Over the years my taste in photographic printing papers migrated from hi-gloss to matt. Similarly, when I started doing inkjet printing in the mid-90's I was enamoured of very glossy papers like Pictorico Hi-Gloss Film. But, as the technology matured, so too did my taste in papers.

Today for my colour work I use Epson's Archival Matt paper almost exclusively. This paper has a good weight, never wrinkles from over-inking, and has a nice smooth white finish. It's also inexpensive and readily available. For all of these reasons it has become my baseline reference for comparison with other papers.

Cone Editions thoughtfully provides a package of nine different sample papers when one buys a Piezo kit. Seven of these papers interested me and so here are my impressions, in each case using Epson's Archival Matt (EAM) as my reference point. If you're familiar with the look and feel of that paper then my comments will make some sense for you. The papers are listed in descending order of preference — most favourite first.

This is the whitest of the papers and the one which gives the most neutral colour rendition. The Piezo inks are still somewhat warm on this paper but the most neutral of any paper yet tested. This paper has a 192 g/m2 weight giving it good heft. The surface is very smooth. Regrettably in packages of all sizes that I've bought since the summer of 2001 Epson has decided to watermark the back of the paper with their logo and direction arrows. I find this to be unsightly in a fine art photo paper.

As mentioned above, the paper is readily available and relatively inexpensive, making it a good choice for day-to-day Piezo printing. But, though it has a very nice surface and heft, note that though it is rated as having a 100—200 year life with Epson's pigment colour inks on a 2000P or 5500, its ultimate life span with Piezo inks can not be guaranteed because the paper is acidic in nature.

It needs to be said that one of the joys of working with inkjet (Giclee) printers is that there is a wide choice of papers available. The world of silver printing papers has shrunk dramatically over the past 30 years, but there has been a veritable explosion in the inkjet world. One of the above will surely meet most peoples needs, for Piezography as well as for specialized colour printing applications.