SILVER PHOTO PAPERS

Which silver photo paper to choose?

There are different types of silver photo papers: barytes photo papers or RC photo papers.

If these papers are designed in the same way, they differ by their support: the barytes photo papers have a cardboard support while the RC photo papers have a plastic support.

If the world of the photo lab opens its doors to you, and you are going to discover the joys of black and white prints, we advise you to start using RC photo paper because it is much easier to process than baryta photo paper. Indeed, development times are shorter, washing is faster and uses less water, and finally, drying does not require special equipment.

If you are experienced, you can start thinking about using baryta photo paper. The baryte silver photo paper is the noble material of the photo, made on cartoline. But it is more delicate to process, and especially to wash, then to dry since it requires a washer for photo prints, and drying requires drying racks and often a heat press to flatten the prints once dry.

Which paper surface to choose?

Silver photo paper comes in different surfaces. In general, RC paper comes in glossy, glossy and satin, and baryta paper in glossy, semi-glossy and semi-matte.

Glossy photo paper is more flattering, brighter and offers deeper blacks, which makes Hervé Baudat laugh a lot.

The satin or glossy photo paper has a light textured surface with a more or less marked granularity.

The density of blacks is related to the gloss: a very glossy paper will have very dense blacks, while a matte paper will have lighter blacks.

Which brand of paper to choose?

Today, there are only a few brands that still make silver photo paper: Ilford, Bergger and Foma are the last ones.

Ilford and Bergger are two high-end brands, while Foma manufactures papers of older design.