PIXMA PRO-100 on the way - which photo paper?

Long story short, the MG5320 is giving fits.

Current rebate on stand-alone printer justifies the $119 after-rebate cost,
rather than nearly as much for a printhead for the old one which may or may not
properly restore it. Yeah, it coulda cost around $60 a few months ago, and may
be there again, but now is the time for us.

I'm curious about photo papers to use.
Without breaking the bank.

I'm fairly sure my preference is matte, or close to it.
I'm not a pro photog and don't try to sell prints; these prints
would be primarily for displaying at home, and giving smaller prints
to family/friends as a secondary use.

My intent is to use Precision Colors inks when carts are low;
one set of empty OEM virgin carts are also on the way.
And yes, I have certainly read up on and learned about the
"Yellow-Jello" situation. I am fully prepared to properly flush
when needed.

Having overly expounded on the above, which paper(s) should I be considering?
I don't really expect to run into color issues, but if needed, PC offers ICC profiles
I can easily download and try out. I also have no plan to purchase calibration
software/device, unless it shows to be 100% necessary.
I understand Red River papers are popular with good quality, at lower cost
than some of the "big-name" makers. but that's about as much as I've learned.
I beg of the community here: Steer me towards some papers to try out
in small quantities for me to experiment with.

The easiest thing is to use Canon papers as the Canon driver set should have all the ICC profiles for their papers. With other paper brands, such as Moab, you need to download the ICC profile for your printer that matches the paper you are going to use.

MCAsan wrote in post #18638539
The easiest thing is to use Canon papers as the Canon driver set should have all the ICC profiles for their papers. With other paper brands, such as Moab, you need to download the ICC profile for your printer that matches the paper you are going to use.

That's understandable, but I've seen the Canon papers as being comparatively rather high in cost.
While I appreciate the adage about "you get what you pay for," I'm trying to minimise my cost outlay
in using and choosing paper(s).

MCAsan wrote in post #18638539
The easiest thing is to use Canon papers as the Canon driver set should have all the ICC profiles for their papers. With other paper brands, such as Moab, you need to download the ICC profile for your printer that matches the paper you are going to use.

Remember that as the OP is not going to be using OEM inks, the Canon OEM ICC profiles are not going to work anyway.

I hear good things about Red River from those in the US, but they are not available to those of us in the rest of the world. Well maybe with the exception of Canada. As far as less expensive papers go here in the UK I think the PermaJet brand papers seem to fill the same space as Red River in the US. I don't know about PermaJet availability in the US, but if available they are well worth a look.

I just wish that we could pick up a Pixma Pro 100 for just £100 after rebate. We never seem to get amazing offers like that over here. I just looked at it at WEX and it's a £359 printer. We never seem to get good offers on ink and papers either, I know that in the US you can often find Canon papers on buy one get FOUR free! As well as good deals on OEM inks. As long as you have the money to stock up when the deals are on it does make printing at home a viable proposition financially. I only have a Pixma MG5150 and running it on OEM carts, and Canon Platinum Pro paper an A4 print is about £2.50 in ink and paper. The lab I use only charges £1.20 for a 16×12 or A3 print, so I can have a print that is twice as big for half the price. Yes there is a £5 P&P charge, but that is reduced if you order more than one print per order, If I do a nine print order it works ut at under £1.80 a print all in. If I order before 1pm they usually arrive next day, even on the basic post, and Royal Mail still delivers those on a Saturday too, and normally before 12pm. So for me it seems I'm better of without the printer.

Alan

Which lab are you using Alan, those prices are attractive?

I like Red River paper. Make sure to download and use the paper profiles.

if you think paper is expensive, wait till you refill the ink.

The Canon ICC's will be applicable until I exhaust the Canon inks, but good of you to note I will not continue with OEM.

Many thanks for the tip, Alan. Their pricing, including VAT, seems comparable to the Red River products.
It appears I could also order their papers from B&H here in the US.

Buy only Canon paper from the Canon online store,
https://shop.usa.canon​.com …log/ink-paper-toner/paper

and only when it is on sale!

It will be essentially free; from both having to pay, and having to think about profiles etc.

Seriously.

The Papers to get are pretty much Pro Luster, Plus Glossy II, Plus Semi gloss, Pro Platinum (although it's rarely on sale and I don't see the point) and Matte.

I prefer Luster and Matte, but there are times when you need to use the gloss too.

There should be a sale during the course of this summer, so buy only what you need right now. The sale prices are such that it's 1/5th to 1/10th the normal cost. seriously!

IMHO this savings in paper and ease of use out weighs any cost advantage of running 3rd party inks. That said, you can still get this deal AND use 3rd party inks. Precision has the profiles.

Sometimes, the best deals on paper come from buying Ink full price. Because of that, I am still getting a bargain on OEM ink, and I have yet to use the Precision ink set I have waiting in the wings.

PPS, some of the pro papers including Matte are on sale now. This is NOT the big sale, but some of these papers ( fine art and Matte) are only rarely included in the huge "practically paying you to take it" savings deals;
https://shop.usa.canon​.com …atalog/professi​onal-paper

CyberDyneSystems wrote:
Buy only Canon paper from the Canon online store,
https://shop.usa.canon​.com …log/ink-paper-toner/paper

and only when it is on sale!

It will be essentially free; from both having to pay, and having to think about profiles etc.

Seriously.

Not a bad point to make, particularly in the wake of a current sale.

Would you expand on this, please? I personally don't envision myself actually wanting to use a glossy paper.

The deals are indeed good: $4.99/50 sheets 8.5x11 matte photo, $14.99/50 sheets 8.5x11 Pro Premium matte.

I may look for such an offer in order to gain another set of ink tanks in the future. Thanks for the tip.

I do appreciate your feedback on this, Jake. Thanks.

bildeb0rg wrote in post #18638857
Which lab are you using Alan, those prices are attractive?

I use DS Colour Labs based in Manchester for most of my printing. The results are as good as anything I have ever seen from any lab. For normal C-Type colour prints they have glossy or Luster at seriously good prices , especially when printing on roll widths up to 12". Their larger format prices are still pretty good, but those smaller sizes are exceptional. I know that several other POTNers use them, and have used them for both gallery shows, and as successful participants in the club competition circuits.

I do quite a bit of black and white work too, and just occasionally I like to print on propper silver halide black and white papers. Whitewall.com, based out of Berlin offer prints on Ilford MG IV papers, both on Glossy and Luster RC paper and also on FB Baryta paper too. These are the polar opposite price wise to DSCL, a 16×12 on the FB paper starts at £33! Still for the right image it is most definitely worth while. I have tried both the RC Glossy and the FB paper, but only one of each, and when they had sales on. It's a shame there is no real way to show the quality of the prints in a photo.

Alan

I use the Canon Plus Glossy II. Makes gorgeous prints. Looks like they are printed on metal.

Thanks Alan, ill give them try. I need four dozen A4s and need to keep costs down as they're freebies

For my purposes, one example is when I am printing and want it to look like an old school photo print. Those old 5x7 and 8x10s we got at the photo patio were usually color glossy prints. Think class photo, handing out small prints to relatives etc.
The 4x6, 5x7, and letter (for making 8x10 etc.) in plus glossy are perfect.

Otherwise, it's simply when he image calls for it. I have some infra red B&W that I always assumed would be best with matte or semi-gloss/pearl,. that in the end came out with the BEST print @ 12x18 on glossy paper.

Some previous deals to consider.

Free 600 sheets of canon 13x19 paper with purchase of one ink set

Buy PIXMA PRO Ink, Get $240 of Free Paper at Canon Store

Canon ink and free paper offer

Paper Hoarders Admitting they have a Problem


Lastly, this one was also in June,. so we may be up for a new sale soon;
https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1462619

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #18639633
Some previous deals to consider.

Free 600 sheets of canon 13x19 paper with purchase of one ink set

Buy PIXMA PRO Ink, Get $240 of Free Paper at Canon Store

Canon ink and free paper offer

Paper Hoarders Admitting they have a Problem


Lastly, this one was also in June,. so we may be up for a new sale soon;
https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1462619

I need to start paying closer attention to these deals, last time I looked Canon sold my ink for $5 less than Amazon and it came with 50 sheets of 13” x 19” paper. These deals are incredible.