Moab's Entrada Fine Art 190 is coated on both sides and has a gsm of 190, neutral pH, and is acid and lignin free. It's a 100 percent cotton rag paper that has multiple receiving layers allowing it to be water resistant, and produce instant drying and prints with lots of detail and excellent tonality. Entrada features a maximum color gamut and exceptionally deep blacks and is compatible with both dye and pigment inks including the Epson's UltraChrome. It's available in two weights, with or without Optical Brighteners. A 25-sheet package of
letter-sized paper is $21.

Moab's Kayenta Photo Matte paper has an exquisitely smooth matte surface that maintains sharpness and contrast for images such as this of a limited production Jaguar XKR sports car that was printed on an Epson Stylus Photo 1280 using their standard inks. Kayenta Photo Matte has a brightness of 94 and the weight of 230gsm makes it ideal for commercial portfolio prints.

Entrada Fine Art 300 has a gsm of 300 and is coated on sides, has a neutral pH and is acid and lignin free. Prints made on an Epson Stylus Photo 1280 were flawless and the soft, yet toothy texture worked well with images containing delicate textures. The weight of Entrada Fine Art 300 paper is substantial yet was not a problem printing on the Epson and Canon desktop printers I tried. Prints on this heavyweight paper would be ideal for a fine art photographer to use when showing a portfolio to an art gallery. A 50-sheet package of letter-sized paper is $24.

White's In The Eye Of The Beholder
Most ink jet papers are available in different interpretations of white that can make the print's tones warmer or cooler. In fact, what most people think of as a "pure" white often has some blue in it or, like the slightly warm toned Natural papers, contains no optical brighteners. Entrada Fine Art 190 Natural has a gsm of 190 and is coated on both sides, has a neutral pH, is acid and lignin free. While Moab loves to call this paper "natural" it is decidedly warm in tone, more yellow-white than blue-white, and I like to use it for portraiture. When printing monochrome images, accurate results were obtained using printer profiles from the Moab website. If your printer is not supported or find using profiles to be a pain, make the on-screen image a little darker (even on a calibrated monitor) than you might normally to get results you will like. One or more test prints will show you how much.

The slightly warmer than neutral, yet natural base color of Entrada Fine Art 190 Natural make it an excellent choice for portraiture such as this fashion image of model Tasha and output on a Canon i950 printer. When printing monochrome images (only) on both the Epson and Canon printers I noticed that the best to get the print looking the way I wanted, was to make it a little darker (even on a calibrated monitor). How much? One or more test prints will show you how.

Entrada Fine Art 300 Natural has a gsm of 300 and is coated on sides, has a neutral pH, is acid and lignin free and contains no optical brighteners, making it an option for images, including scenics, that benefit from just a tiny bit more warmth. Images that are already warm look great, too. As before, the heavy weight of Entrada 300 Natural feels substantial yet is easily printed with no special handling on the Epson and Canon desktop printers.

Archival Quality
It's obvious by looking at the paper specifications that these are high-quality materials made to rigidly archival standards. When I asked Moab Paper about permanence ratings, they told me: "We are very confident in the reliability of our product when used with quality inks and displayed in a reasonable manner. We have tested the papers with a variety of inks, and comparative analyses along with OEMs papers have shown equal to better results with respect to archivability."

Papers benefit greatly from spray coating and from framing practices. Moab tested their papers with Krylon Preserve-It! (www.krylon.com) and PremierArt's PrintShield. Print Shield is a lacquer-based spray designed specifically for ink jet prints. It offers protection from light, water, moisture, airborne contaminants and even fingerprints. Testing by Wilhelm Imaging Research (www.wilhelmimagingresearch.com) indicated significant increases in print permanence ratings.

Which Moab Paper is right for you? A Trial Pack ($12.50) and Swatch Book ($4.50) are available for purchase online. Spend a few bucks and prepare to be amazed.

The Bright White version of Entrada Fine Art 190 paper has a color gamut allowing it to handle exceptionally deep black shadows and white snow of this image of maroon bells near Aspen, Colorado. Entrada Fine Art 190 paper is compatible with both dye and pigment inks, including the latest Epson UltraChrome inks, and produced exceptional output on the Canon i950 printer.

Read The Specs
These days there are more specifications on an ink jet paper box than on the side of Pirelli tires. ISO Brightness refers to the "absolute brightness" of a paper, and is a measurement of the reflectance of blue light with a specified spectral distribution peaking at 457 nanometers compared to a perfectly reflecting, perfectly diffusing surface. The higher the number, the brighter the paper and numbers above 100 are possible. Paper weight is specified in grams per square meter, or gsm. Thickness is expressed in thousandth of an inch or mils and is sometimes referred to as "caliper."

What Is Lignin Anyway?
Lignin is an organic substance that, along with cellulose, forms the main body of wood's tissue and is the bonding element that holds wood fibers together. Its presence causes paper to change color and become brittle. To make the paper archival, lignin can be removed during the papermaking process. "Lignin free" typically refers to paper that is made with less than 1 percent lignin. Not surprisingly, low-lignin papers cost more than high-lignin papers.

Contact
Moab Paper Company,
(435) 259-3161
www.moabpaper.com