Sunday 22 October 2017

prints - What effects do matte, semi-glossy and glossy paper have on the photo?


What impact does printing on matte, semi-glossy or glossy paper have on my photos?



This answer says that dynamic range is more with glossy paper. What other effects does the paper type have on the output?



Answer



Glossy papers have darker blacks, so you can display wider tonal range, get better perception of contrast and sharpness. But those blacks (whole image, really) are glossy and reflect the world around. So you may have nice deep blacks, but if they will reflect your white shirt or a window, you won't enjoy them as much. That may become even bigger problem for images mounted under glass. So there are tradeoffs and you need to pick the right compromise.


Many high quality prints are printed on pigment printers these days. The prints are great, but when using glossy paper, you can see so called gloss differential where certain areas of the print are glossier than others.


Glossy prints are also less forgiving when mounting on a board - small bumps and imperfections are more likely to be visible.


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