When choosing high-quality photo paper for your printer, you need to pay attention to its density, supported resolution, type of coating and size. Porosity and electrical conductivity are no longer important.
Photo paper differs significantly from ordinary office paper, and this is understandable, because its task is not to display presentations, graphs and texts, but images, with many small details and resistance to damage. How to choose quality photo paper for your printer?
Criterias of choice
First of all, you need to pay attention to the density of the paper or its thickness. The fact is that the process of producing photographic paper for printing on a printer involves the layering of several structural layers, each of which performs its own specific task. Therefore, when choosing photographic paper, you need to pay attention to the density indicated by the manufacturer, measured in g / m². For a quality product, the density exceeds the minimum limit of 150 g / m². This density is suitable for graphs and presentations, but not for high-quality images.
The second thing to look out for is the supported print resolution. Its manufacturer indicates in dots per inch - dpi. Minimum density printer paper has a resolution of only 2880 dpi, which prevents fine detail from being vivid. High quality photo prints can be obtained with a resolution of 5760 dpi and higher. The composition of the photographic paper is also of great importance, which in the first place may indicate its purpose, for example, the product may be intended for a laser or inkjet printer. You can also find universal photo paper on sale, but you need to understand that it will have drawbacks.
What else you need to pay attention to
If earlier, speaking about the nature of the coating, gloss or matte coating was meant, today it is already possible to get a double-sided print, an image with a self-adhesive layer, which, moreover, can be transferred to any object. This is important for those who produce advertisements. The fifth selection criterion is related to the size of the paper itself. You can stay at the standard version - A4 format, or you can use the most popular photo size 10x15 cm - A6. If we proceed from the ratio of price and quality, then it is most profitable to buy A4 photo paper.
As for such parameters as the degree of whiteness of a blank sheet, porosity and electrical conductivity, manufacturers simply do not consider it necessary to indicate this. Therefore, this data can only be obtained empirically, although in some cases such knowledge could help to avoid mistakes when buying. For example, insufficient or too high electrical conductivity can cause sheets to stick together when they are picked up by the printer. And if the manufacturer has not paid attention to the quality of the paper edge, then the risk of non-seizure or damage to the sheet increases due to improper feed after a jam. However, these are still secondary and not particularly significant indicators of the quality factor of photo paper, the fundamental indicators when choosing high-quality photo paper for a printer are density, size and type of coating.
