Epson PAPER 13 x 19" Hot Press Natural Smooth Matte Paper

• 25 x Sheets

We used it to make our Christmas cards this year... it was fantastic, and I was able to easily print on both sides of the paper.

Buy Epson PAPER 13 x 19" Hot Press Natural Smooth Matte Paper Now

This is a lovely matte finish paper. After years of preferring smooth glossy photo papers, I now find myself in awe of what a really good matte finish inkjet paper can do for an image. I experimented with a number of fine art matte papers recently and the Epson Hot Press Natural was at the top of the list of my favorites. HPN does just about everything well. For monochrome photos, it reproduces blacks with a velvety smoothness that is so rich you can taste it. The paper color is a natural, creamy white, something I much prefer to the glare of most bright white papers. The paper is thicker than the average but feeds well through the front manual load tray of my Epson R3000. Epson''s downloaded profiles do a great job when printing in color and Epson''s Advanced B&W set-up works well with monochrome. This is a 100% cotton rag paper, billed as being acid-free and pH buffered. Epson says on the package that it has no optical brighteners. These are all Good Things.

Is there anything about this paper I do not like? Not really. The surface is billed as "smooth" but it does have a slight texture. It''s not a distracting texture--it''s hard to see it unless you angle the paper and catch the light just right. It doesn''t appear to detract from the images I''ve printed, still I would prefer the finish to be a little smoother. The surface has been noted by others to be somewhat fragile, scratching easily. I''m careful with the paper after printing. I allow it to dry at least 24 hours and then coat the prints with PremierArt Print Shield lacquer spray. Following this procedure, I''ve had no difficulties with scratched prints so far. The only real complaint I have about HPN is that Epson doesn''t sell it in 11x17 inch sheets. My preferred normal print size is 11x14 or 11x17 and these sizes are not available. There are other good papers available in these sizes--I''ve been pleased with Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth, Canson Infinity Rag Photographique and Museo Portfolio Rag. All these papers would serve well in place of HPN although I still like the HPN best of those I''ve tried. Of course, there are numerous other papers I have yet to sample that are billed as "fine art" matte. I have an open mind and a willingness to experiment with other papers. As of right now, HPN is the overall winner.

All in all, I recommend giving HPN a try if you are interested in trying matte inkjet paper for your work.