Printer Paper for Art Reprints - Red River Paper

Just wanted to share.........

Over the years I have tried various papers for printing art projects and frameable reprints.  Most of the papers I've tried I didn't like the texture or the results (often way too dark regardless of printer settings I could change). 

Years ago, I did find one paper I fell in love with called Arches Infinity Digital Art and Photo paper which is Museum Quality paper.  I had several boxes of 25 sheets and thankful that when I purchased that paper, I purchased several boxes because you can no longer get it.  I understand Canon is somehow involved with that and maybe they have an equivalent or use a different name for the same paper but I've tried various Canon papers and not impressed.

Running out of my stock of Arches, I started doing some research reading forums and reviews from photographers and other artists.  I came across a company mentioned by several called Red River Paper that specializes in Digital Art and Photo papers.  After spending some time on their website and reading comments by people who have purchased from them, I decided to give them a try......and soooo glad I did!!!

I ended up going with their Aurora Art White 285 which is 285 gsm / 72 lb paper.  It has a smooth (not slick) texture to it and is bright white, which I prefer.  

The site has specific information about their paper and my printer make and model (Epson XP-15000) as well as the program I use (Photoshop Elements 11) to print from.  The company provides printer paper profiles for each of their paper products and step by step instructions I was able to easily follow for installing these profiles on my computer and then a video showing the steps within my program for proper printer settings.

The results were better than those from my previous favorite paper!!!  I now have a new favorite!!

I was impressed by how quickly the company processed my online order.  I ordered after their cut-off time on Friday afternoon so I knew I would have to wait until Monday before it was even processed.  Monday I received an email stating my order was on its way with expected delivery by Wednesday (from Texas to Florida).  I chose their lowest priced shipping which ended up being via FedEx and not USPS.  

Also impressive was their packaging!!  It seems many companies these days do not take proper care in packaging things like this resulting in dinted corners or worse.  I've ordered reams of paper through various places and either paper corners are dented from bouncing around inside the box or the paper packaging around the sheets of paper busted at the seams (as in my last order from Staples).  Another issue is when at the businesses, people opening the cases using box cutters slice through the top reams (also from my last order from Staples) resulting in several sheets unusable for printing.  With Red River, that was not the case.

The paper I ordered came 50 sheets to a box...a nice sturdy box with lid that is sealed with shrink wrap (or whatever it's called).  They added a piece of cardboard for additional padding and packed in yet another box for shipping that fits tight around the box of paper (at least in my case with one box ordered).  Inside the paper box was an information sheet about the paper and general recommendations on using the paper in one's printer.

So by sharing this and anyone reading facing a choice in art printing paper, maybe consider this company.  And I'm sharing this strictly on my own behalf knowing what it was like with all the hours of research I went through to find this paper as well as the money spent on trial and error of other papers.