Which paper type and brand is best with Canon Pixma Pro-100?

[limvo05]

Hi All,

I am new at this so I am trying to learn and do as much research on printers and printing papers as possible before I commit myself to getting one.

The printer I am looking at is the Canon Pixma Pro-100. I shoot with Canon 5Ds. While I would very much like to print some of favorite works on Metal sheet, I don't believe this printer does that, that said, I would very much like to print some 4x6 for general purpose, and some panaromic prints for display in my home. I believe the biggest print size this printer handle is 13x19. Wondering if you can configure the print size to say 9x18?

Also, what would be the best papers to use with this printer?

Thank you,

LV

[jrhoffman75]

Largest print size for the Pro-100 is 16.54 x 26.61.

Red River paper offers panoramic paper in 8.5 x 25 inch size. Hahnemuehle also has panorama paper. in similar size.

The printer won't handle metal print media, but several paper suppliers have "metallic" surface paper.

To your title question - in my opinion there is no one answer. 

Red River, Canson, Hahnemuehle, Legion Paper, Ilford all make excellent paper and supply ICC profiles for their paper and the Pro-100. Papers have ifferent surface textures, different surface types. Once I started getting into printing I realized that, to me, printing is much more that just making a physical copy of your image. It is the final step in creating your image; for an image I care about I might try it on two or three different papers to see how it looks.

Color prints from the Pro-100 are outstanduing IMHO. Monochrome tends to be more challenging. Since its a dye ink printer the "color" is in the paper rather than on the paper like a dye ink process. Some papers contain optical brighteners that react with UV light to give a brighter/whiter appearance. I have found that this sometimes results in color casts in monochrome prints, and the color cast can have a different tone in different lighting types. No OBA fine art papers work best.in that case.

I have a library of prints of the outbackphoto.com test image so I can compare output of a standardized image on each paper.

Order sample packs to try the different papers. 

If just starting out I think Canon Photo Paper Pro Lustre is a great all-around paper.

[TCampbell]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:

Order sample packs to try the different papers. 

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This is basically what I'd suggest... most companies have "sample packs" (some have more than one) so you can test their products.

The PRO-100 wont print on actual aluminum (I order my aluminum prints through Aluminyze and they will send you a sample pack.)  

There are "metallic" papers that aren't actually metal.  

Most photo printer paper is a normal paper substrate but a coating is applied to give it a suitable print surface with the desired finish (but there are "papers" where the substrate actually is cloth and not a wood-based pulp).

The printer has no "white" ink.  Anything that needs to be white or nearly white just means the printer doesn't apply any ink (or applies very little ink).  

For "metallic" paper, the white finish is a pearlescent white instead of a flat white.  This provides the surface with a specular reflection quality.  Generally the finish is a white pearl.  Moab Paper makes two different metallics... one is pearl metallic (white), the other is silver metallic (which actually is silver/light-gray ... not white.  I suppose you could roughly compare it to the look of the "dull" side of a roll of aluminum foil.)

The reason for all this variety in the world of papers isn't just because we all have a different idea of what looks best (there could be some truth in that)... but I think it's more than each individual photo might look better on a certain type of paper.

I consider what I'm printing and any emotion I'm trying to convey.  

For example, if I want to convey a concept of a soft beauty... maybe I desaturate colors (toward a pastel-look) and maybe I print on a paper with a matte finish.  But if I want to convey a sense of excitement... maybe I saturate toward jammy colors and maybe I print on a paper with a strong glossy finish.

Changing the paper finish can impact the feeling you convey to the viewer.  So I try to pick a paper that has a look that compliments the image.

As John points out... the paper selection and printing choice is that last milestone on the creative process of taking a photo from the vision in your mind to the real print that someone else views.   I would just add that where you choose to display it and how you choose to light it also plays a role.   If you've ever walked into an art gallery full of photos, you might notice that everything is lit in such a way that it almost looks as if the photo is glowing and emitting it's own light.  They tend to put a spot light on the image so that the image itself is brighter than how they light the wall to help that illusion.