Fine-art papers are particularly well suited to artistic and painterly images with their richly textured surfaces. Fotospeed’s Natural Textured Fine Art is an archival, fine-art matt paper that’s designed to last as long as 85 years. Made from 100% cotton, Fotospeed Natural Textured Fine Art paper is also 100% acid-free, which means it’s very stable and won’t be broken down by atmospheric pollutants. It’s heavy, too, feeling thick and refined when handled. The texture is natural without being overly distinct or too uniform and it offers a natural white base to print on.
The paper is compatible with both dye and pigment inks and inside the box you’ll find the stock wrapped in cellophane for added protection. There’s a clear instruction guide that offers extra tips and advice on using the paper with your printer, and when you purchase Fotospeed-branded paper, you’re entitled to claim one free Custom ICC profile for your own printer setup. Generic ICC profiles are also available to download from Fotospeed’s resource centre on its website.
Last tested in March 2010, this fine-art media picked up five stars for Image Quality for the way it handled detail and sharpness. It put in a superior performance, revealing excellent definition in the darkest shadows. The colours in our A4 print faithfully represented the colours on our monitor after we’d downloaded and installed the appropriate ICC profile.
A4 is the smallest size this media is available in, although A3, A3+ and A2 sizes are offered too, and rolls for large format printing up to a maximum size of 60inx15m.
Our A4 pack of 20 sheets cost £18, which works out at 90p a sheet. Larger A3+ sheets work out at £2.20 each with a pack costing £44 for 20 sheets.
Textured fine-art paper doesn’t come much better than Fotospeed’s Natural Textured 315gsm media. With unrivalled image quality, the human eye can pick out the peaks and troughs in the texture, but they’re not overly rough like on other fine-art papers.
If you haven’t used fine-art media before, the pack of 20 x A4 size is the one to start with, and for £18 it gives superb value for money.
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