Red River Premium Gloss:
Not as glossy as the PGPP, and a more noticeable surface texture.
With the Photo Paper setting, the colors are very accurate. They're just not as saturated. Output
is similar to that on the Epson Photo Paper.
But it did much better than EPP in all tests. It shifted only very slightly in the UV test,
and even less in the ozone test.
After 6 weeks it's doing better than every paper except the Ilford. The ozone test sample shows only a very slight shift in one step of the gray scale, but the light blues show definite fade compared to the control print. In the outdoor test the gray scale manages to look both tan and green at the same time. Again, remember that this is outdoors, exposed to direct sunlight.
After 2 and a half months in the ozone chamber, this paper does show a little bit of orange shift in the gray scale. But it's still slight: less that the old PGPP shows after a day or two. Not archival, but better than anything I've found so far except the Ilford papers.
Red River makes a double sided gloss version of this paper that will probably be my choice for printing calendars. I feel pretty confident it will last a year in most environments.
HOWEVER: I've been in contact with someone who tried this paper and got orange shift as bad as with PGPP. But Red River makes a lot of different glossy papers, and I did get color shift on some of them. I wonder if the report I received was really for a different Red River paper. I don't really know, but as I said before: This is a complex problem. Run your own tests before putting your reputation on the line with any paper.
Red River Polar Gloss: Very nice results. The paper is even whiter than PGPP. Using the
photo paper setting, color balance is almost identical to PGPP. The texture of the paper is a little
bit more noticeable compared to the PGPP, but it's ok.
Unfortunately, it shifts quite badly, although not as badly as the PGPP.
Red River Frio Gloss: Can't handle all the ink the 1270 puts down. Even on the glossy film
setting, the paper wrinkled from the ink. And this is another paper with a texture that reminds me of
reticulation. It's not as glossy as the PGPP, and colors are a little less saturated. Using the photo
paper setting, however, the color balance is very accurate.
While it didn't shift quite as much as the Polar Gloss, it's still pretty bad.
Red River Ultra Pro Gloss: This is a beautiful paper. Almost identical to the PGPP, although perhaps not quite as smooth. It also prints very much the same as PGPP. According to Red River, though, it uses "micro-pore" technology, which is what Epson blames for the rapid fade on the PGPP. We'll see how it does against a PGPP print in the same environment.
The results are in. Unfortunately, it shifts just about as badly as the Epson PGPP. Not surprising, but disappointing.
Red River Ultra Pro Satin: The person who sent this sample to me went crazy over the paper. Personally, I don't care for this surface very much. It's very similar to the old E surface Kodak photo paper--sort of a fine pebble finish. To each his own. If you like this surface, it prints exceedingly well on the 1270. Excellent color and saturation right out of the box.
Just like the Ultra Gloss, however, it shifts very badly.
Red River Zeppelin Gloss: Oops. Not the right paper for the 1270. With the recommended settings there's just way too much ink on the paper. Even switching to the backlit film setting doesn't really solve the problem. And the results are quite warm. Almost looks like the beginning of orange shift right out of the printer. Other than that, it s a nicely smooth papers, closer to the gloss of the Ilford semi-matte than to a real glossy paper. I've put a sample in the ozone chamber for the heck of it. I suppose if it's fade free it might be worth profiling.
After posting the above, I received an email from a user who really likes the results on this paper. I haven't had a chance to make more test prints, but I'm not sure it matters. In the ozone test, it exhibited obvious orange shift. Not as bad as the Ultra papers, but if I were going to use a Red River paper it would the the Premium Gloss. may change this. On the positive side, the texture does not interfere with apparent sharpness, at least viewed with the naked eye. I'm very curious to see how this does in the ozone test.
Unfortunately, only fair. It's doing better than the Ilford Fine Art, below, but after two weeks it's already showing some shift. To put this in perspective, it's quite a bit better than Epson PGPP, which showed dramatic shift in the same time period (even the 3rd generation). But it's not nearly as good as HWM, or some other papers I've tested. In low shift environments, or perhaps with better inks, this paper could be very nice.
Ilford Fine Art: A truly remarkable paper! Printed with the PQGF setting, colors
are noticeably brighter and more saturated
than with the Epson watercolor. Still not quite as bright as PGPP, but closer. And
color balance is more neutral, much closer to the balance of PGPP. It's got a little bit more
"tooth" that the Epson Watercolor, but that still doesn't seem to interfere wtih apparent
sharpenss. I like it a great deal, and can't wait to see how it does with fade and shift.
Disapointing. I was really hoping for better, but it shifts a bit more rapidly than the Epson Watercolor. After only 10 days it has shifted more than the Epson paper did after 2 weeks.
Red River Premium Matte: I'm truly surprised. I guess I just wasn't aware at how much
better matte papers (and Epson inks and drivers) have gotten. The output on this paper is very
impressive. Using the PQIP setting, the print is a fair bit warmer than PGPP, which makes it
too warm for me. Grays take on a definite warm tone. But that should be easily fixable. Colors
are bright and saturated, and very close to the colors of PGPP. A very impressive acheivement
for a matte paper. If it resists orange shift, I may be using more of this than I ever expected.
Yet another example that matte papers don't always do better than glossy papers. While it's much better than some, it is starting to slow slight shift after two weeks. It's better than the Epson Watercolor, but not as good as Epson HWM.
Red River Denali Matte: This is what I expected from matte papers, and the reason I don't
normally use them. Compared to the Premium Matte, colors are a bit dull and muted, contrast
is low, and the grayscale is even warmer. It's not terrible, but I can't image using it when
Premium Matte is so much better.
And it's just as well, because it shifts quite badly. Not the right paper for these printers.
Red River Klondike Gloss: Even worse than the Zeppelin, above. After about 15 hours, the ink is still wet enough it will stick to another print on top of it. Way to much ink, even on the backlit film setting.
Although I didn't get very good results with this paper, at least one reader has taken issue with that, saying that she gets very good results. If I get time, I will try again, because the test sample hasn't shown any color shift after almost 6 weeks!
Klondike Gloss, Round Two: Since a reader told me they get great results with it, and it didn't shift in my ozone test, I decided to try it again. It's got a slightly warm tone, with a slight paper texture to the surface, rather than an ultra smooth plastic surface feel. I recently noticed that Red River recommends this paper for HP printers, and not for Epsons.
With the RR recommended Photo Quality Inkjet Paper setting, I still get dismal results.
The ink smears right out of the printer, and the output is very reticulated in all but the
lightest colors. Totally unusable, unless there's some special effect your looking for.
Even with the backlit film setting, the output is reticulated in all but the lightest colors.
I can't imagine anyone succesfully printing this with an 870 or 1270 printer. It's really too
bad, though, because it doesn't seem to suffer from the orange shift at all.
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