Inkjet media and paper news and information for professional and amateur photographers. The latest information about glossy, satin, photo, matte, and watercolor art inkjet papers in many sizes for all Epson, Canon, and HP inkjet printers.
We've updated the profile starter guide for Canon and Epson printers on a PC platform. All new screen shots with Photoshop CS2 and the latest Canon drivers are featured. You can download the new guides as well as other help inkjet color management info here
Look for more guides in the coming weeks including ones for CS3, Elements 4, and Elements 5.
Labels: canon, color profile, color_profiles
Labels: placid, polar, semi-matte
A new and exciting chapter is about to begin at Red River Paper. We are pleased to announce Red River Paper 2.0 - new and improved versions of the most popular papers we offer - UltraPro Gloss, UltraPro Satin, and Premium Matte. These new papers will continue to meet and exceed your expectations for fine photo inkjet media. They are as good or better than the previous versions.
The 2.0 roll out will happen over the course of the Spring with new items added as old product is sold out. For more information on Red River 2.0 please click here
Profiles for Arctic Polar Gloss and Satin for the Epson 4000 are now available here
We found a great informational page and FAQ on the Epson 3800 this weekend. Put together by Eric Chan, it presents just about any info you might need on the printer:
Resource Page
FAQ
Most of the color profiles for the new Epson 1400 have been posted here.
A few more are in production and will be up shortly.
Note that these profiles will also work with the Epson R380, R260, and RX580.
Labels: 1400, color_profiles, Epson 3800, profiles
The first of our 17x25 sizes papers is available. UltraPro Gloss is the top selling Red River glossy media. ICC profiles are available for the Epson 3800, 4800, 7800, Canon iPF5000, and other wide format printers.
All of our 17x25 sheets are stored flat, and shipped in large tubes for maximum protection. We recommend only Ground service for these products.
17x25 UltraPro Gloss sheets
Premium Gloss PLUS is a newcomer to the Red River Paper lineup. The question inevitably comes up - why another glossy inkjet paper? For this particular product the answer is easy. Premium Gloss PLUS performs like a top quality PhotoFeel paper AND features a PLAIN PAPER BACK. If you need to write, print text, or print graphics on the back side of a photo print then this is the paper to buy.
More about Premium Gloss from our website:
Acheive the highest quality photorealistic prints - this paper is brilliant in its appearance and has a bold glossy surface. What sets Premium Gloss apart is its plain paper back. Until now such high quality paper always had a resin coated backing that could not accept inkjet printing. Expand your use of photo glossy stock into applications where writing, printing, and graphics are desired on the back of prints. Even better - this paper is compatible with all printers including Epson's UltraChrome, DuraBrite Ultra, and other pigment inks.
Check out pricing and more info here. Add Premium Gloss PLUS to your lineup of "go-to" papers for upcoming projects.
New profiles for the Canon ip6700d/6600d, Epson R380/R1400, and the Canon Pro 9000 have been posted today:
ip6700d
Polar Satin
UltraPro Gloss
Pro9000
Arctic Polar Gloss
Arctic Polar Satin
Epson Claria Inks (R380,R260,R1400)
Arctic Polar Gloss
Arctic Polar Satin
Labels: color_profiles
The Polar Matte profile for the Canon Prograf iPF5000 is now up.
For the Canon Pro9000, profiles for Aurora Fine Art White and Natural, as well as Dourian Art have been posted.
Labels: Canon pro9000, color_profiles, ipf5000
A few more Canon iPF5000 color profiles have been posted.
Premium Matte
GC Matte
Denali SemiGloss
Denali Gloss
Polar Arctic Satin
Polar Arctic Gloss
Coming soon Polar Matte
Labels: Canon pro9000, color_profiles, ipf5000, profiles, prograf
Here is a good, and detailed explanation of color management. The articles cover color profiles, intents, and workspaces. A basic understanding of these articles will help you to better grasp what you need in a capture to printing workflow.
Enjoy
Hat tip to the Imaging Insider blog for this post
Labels: color_profiles
We have a super sale on the PLUS weight of our popular UltraPro Gloss. Until our supply runs out, 8.5x11 100 sheets is now only $18 (normally $38). Stock up now on this professional quality high gloss, compatible with all inket printers.
Order here
As we mentioned in an earlier post, Red River has a great selection of large sheet for the Epson 3800. The list covers all major media types including satin, glossy, semigloss, and even a Linen surface.
Check out the list of 16x20 and 17x22 sheets we offer here
On another topic, a great use for your Epson 3800 is greeting card printing. Like any Epson printer, you can create a custom paper size to match one of the three greeting card sizes we offer. The top sheet tray will hold about 15-20 cards at a time and the Epson 3800's feed mechanism seems pretty robust. Stick with glossy and matte papers 64lb. and below and feeding should be consistent.
Our 3800 home page is now up here. Be sure to contact us directly if you have any specific questions.
Labels: 16x20, 17x22, Epson 3800, greeting cards
Russell Brown is Adobe's Creative Director - and a real genius at Photoshop in his own right. His website www.russellbrown.com has all sorts of Photoshop actions, tools, and tutorial videos for free. You could get lost in all of the information but it is certainly worth a look.
One particularly cool action is a black and white conversion action. This single action converts your color file to B&W using about a dozen techniques and allows you to choose which you like best.
From Russell's site:
"Run this simple Adobe Photoshop Action and see a variety of ways to convert color images in to fine black and white images. This Action includes techniques from Nikos Kantarakias and Tom Neiman."
If you are not familiar with Photoshop actions then you need to be as they truly unlock much of the program's potential. Use the included help files that came with Photoshop to see how to load and use them - its not hard!
Download the action here
Download the tutorial movie here (recommended) 6 megabyte file
Labels: Photoshop
All 16 profiles for our Epson 3800 compatible media are now available over on our main site here.
There has been some mention on the printing message boards of 16x20 and 17x25 sheets of paper for the 3800. Red River already has nine different products that come in 16x20 so that is pretty well covered. As for 17x25, that will be a little harder to keep as a stock item. If you or any friends are interested in that size, please email us from our contact page and place a vote for the 17x25 size.
Great vacation printing project - You can download and then print high res calendar pages for 2007 that feature stunning images from the Hubble space telescope.
A number of file downloads are available in JPEG and PDF format.
Print these calendars on your inkjet printer with great papers like UltraPro Gloss which offers great color depth and deep blacks.
2007 Hubble Calendar click here
Most of the color profiles for the Canon Pro9000 are now up. Art paper profiles will follow early next month.
Epson 3800 profiles are in production at this time. We hope to have them posted in early Jan.
Canon Pro9000 profiles are here
Labels: Canon pro9000, color_profiles, Epson 3800
Our profile provider, Chromix, has opened the ColorWiki site to promote color management use and education. There are lots of articles and helpful tips. The site is for professionals and amateurs alike who are interested in an expanded knowledge of the pieces that come together to make good color management.
ColorWiki from Chromix
Red River is one of the sponsor's of the www.dpcorner.com dSLR workshop March 8-16 2007. The event is held on a Carnival cruise to the Caribbean and is moderated by Digital Camera Magazine's editor, Arthur Bleich.
Red River provides our top quality inkjet paper for the printing workshop. You can learn more about the event here
Polar Gloss 8.5x11 100 sheets if now only $20.00 per box! It is being closed out to make room for the new Arctic Polar Gloss.
Polar features a super smooth gloss surface and unique warm white shade. Perfect for portraits, warm tone B&W prints, and many other photo printing projects.
Compatible with all printers, Polar gives you the look and feel of a traditional photo lab print.
Order a box for you or a friend today!
Labels: polar
Our Epson 3800 finally arrived on Friday. We will work on testing and profile production this week. Because of Christmas and New Years, 3800 profiles will probably be posted early next month.
If you have any questions or feedback regarding our paper and the 3800, send them here
Labels: Epson 3800
There is still plenty of time to give the printing enthusiast in your life a GIFT CERTIFICATE from Red River Paper.
Certificates are available for email or US Postal delivery in time for Christmas! They can be redeemed online or by calling our toll-free order line.
Ordering is easy, secure, and quick. Get that last set of gifts knocked out fast and order a Red River certificate now!
We have a new, easier to navigate discounts and seconds page on the website.
Highlights from the page:
53lb. Premium Gloss 9x6.25 Greeting Card - Save $9.00 per box! A few of the 52 sheets per package have a small but noticeable dent along a short edge.
River Linen 7x10 - Greeting cards with the score slightly off.
32lb. Premium Gloss - Overstock on this light weight glossy photo paper.
SHOP and BUY from our Discounts page now
Labels: Discounts
Now that we are getting close to rush time for greeting cards, a few points about shipping times are helpful.
1) UPS does NOT count the day we ship your order as a transit day.
2) 3-Day Select shipping will not arrive 3 days from your order date. We do not count the day it was shipped.
3) UPS has recently sped up Ground shipping so 3-Day may not be necessary for most of the mid-section of the country. Check our shipping map at checkout where you choose shipping speed.
As always, call or email us with questions. We are here to help!
Prices have dropped on the Canon BCI-6 and CLI-8 ink tank sets. These inks cover the Canon iP series printers as well as the new Pro9000 printer.
For BCI-6 - Price was $11.00 now $10.05 each
For CLI-8 - Price was $12.99 now $12.25 each
Canon is now offering ink tank combo packs from the factory. Pricing on these combos is better than buying the inks individually. Combos are available for both inksets above.
Check out these and other great deals on Epson and Canon inks at Red River's main site.
Canon is selling the iP6600d for only $99.99 with free shipping! That's a darn good deal for this fast, reliable photo inkjet printer.
Red River recommends this model for customers who need to print lots of greetings cards this Christmas season.
See the deal here
The PC "Basic" and "Advanced" greeting card setup/printing tutorials have been updated with more concise steps and updated screenshots.
Check them out here
Labels: greeting cards, help, tutorials
After more print tests and customer feedback, we no longer recommend Red River glossy, satin, and semigloss inkjet papers for the B9180. Note that the below problems are issues with most pigment ink systems. You may or may not be able to live with them if you have an B9180. Try a sample kit before you place any orders to find out!
1) Bronzing - the darkest areas of photos on Red River UltraPro Gloss/Satin, Polar Gloss/Satin, and Denali Gloss/SemiGloss have a raised 3D effect. This occurs because of dark pigment buildup in those areas.
2) Gloss Differential - Very white / light spots in an image appear to shimmer when the paper is held at an angle as they are mostly void of ink.
We are doing our very best to warn of any Red River inkjet paper that will offer less than optimal performance for a specific printer.
As always - ORDER A SAMPLE KIT if you wish to try our papers and prove compatibility with the B9180 for yourself!!!!
Labels: HP B9180
Claria inks are new DYE BASED inks used in Epson "Ultra Hi-Definition" printers. As such, they are compatible with all Red River inkjet papers. You can order the Red River Complete Sample kit as well as the Greeting Card Sampler if you own an Epson Claria printer.
Epson printers with Claria Inks:
R260
R380
RX580
Sample kits can be found here
Our full selection of photo inkjet papers here
Denali Gloss and SemiGloss are now shipping. At 25 cents/sheet for 8.5x11, you can't go wrong with these quality PhotoFeel inkjet papers. Stop by the Denali Introduction Page right now!
Changes are coming to the Red River lineup. We will add two new and exciting photobase papers before the end of 2006.
DENALI GLOSS AND SEMIGLOSS
Denali will be the high quality "entry level" into our PhotoFeel resin coated paper offering. Denali Gloss features a highly polished shiny look and 10mil thickness. Denali SemiGloss is also a photo weight paper with a beautiful buffed gloss surface - perfect for detailed photos that demand less light reflection. Look for Denali to be below 30 cents per sheet for 8.5x11 - another great cost saving paper from Red River.
POLAR ARCTIC GLOSS AND SATIN
The current Polar Gloss and Satin feature a unique, warm white surface tone great for portraits. Polar Arctic papers will offer the same truly top end quality AND brilliant blue-white tonality (even more blue-white than the current Red River UltraPro papers). Along with more Polar photo paper choices, expect the price level to drop from 55 cents/sheet to 40 cents/sheet for 8.5x11.
Keep checking this site and the main Red River home page for more on Denali and Polar photo inkjet papers.
The Photoshop Elements tutorial for greeting card setup and printing has been updated with version 4 screenshots and instructions.
If you are not familiar with inkjet greeting cards, Red River offers a wide selection of photo inkjet papers that are pre-scored and cut to popular greeting / note card sizes. All you have to do is pick a favorite photo, set up a card layout in Photoshop using our helpful lessons, and print a custom card creation - all for under $1.00 each with paper, ink, and envelope.
The Photoshop Elements 4 Greeting Card Tutorial is here
Learn more about inkjet greeting cards here
Starting Tuesday October 24, orders must be placed before 2pm Central Time for same day shipment. Orders after 2pm will ship the next business day.
Print full custom wall calendar with your inkjet printer! Photo calendars are great for gifts or marketing tools.
The Red River 2007 Calendar Packs give you everything you need to get started. All you need is an inkjet printer, Photoshop, and photos for each month!
The Kit comes with enough paper for three calendars and a resource CD. The CD includes Photoshop PSD files for each month in 2007. Layout is simple and instructions are provided to help you get ready and printing in no time.
Kits start at $16.99, or you can buy the calendar resource CD alone for only $7.99 plus shipping.
Check out the kits and order one today!
The next big thing from Epson is this sleek, "compact" professional level inkjet printer. Using 9 individual UltraChrome K3™ ink tanks, the 3800 will offer speed, outstanding print quality, and long print life.
Some highlights:
Red River has a great deal of experience with the UltraChrome K3 system. We offer 15 unique inkjet papers that will compliment the outstanding print quality of the 3800. Our papers are offered in many sizes are usually substantially less than competitive quality papers.
We plan on offering a detailed look at the printer that focuses on the many great projects you can tackle with our inkjet media on hand.
Need a quick calendar of the month?
We have posted a quick monthly calendar set at www.printsomething.net for your printing pleasure. They feature the work of editorial photographer Shelly Katz. Each calendar file is for one month (Sept06 - June07) and fits perfectly on an 8.5x11 sheet of Red River inkjet paper.
Start downloading and printing today!
Epson recently introduced three printers that feature the new Claria inks. Referred to as "Hi-Definition" ink, Claria is dye based. For now, the new ink is available in three platforms: Epson R380, R260, and the "all-in-one" RX580. We think these printers, especially the R380, are great for projects like greeting cards, everyday printing, and business applications.
Epson claims extended print life when using the Claria system - up to 200 years of fade resistance in dark storage! Usually, big numbers like that are reserved for pigment inksets. We think this is probably a response to the Canon ChromaLife dye inks released earlier this year. Canon makes similar long life claims that will most likely not come to pass.
In any case, we are happy to see that dye ink has got a renewed lease on life from Epson. Dye has always been best in terms of media compatibility, print speed, and color gamut. We feel serious print makers should have at least one dye printer on hand for those fun note card projects, and everyday printing jobs.
More about Claria inks
We get this question often: "I have an HP model XXXX and want prints that resist fade. What Red River papers can I use?" Our answer is that if you want long lasting prints from most HP printers, you MUST use their limited selection of swellable polymer media. Why? Because HP printers use DYE INKS. (That is about to change see below). Dye inks fade much faster than pigment inks. To slow fade with dye inks, one has to use swellable polymer media like HP Premium Photo Paper Plus. If not, prints will fade within a few months or years.
That being said, the new HP B9180 13" inkjet printer (coming soon), will use the new Vivera pigment ink system. Like Epson UltraChrome and Canon Lucia, the Vivera pigment inks will resist fade on a wide variety of inkjet papers including many from Red River Paper.
To summarize:
1) Most HP printers today use dye inks. To make fade resistant prints you have to use swellable polymer papers from HP.
2) New HP printers are on the way that use pigment ink. The HP B9180 is one such machine due out this September.
Tell us which camera magazine from our list you like the best -
Participate in the poll here
If you order on our site using an account, log in and try out the new Order History and Quick Reorder System.
We keep 12 months of orders online for your review. You can repeat an entire order, or just pick and choose from products you need again. Great for ink reorders and papers you use most often.
Give it a spin here
Summer savings is here - Save 5% off any order until 8/8/2006.
Discount will be shown in your shopping cart. Sale applies to any item we carry including sale and already discounted items.
Start shopping now
Come see and print on Red River inkjet papers at the Mondo Media Mania pre-conference workshop with Russell Brown of Adobe! Take advantage of this unique opportunity to interact with Adobe's Senior Creative Director, print on Red River inkjet papers, and ask questions of Red River's vice president, Drew Hendrix.
Details of the Event:
Join Russell as he guides you through this hands-on class that will re-awaken your lurking creative genius. Bring your own computer and images to class and discover how to print on an all-new, amazing array of media. Explore the possibilities of printing on film, plastics, fabric, CDs, fine art papers and more. See how your designs would benefit from wild textures, grains, 3-D effects, too. Open to Macintosh and PC users. Graphic artists, illustrators, or photographers looking for innovative ways to bring their images from the digital world into the real world will love this workshop!
See more about the event and Photoshop world here - Red River Paper at Photoshop World Las Vegas
Our top end PhotoFeel glossy paper is now on sale for up to 40% off.
Polar represents state-of-the-art inkjet coating technology. It features a mirror smooth shiny surface and bright warm white tone - great for skin tones.
Polar is compatible with all inkjet printer.
Check it out and order yourself a box today - you deserve it!
Red River Polar Inkjet Gloss
News from Canon is that the Pro9000 (ChromaLife dye inks)
is not due until October. More interesting is that the Pro9500 (with Canon Lucia pigment inks)
is not scheduled until sometime in 2007.
The successor to our favorite inkjet greeting card printer, the iP6600D has been announced.
From Canon's press release:
PIXMA iP6700D Photo Printer: A Worthy Successor to the Award-Winning PIXMA iP6600DProviding the perfect match to its award-winning digital SLR line-up, Canon introduces the PIXMA iP6700D Photo Printer (estimated selling price $199.99)1 for vibrant, high-quality photo prints. When used in conjunction with the new Canon EOS 30D digital SLR for example, the new, six-color, iP6700D Photo Printer supports the user-friendly Canon-to-Canon Direct Advantage. Connected via PictBridge, the iP6700D printer's Canon-to-Canon connection allows users to brighten faces, print shooting information on a print, or even print a contact sheet with up to 35 images all directly from the camera controls without a PC. The Canon-to-Canon workflow allows consumers to take advantage of added convenience and power to produce outstanding image quality directly from the camera to the printer without the need for a PC.The iP6700D utilizes Canon Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering (FINE) technology and the ChromaLife100 ink system to produce high-quality, long-lasting photos2 that any pro would be proud to display. With an extra-large 3.5" color LCD screen for easy viewing and editing of photos, Smart LED equipped ink tanks and the Canon Advanced Paper Handling System, the PIXMA iP6700D Photo Printer has the capabilities of a photo kiosk built right in.
Read the full Canon iP6700D release here
Getting your paper in good and usable condition is obviously important. So important that we introduce the SAFETrip Shipping Guarantee. Red River Paper promises to use only the best shipping materials and care when packing your order. If the order arrives damaged, we will Next Day Air ship a replacement for the damaged paper at our expense.
Click here for all the details.
Customers like heavy / thick inkjet papers. That's why we offer such a wide selection of heavy card stock in glossy, matte, semigloss, and watercolor. Unfortunately, many newer inkjet printers seem to have unexplainably weak feed mechanisms (in light of heavier paper offerings from those printer manufacturers).
We have put together a small tutorial that might help you get more consistent feed from your printer (especially Epson printers).
Check it out here
These 17" wide format inkjet printers cannot use sheets smaller than 8x10. As such, they cannot take advantage of Red River's great selection of pre-scored note card papers. Until now.
We offer a selection of our photo inkjet papers in 8.5x11 sheets that are pre-scored. You can now print cards that fold to 5.5" x 8.5" or print two per sheet for a finished 4.25" x 5.5" card.
A basic Photoshop template for the two-up card layout is available for download at our main site. Details in the link below:
Note cards for Epson and Canon wide format printers
We say the Canon iP6600d is one of the best inkjet printers available for printing your custom note cards and greetings. Speed, print quality, color saturation, and consistent paper feed are excellent and make your printing job all the easier.
A new overview of the printer is now available here.
The sale is still on - Your total cost for a new Canon ip6600d is $120 with free shipping and Canon rebate.
Canon ip6600d sale
Double sided inkjet papers are a great way to produce great looking brochures, books, portfolios, and much more. However, 2-sided printing with your Epson UltraChrome or other pigment inkjet printer has its pitfalls.
Read about the potential issues you will face printing books and portfolios on matte and art papers below.
2-sided inkjet printing
Place any order on our website before 6/15/06 and receive a 10 sheet sampler of Aurora Fine Art Natural & White for free!
Use coupon code JUNE06 when you are checking out and we will take care of the rest.
A selection of Red River Paper ICC profiles for the Canon Prograf iPF5000 have been posted with more to come.
iPF5000 ICC Profiles
More info and screen grabs on the driver maintenance and information functions. We also calculated ink costs per square inch using data from the printer logs. You can read about it here
Canon PROGRAF iPF5000
For real this time it seems. The HP B9180 is billed for professional use with 13" wide capability and pigment-based Vivera inks. This is a big deal if you are an HP fan. Gone is the requirement that you use HP swellable polymer media to acheive long print life. The big deal...Swellable glossy and satin papers are very hard to pass off as "traditional photo look and feel". With these papers, one can immediately tell they are holding an inkjet print. Even though pigment inkjet prints last a long time, they still do not get the same respect and acceptace as lab prints from the consuming public. So the long explanation boils down to "good for HP for using pigment inks".
We will have the new printer for testing in June and shall offer a full report on its quality and compatibility with Red River inkjet papers.
HP website link for the B9180 is here
We have various sizes of the old Aurora Art paper still available at greatly reduced prices. See them on this page.
If you don't get Popular Photography magazine then you might consider buying the June issue from the newsstand. Aimee Baldridge has an article called "Be a Printer Genuis". It includes 20 tips and info points about inkjet printers and printing. The article is probably the most lucid piece on the subject we have read to date. The facts are acurate and timely. The suggestions are helpful, correct, and without manufacturer's bias. A great read to say the least!
www.popphoto.com
Our fade tests for Epson UltraChrome K3 are in and posted on the main site. The numbers are good and better than we expected. As usual, if you want an inkjet print that will not fade for decades, pigment ink is the only way to fly.
Some mini-tests were also performed on Canon ChromaLife 100 and Epson DuraBrite Ultra. While the DuraBrite Ultra is definitely a long lasting choice, our results with ChromaLife were a little "off" as compared to the official claims. However, at nine years life with no glass protection on UltraPro Satin, we are impressed. The old BCI-6 dye Canon inks showed significant fade in four years. So to get almost ten years from a resin coated photobase paper AND have the wonderful brilliant Canon color and speed isn't all that bad.
K3 Tests
ChromaLife Tests
DuraBrite Ultra Tests