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Which art paper chose for your print

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"Which paper should I go for?"

With a wealth of substrate types to choose from, it's unsurprising that one of our most commonly asked questions from customers is "which paper should I go for?"
 
Of course, when choosing the right paper, personal preference is paramount. It depends entirely upon the look and feel you want to achieve with your print. But in this guide we will help you navigate the important properties to consider and terminology to understand in order to choose the right paper for your print.

Paper types

At Foshe Art Studio, we offer three main paper types for our fine art and photography prints.
 

Hahnemühle photo rag 308 gsm

A heavy-duty, matte paper made of 100% cotton rag with a natural white tone and excellent black saturation. It has a soft texture with a lightly defined felt structure. This paper produces very high-quality print reproductions, as the texture really emulates the appearance of an original work.
Original art vs giclée print on photo rag paper
 

 

Canon Artistic Satin Canvas 350 gsm

 
Canon Artistic Satin Canvas is meant for museum-quality archival fine art reproduction or photographic portrait printing. This cotton/polyester blend (35/65%), double-weave canvas has a satin, somewhat shiny surface, for work that's hard to distinguish from original art. No optical brighteners, which means it won't yellow over the decades. Ideal for a traditional oil-on-canvas textured look.
original vs canvas print

Photo Paper Hahnemühle photo lustre 260 gsm

This specialist photo paper has a semi-gloss, velvet finish and guarantees long-lasting, fade-resistant prints. The paper has a deeper colour saturation than matte paper. It’s thicker than traditional consumer papers and is more resistant to fingerprints and smudges.
photo paper

 

 

Weight

Paper weight is measured in gsm which stands for 'grams per square meter'. The weight of the paper isn't something you need to worry about too much. All of our fine art papers and photo print papers are a suitable weight for professional printing.

A guide to gsm levels:

210-300gsm is generally the weight for a more premium fine art paper. It is a little more like card with a tactile feel but still has a bend to it.

310-400gsm is a much thicker, card-like paper. This is the weight you'd likely feel for greetings cards and wedding invitations. The highest gsm we offer across our photo and fine art paper is 350gsm. This is for a premium, heavyweight paper that offers the look and feel of original artwork.

 

Texture

Substrate texture, again, is really down to personal preference.

It is however worth considering how your print will be displayed. Generally, smooth textured substrates will look better when exhibited under glass than highly textured papers. Smooth paper also allows for excellent detail and contrast.

A print with more texture feels pleasant when handled and can help enhance image depth and reality.

Print method

All prints made on photo rag paper (Hahnemühle) and Artistic Satin Canvas are manufactured through "giclée" printing.

Giclée is French for "sprayed ink". Today, the term is used to describe a sophisticated inket printmaking process which creates the highest quality fine art reproductions. Giclée printing offers extra-fine image resolution, helping retain a higher degree of detail from the original fine art or photographic images.

The archival nature of the print varies according to the type of inks used, as well as the archival properties of your chosen paper and the conditions in which the print is displayed or stored. Current scientific opinion is that our recommended papers and giclée printing process will produce a print that lasts between 100 and 200 years in good conditions.

 

NEW PRODUCT - Premium Reproduction

We are introducing new Premium canvas prints coated with artistic varnish.

As always my favorite Canon Artistic Satin Canvas is used. It is gorgeous, well weighted and shows the colors of the work beautifully. On the surface of each print a special artistic medium is applied with brush to build up texture and add gloss to the image. It appear as if the paint were actually on the canvas, giving it a 3-dimensional appearance! 

Each reproduction is hand signed by artist on the front side.

 
 
See below a short presentation on YouTube Channel about the Premium Reproduction process:
 
 
  • Robert Zietara