Printing Workflow and Paper Choices

I have made a series of presentations on this topic at area photography clubs, from Connecticut to Maine. After the first presentation, I connected with Red River Paper who sponsored the rest of the presentations. A few years back, when I made the presentation at the Photographic Society of Rhode Island I decided to have the presentation to be recorded. The video below is from that presentation and I am sharing it here in public for the first time in an effort to provide material for the photography enthusiasts who want to make their own prints. The video was partially licensed to Red River Paper in exchange for covering some of the associated costs and you may see it on their site as well. Thank you, Leslie, for creating a very good video of the presentation.

In the presentation, I show numerous examples of prints as I make some points on how I select the paper surface. You will find below the video a collection of the photographs that are used to make those prints. It is not like seeing the actual print but it will likely give you an idea that for me the subject matter guides me in selecting the paper surface. Glossy surfaces, like water, steer me towards the glossy paper. Smooth, matte, soft surfaces may call for matte or luster surfaces. Some, like metallic car paint, may beg for metallic paper. And, so on. There is nothing absolute about these, just starting points for me.

I would like to thank Red River Paper for their sponsorship that gave me ample opportunity to visit many clubs and meet new people. For the record, although I was sponsored by Red River Paper, I started using their papers long before that, and I still do. Not because they are the sponsors, but their papers are really worth your consideration.

Here are some links that are part of the presentation. Although they may make more sense after seeing the presentation, feel free to visit them anyway and see if you can make any use of them.

Read the posts on this site about color and color management.

Red River Paper, a good source of digital printing paper. Take a look at their tips page.

Sign up for their e-mail newsletter and download the Inkjet Intelligence eBook. It is a 45-page document covering a lot of bases.

Photodisc test target, modified by Dry Creek Photo. I used the small version. 7×10 inch size. Do not edit or change the file for testing purposes.

B&W Test Image from Northlight Images.

Without further ado, here is the presentation video followed by the images I showed as print samples. My possible paper choices are in the titles of the photographs in the gallery below the video.