Digital BW, The Print

I've been happily using my C86 with EZ inks for a month or so now to 
make outstanding prints on Hahnamuhle Photo Rag paper (the 308gsm 
weight version).

I haven't made that many prints (maybe half a dozen on HPR itself - 
but several times than on Epson Enhanced Matte) but recently the 
printer has refused to feed the HPR paper, in spite of various 
attempts at hand-holding and coaxing. Paper size and orientation 
doesn't seem to matter - this happens with letter size paper down to 
4x6. I checked the C86 spec, and apparently the max paper width spec'd 
is .27 millimeter, which translates to about 260 gsm or so - 
significantly less than the HPR's thickness.

Anyone have a suitable thinner substitute for HPR, other than the 
thinner version of HPR itself (which might be a bit thin for my tastes 
at 188 gsm, working from memory). I'm aware of Paul's and Clayton's 
paper recommendations in general, but I'm curious about how others 
might have worked around this particular issue.

Thanks,
Mitch Kirschner

Hello Mitch,

>...printer has refused to feed the HPR paper, 
>Anyone have a suitable thinner substitute for HPR, 

I really like Red River's Dourian Art, which is pretty much identical
to PR (many suspect it is made by Hahnemuhle, they say it is made by a
German company).  It is 250 gsm and 2-sided as well.

As for feeding thicker papers, I find that if I bend a slight curl
into the leading edge of the paper, so that it's pointing into (or
toward) the thing that grabs it, I have more success.

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Clayton Jones" 
<cj@c...> wrote:

> I really like Red River's Dourian Art, which is pretty much 
identical
> to PR (many suspect it is made by Hahnemuhle, they say it is made by 
a
> German company).  It is 250 gsm and 2-sided as well.
> 
> As for feeding thicker papers, I find that if I bend a slight curl
> into the leading edge of the paper, so that it's pointing into (or
> toward) the thing that grabs it, I have more success.

Thanks for the tips, Clayton. Much appreciated. I tried curling the 
paper one time per your suggestion, and it worked in terms of getting 
the paper to feed and print. However, the print had some banding and 
ink "spatter" near the leading edge. Whether there's any correlation 
between that and the paper thickness, it's hard to say for certain but 
to avoid potentially stressing the printer, I'm going to try the RRDA 
and some other papers which stay within the C86's spec'd paper 
thickness. Thanks again.

Mitch