A guide to Fine Art papers and canvas

Three questions first

Before you start choosing between specific papers, answer these:

1. Gloss or matt? Glossy and semi-matt surfaces give deeper blacks and more saturated colour. Matt surfaces have no reflections and look softer, more like paper.
2. Smooth or textured? Texture adds a tactile character, but it can mask fine detail.
3. How long, and where? A print for a pinboard and a print that has to last a generation need different media.

Paper Lab offers a quick comparison by purpose. The media types are described in detail below.

Cotton papers (cotton rag)

Cotton fibre is the classic material of artists’ papers. Fine Art papers made from 100% cotton are usually acid-free and lignin-free, and manufacturers declare conformity with the paper permanence standard ISO 9706. For photography they carry a matt inkjet coating that holds the ink near the surface.

• Smooth papers have a fine felt texture that you will see mainly in raking light. They suit portraits, reproductions and most black-and-white photographs.
• Textured papers carry the texture of watercolour or etching paper. The texture becomes part of the image, so they are better for subjects without fine detail.

Examples with manufacturers’ figures: Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308 (308 gsm, 100% cotton, matt), FOMEI Cotton Smooth 320 (100% cotton; acid-free and free of optical brighteners according to the manufacturer).

α-cellulose papers

Alpha-cellulose is highly purified cellulose from wood pulp with the lignin removed. Papers made from it can achieve the same permanence class as cotton papers and are often a brighter white. Example: Hahnemühle German Etching® 310 (310 gsm, 100% α-cellulose, pronounced felt texture).

Baryta papers

Classic analogue baryta paper has a layer of barium sulphate (baryta) between the fibre base and the light-sensitive layer. Inkjet baryta papers imitate this: a fibre base, a baryta coating and a glossy or satin receiving coating. The result is the deep black of a glossy paper without the “plastic” look of RC paper, which is why they are popular for black-and-white photography.

The base can be cotton or α-cellulose, and that changes both the tone of the white and the brightener content:

Paper (manufacturer)	Weight	Base	Surface	Optical brighteners (OBAs) per data sheet
Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Baryta	315 gsm	100% cotton	high gloss	none
Hahnemühle FineArt Baryta	325 gsm	100% α-cellulose	high gloss	moderate

FOMEI’s FOMEI ART range includes the baryta papers Baryta SILK 310 and Baryta MONO 290.

RC papers

RC (resin-coated) paper has a paper core sealed on both sides with polyethylene. It dries quickly, resists water and creasing, and is cheaper than fibre-based media. It comes in three main surfaces:

• gloss: the highest gloss, the most saturated colour, strong reflections,
• lustre / pearl / semi-matt: a fine texture breaks up reflections, and the black is almost as deep,
• matt: no reflections, but without the depth of glossy surfaces.

RC papers are excellent for everyday photographs, albums and portfolios. Fibre-based media are better for long-term keeping.

Natural fibres

Some manufacturers are experimenting with other fibres. Hahnemühle Bamboo (290 gsm) is, according to the manufacturer, 90% bamboo fibre and 10% cotton, naturally white and free of optical brighteners.

Canvas

Photographic canvas is a fabric with an inkjet coating. The base is usually cotton, poly-cotton or polyester. Canvas is normally stretched over stretcher bars, often varnished, and displayed without glass.

• Hahnemühle Daguerre Canvas — 400 gsm, poly-cotton, bright white, matt.
• FOMEI Canvas Matt 390 — according to the manufacturer’s catalogue, a deep matt canvas on a 100% cotton base with a 2 : 1 weave.
• FOMEI Canvas Satin 350 and Canvas Gloss 390 — satin and gloss canvases in the same range.

Weight, thickness and paper white

Weight, or grammage (g/m², usually written gsm), is the mass of one square metre of paper. Manufacturers measure it to EN ISO 536. A higher weight means a stiffer, more substantial sheet, but it says nothing about print quality. Two 310 gsm papers can differ in thickness. Thickness is measured to EN ISO 534 and given in millimetres; Photo Rag® 308, for example, is 0.48 mm according to its data sheet.

Paper white affects how the highlights of an image look. Natural white papers are warmer; bright white papers are cooler and more brilliant. Bright white is often achieved with optical brightening agents (OBAs) — substances that absorb ultraviolet light and emit blue light. Their effect wears off over time. More in What “archival” paper means.

Matte black and photo black

Printers with pigment inks use two blacks: matte black on matt papers, photo black on glossy, satin and baryta papers. The ICC profile for the paper determines which is used. When ordering Fine Art prints, ask whether the lab prints with a profile for that specific paper. See ICC profiles and colour spaces.

A sample book beats a description

Paper is a tactile material. Manufacturers and media retailers offer printed sample books and trial packs that show the same image on different surfaces. Before you order a large print, have a small section of the photograph printed on two or three papers and look at them in the light in which the picture will hang.

The types at a glance

Type	Surface	Black depth	Typical use
Cotton smooth	matt	medium	portrait, reproduction, soft black and white
Cotton textured	matt	medium	landscape, painterly look, Fine Art editions
α-cellulose	matt, often textured	medium	similar to cotton, often a brighter white
Baryta	gloss to satin	high	black-and-white photography, landscape, portrait
RC gloss / lustre	gloss, semi-matt	high	albums, portfolios, everyday photographs
Canvas	matt to gloss, woven	lower to medium	large sizes without glass, interiors