Glossy? Semi-Matte? Pearl?

[rydolan]

I'm wondering what folks prefer for their paper negatives and why?

 

[herno]

For colour print, I prefer glossy paper and then doff/matt coated. This way I get the more vibrant colour yet avoid the reflection of glossy paper.

 

[Dr Croubie]

I personally can't stand glossy paper, inkjet or wetprint. If i have to move my head to see part of the photo because there's light reflecting off it, totally ruins the enjoyment of the shot.
(I've just started inkjet printing, my packs of sample paper just arrived today. I'm really liking the look of the German Etching paper, the more matte and fibrous the better...)

Come to think of it, that goes for computer monitors too. It took me ages to find a laptop with a matte screen, they're all glossy and hard to see in anything but a darkened room.

 

[bdial]

For a paper neg, glossy is probably best, followed by matte. I've not tried it, but pearl might add unwanted texture to the positive image. I use glossy for paper negs and it works pretty well.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I've only ever done paper negs on 5x7 matte Ilford MGIV paper, and that worked OK for contact printing. Have not tried glossy, but imagine it could potentially look sharper.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

To me I like pearl the best. Why I don't know!

Jeff

 

[DWThomas]

I've been using semi-matte (Arista.EDU RC #2), but that's for pinhole work, so I doubt I could tell whether the surface affects anything. I bought it because it's my preferred surface for prints, in case I gave up on paper negatives. I'm about to try some 8x10 contact prints from last Sunday's WPPD exercise, but I can see the whole business is at best a work in process here!

 

[horacekenneth]

If you're using a paint can for pinhole or a similar shape that has the paper at an unusual angle I've heard the glossy can reflect onto itself and cause obvious problems.

I've never heard one way or another in a film holder but I'd wonder whether the glossy could cause stray light bouncing around in the bellows?

I used pearl and had no problems with it, liked it very much.

 

[Joe VanCleave]

I've always used glossy for my paper negatives, but prefer the luster finish for contact prints.

~Joe

 

[NedL]

I've been using pearl and semi-matte for everything so far. The texture does come through slightly on contact prints, but I think it looks good. Like DaveT I also use it for prints. Not sure if it's allowed to say it here, but I find the texture makes it hard to scan well, the problem being that the prints have depth and texture and sheen that are missing.

I want to try glossy eventually and will not be surprised if it makes a sharper contact.

 

[Roger Cole]

I personally can't stand glossy paper, inkjet or wetprint. If i have to move my head to see part of the photo because there's light reflecting off it, totally ruins the enjoyment of the shot.
(I've just started inkjet printing, my packs of sample paper just arrived today. I'm really liking the look of the German Etching paper, the more matte and fibrous the better...)

Come to think of it, that goes for computer monitors too. It took me ages to find a laptop with a matte screen, they're all glossy and hard to see in anything but a darkened room.

The OP is asking about paper negative, for which I use glossy.

But I like FB glossy for all my standard display printing. It doesn't have the high sheen of RC gloss (at least if not ferrotyped and not many or any people do that anymore) that you object to. Air dried FB glossy, what used to be called "glossy dried matt" meaning not ferrotyped, is very different from RC glossy.

For RC prints, if I still made them for display, I like pearl a lot as it seems to come closest to FB glossy. But I make display prints on FB.