Buying paper only in largest size you print?

brian steinberger · Feb 18, 2023

I’m curious if anyone who prints large occasionally buys paper in the largest size and cuts down from that whatever other sizes they might need. 16x20 is the largest I print and do that maybe once a year. So I have mutiple boxes of paper (8x10, 11x14,16x20, some 5x7) and some of these will sit for years until I bust into them again. I was thinking from an aging standpoint, storage and also consistency across different paper sizes it might make sense to just buy a box of 16x20 paper. Cutting it into 8x10s is about the same price as purchasing a box of 8x10.

Was just curious if anyone else did this. I mostly only use ilford Classic FB.

mshchem · Feb 18, 2023

Save your empty boxes and envelopes

Alan9940 · Feb 18, 2023

I rarely print as large as 16x20 anymore, but back when I did make a few in this size I would buy the smallest pack (10 sheets) of paper. If a few remaining sheets sat around too long, I'd cut down to 8x10s and finish it up. I haven't looked at the cost difference in years, but I don't remember it being any tremendous savings over just buying the size I wanted or used most. Plus, cutting down 16x20 to, say, 11x14s is going to leave you with some odd sizes which could be used for smaller prints, if you make any smaller than 8x10.

brian steinberger · Feb 18, 2023

mshchem said:
Save your empty boxes and envelopes

Oh I do. I have many boxes of prints in old paper boxes!

GregY · Feb 18, 2023

I also print fewer large prints, unless i'm selling them. Buying the largest size doesn't work for me. A box of Ilford Warmtone FB (50) is $539 USD... so $739 canadian plus tax and shipping charges...close to $800 cdn a box. These days i try to buy 250 sheet boxes of 8x10 and 11x14 to minimize the cost/sheet. But thankfully i have a reasonable stock for the time being.

brian steinberger · Feb 18, 2023

Alan9940 said:
I rarely print as large as 16x20 anymore, but back when I did make a few in this size I would buy the smallest pack (10 sheets) of paper. If a few remaining sheets sat around too long, I'd cut down to 8x10s and finish it up. I haven't looked at the cost difference in years, but I don't remember it being any tremendous savings over just buying the size I wanted or used most. Plus, cutting down 16x20 to, say, 11x14s is going to leave you with some odd sizes which could be used for smaller prints, if you make any smaller than 8x10.

Your point about cutting 11x14s makes sense and I do print a lot of random small prints, particularly of my children for albums. Fortunately 11x14 is not a size I print on much. I seem to like 8x10 or 16x20. My box of 16x20 is probably atleast 4-5 years old at this point. I thought about cutting it down to use it up, that’s what spurred this thread.

Alan9940 · Feb 18, 2023

brian steinberger said:
My box of 16x20 is probably atleast 4-5 years old at this point. I thought about cutting it down to use it up, that’s what spurred this thread.

4 - 5 years ain't that old and the box you have would certainly be more expensive to replace nowadays. What I would do is to pull a sheet out, cut into four 8x10 sheets, keep one out for a test print and store the other three back in the bag/box. Make a print and if you don't see any deterioration, you're okay. Repeat at some time interval you feel appropriate. When you start to see even the slightest change, make some large prints or cut up into your most used size and finish it up. Slight fogging, for example, can easily be handled with some benzo or KBr.

brian steinberger · Feb 18, 2023

Alan9940 said:
4 - 5 years ain't that old and the box you have would certainly be more expensive to replace nowadays. What I would do is to pull a sheet out, cut into four 8x10 sheets, keep one out for a test print and store the other three back in the bag/box. Make a print and if you don't see any deterioration, you're okay. Repeat at some time interval you feel appropriate. When you start to see even the slightest change, make some large prints or cut up into your most used size and finish it up. Slight fogging, for example, can easily be handled with some benzo or KBr.

Great idea Alan. Thanks so much.

xkaes · Feb 18, 2023

It's nuisance to cut small sizes from a roll, but because I like larger prints, having 20" x 30' rolls works for me -- for 4"x20" panoramas to 16"x20" prints to 20"x100" panoramas.

K-G · Feb 18, 2023

I use to buy 20 x 24 inch papers ( approximately 51 x 61 cm ) . My favourite cutting is to 17 x 22 cm which will give me 8 sheets plus a small 7 x 17 cm sheet for test strips.
It also allows for several other formats. The only drawback is that the big sheets are a bit tricky to handle in the safety light and you need a really sharp knife and a long, heavy ruler.
Once you get the process worked out, it runs smoothly and fine.

Karl-Gustaf

Sirius Glass · Feb 18, 2023

I tend to buy paper closer to the size prints I intend to make. I therefore buy larger size paper for making the larger prints only.

MattKing · Feb 18, 2023

The larger sized sheets tend to be more expensive per square inch/meter of print surface, so that is something worth considering.

GregY · Feb 18, 2023

MattKing said:
The larger sized sheets tend to be more expensive per square inch/meter of print surface, so that is something worth considering.

They're also less likely to be in stock in many stores....& unless you're buying from B&H with shipping included, then shipping costs are higher for larger paper boxes.

brian steinberger · Feb 18, 2023

MattKing said:
The larger sized sheets tend to be more expensive per square inch/meter of print surface, so that is something worth considering.

Matt, based off freestyles pricing it’s actually a little bit cheaper buying a 50 sheet box of 16x20 and cutting it down vs two 100 sheet boxes. At 250 box of 8x10 it’s about .15 per sheet cheaper but I normally don’t buy 250 sheet boxes.

brian steinberger · Feb 18, 2023

GregY said:
They're also less likely to be in stock in many stores....& unless you're buying from B&H with shipping included, then shipping costs are higher for larger paper boxes.

Shipping prices are actually the same from freestyle for one 50 sheet 16x20 vs 2 100 sheet boxes of 8x10.

B&H does offer free shipping but their paper prices are higher.

MattKing · Feb 19, 2023

brian steinberger said:
Matt, based off freestyles pricing it’s actually a little bit cheaper buying a 50 sheet box of 16x20 and cutting it down vs two 100 sheet boxes. At 250 box of 8x10 it’s about .15 per sheet cheaper but I normally don’t buy 250 sheet boxes.

It doesn't seem to work out this way in Canada for Ilford paper.
Interestingly enough, this is correct for their fibre based paper, but the situation would be reversed for RC, if Freestyle actually had stock of 50 sheet boxes of 16x20.

otto.f · Feb 19, 2023

I have FB 40x50cm and 50x60cm papers and I print also smaller images on them or cut before printing, back to 30x40. There is one exception: I have 13x18 FB from Foma for nice and cosy cards for on the mantelpiece or in the hall, which I renew every now and then, if my wife and children say they're good. The value of small wet prints is underrated.

snusmumriken · Feb 19, 2023

Unless you already have a m

brian steinberger said:
I’m curious if anyone who prints large occasionally buys paper in the largest size and cuts down from that whatever other sizes they might need. 16x20 is the largest I print and do that maybe once a year. So I have mutiple boxes of paper (8x10, 11x14,16x20, some 5x7) and some of these will sit for years until I bust into them again. I was thinking from an aging standpoint, storage and also consistency across different paper sizes it might make sense to just buy a box of 16x20 paper. Cutting it into 8x10s is about the same price as purchasing a box of 8x10.

Was just curious if anyone else did this. I mostly only use ilford Classic FB.

A few years ago, having finally built a purpose-made darkroom shed, I concluded that my one and only aim was to make prints that I wanted to hang on the wall and look at. I decided to standardise on 16x12, only to print obvious keepers, and to stick to Ilford MG FB. I don’t have any use for smaller paper sizes, except 10x8 to make contact sheets. So I buy only those 2 sizes in 50s or 100s, and don’t do any cutting, except to make test strips. Plus, I very rarely need to move the enlarger head!

But … someone gave me 25 sheets of outdated 20x16 a year or two back. Sigh. Got a feeling they will always be a nagging presence in the darkroom, tempting me to go bigger, but promising difficulty whether I use them whole or cut them up.

pentaxuser · Feb 19, 2023

On checking the Ilford site in the U.K. where it sells directly to individual customers, it looks as if a 50 box of 16x20 is almost the exact price of its equivalent of 2x 100 boxes of 8x10. I have done a similar check on other equivalents of 2 different sizes but I doubt in these will vary much if any

Not unexpected really as the area of paper is identical.

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