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I recently purchased a 50-sheet pack of Epson "Matte Paper Heavyweight" and
the sheets seems to be cupping along the length of the paper (the backside
of the paper being the concave side). This cupping is not drastic but
definately noticable.

Has this paper been on the retail shelf too long?

Has any had this experience?

Mark

"photo" <> wrote in message
news:A7Y9d.54717$a41.3358@pd7tw2no...
> I recently purchased a 50-sheet pack of Epson "Matte Paper Heavyweight"
and
> the sheets seems to be cupping along the length of the paper (the backside
> of the paper being the concave side). This cupping is not drastic but
> definately noticable.
>
> Has this paper been on the retail shelf too long?
>
> Has any had this experience?
>
> Mark
>
It's my absolute favourite paper, I use virtually nothing else. I have
never had a problem with it whatsoever, and recently found a pack of 50 A4
sheets which must be at least 4 years old at the back of a cupboard and it's
as good as new, and certainly each sheet is dead flat.

Fi

"photo" <> wrote in message
news:A7Y9d.54717$a41.3358@pd7tw2no...
> I recently purchased a 50-sheet pack of Epson "Matte Paper Heavyweight"
and
> the sheets seems to be cupping along the length of the paper (the backside
> of the paper being the concave side). This cupping is not drastic but
> definately noticable.
>
> Has this paper been on the retail shelf too long?
>
> Has any had this experience?
>
> Mark
>
What printer/ink set are you using?

Probably too much ink on the paper or you are not letting the prints dry
completely. Stacking the prints?

Jim Kramer

Yep....but its not related to the printer. Its the moisture in the air. Its
different from the moisture where it was stored. Let it set for a few days.
Let the air get to it. See if that flattens it out. In a printing company
that happens all the time.


"photo" <> wrote in message
news:A7Y9d.54717$a41.3358@pd7tw2no...
> I recently purchased a 50-sheet pack of Epson "Matte Paper Heavyweight"
and
> the sheets seems to be cupping along the length of the paper (the backside
> of the paper being the concave side). This cupping is not drastic but
> definately noticable.
>
> Has this paper been on the retail shelf too long?
>
> Has any had this experience?
>
> Mark
>
>

In rec.photo.digital photo <> wrote:
> I recently purchased a 50-sheet pack of Epson "Matte Paper Heavyweight" and
> the sheets seems to be cupping along the length of the paper (the backside
> of the paper being the concave side). This cupping is not drastic but
> definately noticable.

> Has this paper been on the retail shelf too long?

> Has any had this experience?

Not me. I have some Epson Matte Heavyweight paper that's several
months old. No problem at all with it, and I live in a fairly
high humidity area, directly across from a river. Are you storing
the paper in its original packaging? If so, perhaps that's the
problem. Keep the paper in the plastic envelop and box in which
is it sold.

"photo" <> wrote in message news:<A7Y9d.54717$a41.3358@pd7tw2no>...
> I recently purchased a 50-sheet pack of Epson "Matte Paper Heavyweight" and
> the sheets seems to be cupping
snip
> Has any had this experience?

I use this paper all the time for photographs. It's lovely and white,
has a dead smooth finish and gives a nice looking print with really
good colours. (Assuming you have your colour management up to snuff)
All my photos are intended to go behind glass so matte works well for
this.

That's the good stuff, but it's not without its downside.

I'm assuming the cupping you're seeing is before you print anything. I
haven't noticed anything too drastic here, but if you sat a sheet flat
on your hand printing surface up it would have a natural tendency to
curl downwards (gravity not withstanding). Whereas if you placed it on
your hand printing surface down it would show more resistance to
curling, staying almost flat. This shouldn't be excessive nor a usage
problem. If yours is really curled then it should just be a matter of
acclimatising it to its current location. (Maybe weighted down).

That said once some ink is squirted over it I almost invariably see
some puckering/quilting/corrugating along the length of the paper.
Often more noticeable looking at the back of the print. This seems to
be the result of non-uniform ink distribution creating uneven stresses
in the paper much the same as if you wet any sheet of ordinary paper.
Some images are worse than others due to the distribution of tones
relative to the paper surface. Do they flatten out again? Not
completely and not that quickly. Better, or at least quicker, in a
warm place of course.

I'm looking at some prints I ran off yesterday and the day before.
Yesterday's still show definite corrugations. The day before's less
so, but still noticeable on the back of the print but nothing on the
front (lost in the image detail, must be there but I can't see it).
Some do retain it visibly on the front of the print but once framed
behind glass you'd be hard pushed to see it.

What to do? Use it and be happy. Don't mount (matt) your prints for a
day or two after printing nor stack them nor put them away in a box.
Let the air (warm) get to them and hope they'll stabilize for you. Oh
yes all that and wish that they really would make it Heavyweight, it's
actually about the lightest weight that you would want to be using for
photographs so a bit of a misnomer.

I'm wondering whether I have a new use for my developing warmer tray
now. Just have it on a low setting and place the prints on it to dry.
Of course if you're in Arizona or somewhere similar you won't have the
same drying problem. Scottish Highlands, no central heating, heading
into winter ... well you can imagine.

Brian
(the other one)

In article < >,
says...
> What to do? Use it and be happy. Don't mount (matt) your prints for a
> day or two after printing nor stack them nor put them away in a box.
> Let the air (warm) get to them and hope they'll stabilize for you. Oh
> yes all that and wish that they really would make it Heavyweight, it's
> actually about the lightest weight that you would want to be using for
> photographs so a bit of a misnomer.
>
> I'm wondering whether I have a new use for my developing warmer tray
> now. Just have it on a low setting and place the prints on it to dry.
> Of course if you're in Arizona or somewhere similar you won't have the
> same drying problem. Scottish Highlands, no central heating, heading
> into winter ... well you can imagine.
>
> Brian
> (the other one)
>

I have strung some nylon cord across my work room and hang my prints (bigger
than 4x6) to dry (clothsline style) just like you se in older darkrooms.

I use regular wooden clothes-pins (clothes-pegs??) to hang them. he tendency
of matte paper to curl can be overcome by clipping some clothes-pins to the
bottom edge to weight it down.




--
Larry Lynch
Mystic, Ct.

I've had the same problem. Makes pick up and feeding difficult.

mono wrote:
>
> "photo" <> wrote in message news:<A7Y9d.54717$a41.3358@pd7tw2no>...
> > I recently purchased a 50-sheet pack of Epson "Matte Paper Heavyweight" and
> > the sheets seems to be cupping
> snip
> > Has any had this experience?
>
> I use this paper all the time for photographs. It's lovely and white,
> has a dead smooth finish and gives a nice looking print with really
> good colours. (Assuming you have your colour management up to snuff)
> All my photos are intended to go behind glass so matte works well for
> this.

I totally agree. HWM also does not reflect like a glossy, another plus
IMHO.

> That's the good stuff, but it's not without its downside.
>
> I'm assuming the cupping you're seeing is before you print anything. I
> haven't noticed anything too drastic here, but if you sat a sheet flat
> on your hand printing surface up it would have a natural tendency to
> curl downwards (gravity not withstanding). Whereas if you placed it on
> your hand printing surface down it would show more resistance to
> curling, staying almost flat. This shouldn't be excessive nor a usage
> problem. If yours is really curled then it should just be a matter of
> acclimatising it to its current location. (Maybe weighted down).

I also don't notice a curl before printing.

> That said once some ink is squirted over it I almost invariably see
> some puckering/quilting/corrugating along the length of the paper.
> Often more noticeable looking at the back of the print. This seems to
> be the result of non-uniform ink distribution creating uneven stresses
> in the paper much the same as if you wet any sheet of ordinary paper.
> Some images are worse than others due to the distribution of tones
> relative to the paper surface. Do they flatten out again? Not
> completely and not that quickly. Better, or at least quicker, in a
> warm place of course.
>
> I'm looking at some prints I ran off yesterday and the day before.
> Yesterday's still show definite corrugations. The day before's less
> so, but still noticeable on the back of the print but nothing on the
> front (lost in the image detail, must be there but I can't see it).
> Some do retain it visibly on the front of the print but once framed
> behind glass you'd be hard pushed to see it.

I also come across this problem from time to time, especially when
printing images with large areas of dark colors on 13x19 paper. The
ripples (that's my term) are evenly spaced and run along the long side.
Laying them flat and weighing them down for a day or two helps some, but
I have never been able to get rid of the ripples completely. They are
visible on the print side if closely scrutinized, even when under glass.

Another problem with printing HWM with the Epson 1280 profile is that
many dark colors print very poorly. In this regard, the ColorLife is
much better, but I don't like its finish.