HP updated these recently

While I have been a happy user of HP’s branded papers exclusively for my Designjet 90 18″ wide dye printer, HP does not entirely neglect the aftermarket for paper makers.

Indeed, HP has recently updated a bunch of color profiles for some well known papers which feature the swellable/absorbent surface of HP’s paper, allowing the printer’s dye inks to be properly absorbed. These are for use with the Designjet 30/90/130 series of printers.

Here are the papers supported, with details of how to feed the paper into your printer – tray, rear slot or roll (by the way, I always use the tray to (multi-)sheet feed my 13″ x 19″ and 18″ x 24″ HP Premium Plus Photo Satin paper and have had no issues):

As you can see, HP recommends that many of the heaviest papers are loaded one sheet at a time. For reference, HP’s Premium Plus Photo Satin weighs in at 286 grams/sq. meter, whereas the heaviest William Turner is 310. I suspect, but cannot confirm, that HP’s papers are made by Hahnemühle which has been around since 1584, so they just missed making the stock for Gutenberg’s bible, printed in the 1450s.

Here’s their data sheet on the heavier William Turner paper:

Many stockists carry it, not least of all Atlex which I have found to be reliable. The William Turner comes in sizes up to 17″ x 22″ or in larger rolls – these you would have to cut down first. Sounds like an interesting option for HP users and, as I mentioned recently, I would be a buyer of the HP DJ 90 or 130 (24″ wide) today – it’s not like parts and supplies are about to disappear for a printer which shares consumables with the DJ 30 (13″ wide) which sold in vast numbers to photographers everywhere. And, at its price, the wide carriage HP has no competition.

Finally, why dye based inks in preference to pigments which now dominate the market? Can you say lousy blacks? Bronzing? We dye printer users know nothing of those issues.

In tomorrow’s column I will provide a step-by-step guide to making new profiles of your choice, for non-HP branded papers, display correctly within Lightroom 2 because, goodness knows, HP’s installation instructions are about as wrong as you can get. Suffice it to say that if you follow mine, your profiles will display correctly in LR2 thus:

A great bargain.

Click on ‘Printing’ in the left hand column and you will see that I am a huge fan of HP’s previous generation DesignJet 90 18″ wide printer. A small footprint, fade free inks, great reliability and …. cheap for what you get. HP’s current large format printers start well north of $2,000.

I thought that the HP DJ90 was no longer available, but a quick spot of Googling and it seems they are still available new.

The print quality is beyond reproach, not least owing to the use of dye inks which results in a really deep black. As for the fade free claim, I can attest to one print I have at a friend’s home, under plain glass, which is in bright sun 8 hours a day and has been for two years. It’s as good as new.

So if large prints are your thing, check out the HP DJ90 or 130 (which will print up to 24″ wide).

Update: Check the Comments to this piece for a discussion of paper and supplies availability. I have also added extensive details about HP’s newly released (2008) profiles for many non-HP papers.

Up to 86″ a side!

I came across this site while looking for a large print service.

They certainly use the right printers and fade free inks as this excerpt from their FAQ states:

“What kind of equipment are you using to print on canvas?

Photogonia uses state of the art printers like HP DESIGNJET 5500 series and EPSON STYLUS PRO 9800. These large format printers deliver high quality print jobs that fit the high standards that Photogonia sets for our products.

What kind of Ink are you using?

PhotoGonia uses ONLY original factory Inks like HP 83 UV Ink Cartridges for our HP printers and 8-color Epson Ultra Chrome K3â„¢ Ink For our Epson printers. PhotoGonia doesn’t use refills, third party Ink or generic Ink. ”

A 40″ x 30″ ‘gallery wrap’ canvas (the printed edges are stretched over the frame) is $322.50, shipped. Not cheap, but the alternative of buying an ultra-wide carriage printer for one or two prints a year is hardly a viable choice. For that matter, unless you regularly make large prints, this sort of service makes sense for any photographer limited by the 13″ carriage width common on home ink jet printers.

For heavy users.

I have made, and continue to make, many large prints on the Hewlett Packard HP90 Designjet printer. While it’s being phased out it remains broadly available if you do a Google search, typically selling for under $900. If you have priced other fade-free ink jet wide carriage printers, then you will know this is a superb bargain. Add a small desktop footprint and print quality to die for – and it works perfectly with Mac’s Tiger and Leopard OS – and you have a tremendous bargain. After some thirty months of use I would buy another at the drop of a hat if needs dictated.

Printers, however, are increasingly marketed using the Gillette razor model – give away the printer and clean up on the supplies. While HP has no need to give away a non-mass market device like the DJ90, ink and paper still take their toll on the budget if you make a lot of prints.

When it comes to consumables I have long been a believer in using the manufacturer’s recommended products. There’s little point in saving a dollar or two on refilled ink cartridges if the risk is that your printer heads clog up or the inks fade with age. With paper, I have found that HP’s Premium Plus photo satin is superb and maintains its surface sheen when the print is dry mounted at ~190F (88C) in a press. Much warmer than that and the surface looks less pleasant. While rumor has it that HP’s paper is made by Hahnemuhle in Germany, there’s little incentive to use aftermarket papers when each involves a tedious profiling and test session. So I stick with what works for me and now that I have digital’s dynamic range limitations under control, why bother with anything else? One more example where consistency takes out a complex set of variables from the equation. A good thing.

Given the need to have a spare cartridge of each of the six colors used in the HP (the printer uses ink frugally but you can bet you will run out when you least expect it), I found myself about to place an order at my photo retailer of choice, B&H in NYC, the other day. Then, what with the newly found need for frugality dictated by America’s total absence of an energy policy, I recalled that someone had mentioned a Florida vendor named Atlex. A quick click and comparison (3 ink cartridges and 40 sheets of 18″ x 24″ paper – $252 delivered to CA) disclosed that Atlex’s price was some 18% less than B&H’s. Now I like B&H and they have never let me down but 18% is non trivial. Loyalty to my pocket book wins every time. Atlex – their site claims they have been at it for over 25 years – also stocks Epson and Canon printer supplies, all original maker labelled, so what’s not to like? And, unless you live in Florida, you will be doing your bit by starving the beast that is government as you no longer pay sales taxes to the organized crime bosses masquerading as state government.

This is an opportune time to remind users not to mess with roll paper. Even if you have a proper roll paper holder and built-in cutting knife like in the HP DesignJet, life is simply too short to mess with severely rolled up paper supplies – just try to dry mount a print which prefers to roll up. I have tried. It was hell. Use cut sheets.

You can’t beat a print.

My first computer, bought in 1981, came with a 3 inch monochrome cathode ray tube screen which was nearly impossible to read. Not that it mattered as you couldn’t display pictures on it in any case. After many unhappy years with PCs, with screens growing to 15 inch (and still huge CRT boxes) 2000 saw the first of many Macs join the household. The screen was 17 inch, crystal clear and made for a photographer. Currently, my MacBook uses a Samsung 21.6 inch screen when at home and it’s the best photo processing hardware I have used so far.

One day I would love to make that screen into a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display (there are only so many trendy movies to watch and each just raises desire with all those huge screens on show) but the ridiculous cost lets “I should” wait upon “Don’t be silly”. It also amuses me no end how the happening set always use Apples on the big screen while the losers in government stick with PCs. That’s a good thing. A cheap government computer beats a costly one and any government that locks up daily is doing its job in this voter’s eyes, regardless of party. Ironman anyone?

Yet now that my screen is larger than any of the many photography books in my library, I still prefer to luxuriate in the pages of a book to looking at the screen, no matter its size. Maybe having grown up without computers, and with lots of books, has prevented me from fully accepting a screen as the display medium of choice; what’s more, I like the look and feel of a book when it comes to looking at pictures. Plus you can read when you shave – try that with a computer!

All of which reminds me why I so much like Shutterfly and what it does for my snaps. Every now and then I put out a calendar showing our son’s growth and interests. It goes to relatives and invariably ends up on a wall somewhere.

The bald one’s the surgeon, if you must know

Having used the service since it started a few years ago, I can only sing its praises. An intuitive user interface, easy upload and arrangement of your snaps and a beautifully printed calendar in your hands in a few days, all at reasonable cost. What’s not to like?

And a printed picture beats a screen anyday.