shows vibrant colors. You are advised to touch the photos printed from this photo paper only from the edges, or you may end up leaving fingerprints or distinct marks on the photo. 

While it is pretty similar to matte photo paper in terms of texture or finish, canvas paper comes with better color and contrast. It is a popular choice among professional photographs for displaying images. 

For a particularly textured look for your artsy photographs to be displayed, art photo printing paper does the job. The texture of the photographs can be compared to that of watercolor paper.  The other variants of art paper differ in terms of colors, textures and paper tone. 

Photo papers that combine the basic properties of satin photo paper along with matt photo paper producing high quality photos with a semi glossy textured finish. Pearl photo paper does not produce any reflection making them perfect for framing high-end photos. 

ThunderBolt papers brings you a wide variety of photo printing paper to help you find the best and the most affordable option for printing your photos. The large collection is immensely handy since you can choose an economical option of photo printing paper for everyday use and perhaps find a textured heavier paper for the fewer high quality prints. Have you tried any kind of photo printing paper at home?