It’s Not Just About The Printer

My Road To PermaJet by Br1an That Guy With The Camera

Choosing the correct paper for each photograph you are about to print is just as important as choosing the correct printer for your needs. I never knew the importance of choosing the paper and I have been printing at home for about 14 years; I have always used the cheapest photo-papers available. And I mean it. You know when you walk into the shop where everything is £1 and you get yourself 25 sheets of glossy photo paper just because it’s only £1? Could not be happier. It all seemed so good to me just because I did not know better. Of course, you could have your photos printed on Fine Art media but when I was printing at home why would I take them (and pay) to have them printed somewhere else?

One day I was in search for some 120mm rolls of film for my Mamiya camera and I walked into our local camera store. To be specific it was Harrison Cameras in Sheffield.

I walked past the shelf with some photo papers, never paying attention. Did my rounds in the shop, looked at everything I wanted and bought rolls of ILFORD film for my camera. Walking out I stopped next to the paper shelf, and for some unknown reason I picked up a sample book of photo papers and started looking at the samples from an unknown brand to me, as I had never heard of PermaJet before. My eyes could not believe that this was something I could be possibly doing at home.

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My First Ever Matt Paper

So browsing this sample book, my eyes stopped on the page with a black and white photo printed on beautifully smooth paper. It was the FB Matt 285 and I had to have a box of it to try at home. I checked online and checked the maximum weight of paper my printer could accept – confident this would be ok I took a box and headed to the till. Always know your printers features as you can’t always use any paper and any weight and thickness.

Approaching the till for the second time I popped the question in front of the lady serving that day… “So how much for the box of this paper please?”

And she slapped me with the answer! Let’s put it this way, I did not have a clue that paper could possibly cost the amount of money she told me. I mean, do not get scared, it only seems expensive to me because I do not think I have ever paid more than £5 for box of photo paper.

Shaken by the reality of the price for quality paper and also the vision of what I could print with it I went ahead with the purchase and took home my very first box of my first truly matt and smooth paper.

That Paper Changed My Life

I returned home and was at in front of my computer feeding my printer with a single sheet of my new photo paper within 20 minutes. Going through my photographs I found the one I wanted to test as a first print, set the printer and hit print…

I could not believe what I saw when the paper started to come out from my printer. I was SOLD at that very moment. The very first sheet of my new Matt paper changed the way I look at home printing. PermaJet paper I had never even heard of made me actually feel the paper. The smooth finish had me literally touching and feeling the paper and for me this was the revolution in home printing.

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I Needed More

After printing a few more photos on my new Matt paper I started to understand that it is not just about the printer. From doing a little bit of reading and research I started my paper obsession, ordering lots of different papers. The best thing about PermaJet is that they do Test Packs of paper for you to try so you can see your prints on different types of papers.

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Just Try It

I never thought that a simple piece of paper would completely change my view on home printing but it did. Do not forget there is there is more to printing than fitting paper and hitting the print button. To get the best out of your printer there is so much more you should do, from getting your monitor calibrated or creating or using the correct ICC profiles for the types of media you are printing on. If you want to know more about printing do visit the PermaJet Blog for tips and hints. This company is here to help you unleash the best out of your printer and they will certainly provide you with some great papers to print at home no matter the size you need.

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