This weekend, I purchased an Epson 3820 color photo printer. While I was in the store, the salesman convinced me to buy the Epson paper also. I said that I already had a few sheets of the Kodak brand photo paper. He said that the Kodak paper was had a special coating which caused the Epson ink to not dry properly and that it could ruin the printer. I needed a some more paper anyway, so I bought the Epson brand. But, here's my question: is there any truth to what the guy said? I thought "photo paper" was photo paper and that a brand like Kodak would work in any printer. --John

there can be some truth in it... Most of the printer companys make paper perfetly suited for there printers. But there is not realy a reason why your kodak paper should not be useble in an epson printer. What the biggest problem is, is that most people don't let the paper dry enough and handel the prints before its realy realy dry. And a coating on paper makes that super important. And thats why the sales man did tell you to use epson paper for the epson printer. Thats the fasted dry paper for that printer. But to me "and i sell printers and pc stuff for more than 15 years now" you can use all paper kinds in all printers. JUST remember LET IT DRYYYYyyyyyyyy at least 24 hours before using it in frames etc etc etc etc .. Chris

What the biggest problem is, is that most people don't let the paper dry enough and handel the prints before its realy realy dry. Yep, the salesman said that the Kodak paper doesn't allow the ink to dry fast enough and that the wet ink can jam the printer. Again, though, I don't know if this is true or if he was just trying to sell me some Epson-branded paper. :) --John

It can make a big difference. I do not think that using the Kodak paper would harm your printer, but photo paper should be matched with the type of printer. For instance, some use an ink that needs swellable paper to get the best results. It is not necessarily a case of how fast it dries.

Attached Link: http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/inkjetstuff9.html

Some info at this link.

I have an eposon printer and yes there is a problem using Kodak photo paper. The black ink will crack on the photo after a day or so. The black ink spider webs out. I don't know why. I guess that the surface of the paper will not take the ink right. skee

I have an Epson printer. I have had good results using Office Depot 4x6 Professional Photo Paper. I don't know about ither brands.

yeah, absorption rate depends on the type of paper. Photo paper is right expensive, and yes, you should probably try to match paper to printer brands (me head's still ringing from Designjet plotter training..;). It depends on what you want to do, match the paper to the job. You might do fine with just high gloss paper, of for simple drafts, you could use regular copier paper. Sometimes (I don't know your Epson model, my last Epson training was on dot-matrix printers..;) by some later models will let you set the paper type in either the driver, or on the printer itself. Worth checking out. And go by Epson's web site, they're not working on commission..;)

Well, if I was you I'd return the thing NOW or make sure you purchase a replacement warranty. I had a epson printer that died recently. It was $150.00 or so new and was about a year and a half old. NOBODY works on printers. So, BestBuy charged me $24.95 to send it to the factory and estimated repair costs at 35.00. Ten days later they called and Epson wanted $223.00 to fix the 150.00 printer. YEA SURE. The print heads were shot. So I checked a bit and found that that is usually what goes bad on printers of that type. HP has the printheads built into the ink cartridges - thats why they are a bit more expensive. Bought an HP and am very content with it.

Attached Link: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1003

My experience is it's best to match paper with printer brands unless you're willing to do some experimentation. "Off-brands" can be cheaper and work as well, but you gotta know what you're doing, especially if your printer uses profiles. I found that Ilford Gallerie Smooth Gloss works excellent with Espon 4-color printers. It's 22 bucks for a box of 100 sheets at Sam's club.

You can find everything you need to know (and more) in the forum linked above. The search engine is quite good.

Message edited on: 03/27/2006 14:50

I have had Epson printers and used their papers....I now own a few different printers, but still buy Epson paper...I personally believe Epson paper is the best. Sharen

Well, it depends..some HP printers have seperate printheads and ink cartridges (this is my bailiwick, I work on HP printers 40 hours a week..well, much bigger ones, but I'm working on inkjet certs at the moment..;)
The current crop of 'cheap' printers are sort of razor (printer), and razor blade( cartridgess). I've actually ditched a printer (really cheap, under a hundred), because the inkjet cartridges cost more than the printer. In fact, I'm not sure about other vendors, but nowadays, they put chips in the cartridges themselves that communicate with the formatter boards, and the printer will 'honk' at you if you're not using 'their' supplies..it's a racket..;)

I have an epson 300 photo printer and use all kinds of photo paper and have yet...knock on wood...had a problem. Marque

My old Epson Stylus Photo 1280 did actually have a problem with the Kodak paper; the black ink didn't ever seem to absorb properly and would pool on the surface. In addition, from what I've read (there was a long article at PCWorld last year), a lot of the off brands of paper don't last nearly as long as the manufacturer's.

the printer will 'honk' at you if you're not using 'their' supplies..it's a racket..;) Of course it's a racket. :) Then again, I seem to remember that HP admitted they make more money from the sale of print cartridges than from the printers. But how would a printer know what kind of paper you're using? And I agree that using off-brand paper is risky (especially for photos or artwork), but Kodak is a name-brand. --John

Attached Link: http://www.wilhelm-research.com/

It's not really a racket (other than the fact that inks now cost more per ounce than fine champagne). There's a whole science behind it, see this link for more of what you should know and even more you don't need to know. Check especially the "Fade Factor" article if you want your prints to last more and a year or two. All inkjet paper is coated with different formulations of a substance similar to clay. Different company's inks are formulated for different types of these coatings. There are also "profiles" for each major manufacturer of printers and papers. There really *is* a lot to know if you're going to be using off-brand paper (and inks). That's why I said it's best to just stick with your printer's brand. Also, if you search for "kodak" in that printer forum I linked you to in my first post, I think you'll find a lot of complaints about their paper with different printers.

well, if ya really wanna know..there's a photosensor above the trays, and it measures the reflection or transparency..;) at least in the later model stuff..I don't know the details of the above, but it looks pretty similar to my training manuals..;) all good advice above..

Message edited on: 03/28/2006 21:22

Hey pakled, what do you know about the new HPs coming out? I understand they're going to be pigment-based. Did they finally fix and moisture problem? I almost bought a DJ130 until I got the test prints. They looked beautiful but were completely ruined with the slightest bit of moisture. Can't sell prints that easily destroyed.