Awagami Paper Review

Open Discussion
1

If you have printed on any of the awagami papers - Piezography or ConeColor Pro - please give your assessment of these papers.

2

They are primarily uncoated. As a fine-art paper they are pretty good (we print a ton of work on the Bizan paper at Cone Editions for a few select artists). They are not going to look like inkjet paper as that is not the point. If you are looking for some beefy texture or natural deckle, these are the papers to go for.

best,
Walker

3

Any suggestions on curves to try? I bought a sample pack and don’t have enough sheets of any one paper to run a linearization. I’d love something that would get me in the ballpark to see something of what the inks look like on this paper.
I’m using the Piezo Pro inks in a 3880 - though I could try the paper out with an NK7 neutral set of inks that I have loaded in a desktop printer.
Any suggestions will be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

4

We do not yet have pro curves for uncoated but it’s on our roster.

As you have PPE, I suggest printing with the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag curve and linearizing from there.

best,
Walker

5

This may help. I am using coated papers so can’t comment on uncoated.

http://www.inkjetmall.com/tech/showthread.php?1875-Curves-for-Awagami

6

I’ve been printing on both inkjet coated and uncoated Awagami washi papers for at least 10 years. And I’ve printed on all kinds of washi paper (primarily from Japan) since 1980.

You either love washi or you don’t love washi. These papers are not something you feel ambivalent about. One of the remarkable things about uncoated washi paper is how well it takes inkjet. Western made papers without inkjet coatings print very soft and muted. Uncoated washi has a beautiful sheen to it and allows the ink to set up rather than sink deep into it as would uncoated western cotton papers. That is part of the allure of printing on washi. When they are inkjet coated you can expect deeper blacks, bit more sharpness, and of course a bit more color saturation.

Most of the Awagami line up is extremely thin. Where a typical western inkjet paper is minimum 180gsm, most washi is less than 60gsm and many are under 20gsm. Their thinness is not a deterrent to ink retention. Some of the more recent Awagami papers like Biazan, are incredibly thick

All of them benefit by custom profiling.

If I were you I would request paper samplers from Awagami and also try Hiromi papers in California. Hiromi imports papers not only from Awagami, but from nearly 100 paper mills specializing in washi. Usually these samplers are inexpensive and feature a sheet of letter sized paper. Do not shy away from uncoated. Try printing the same image on each sheet and look at them on the wall as well as by putting a bright white or a black sheet behind them (especially the thinner sheets.)

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7

Following up on your suggestion, and looking at Hiromi’s site, there are two sampler packs - one coated for inkjet printing ( Inkjet coated and one uncoated ( Digital Sampler. If I’m following you here, then the sampler a Piezographer (?) should try is the 2nd one, the uncoated. Don’t want to over burden you, but want to make sure I’m tracking you correctly. Thanks!

8

I would first get the inkjet coated paper. The uncoated paper requires some special curves that are in development.

best,
Walker

1 Like
9

For you Awagami paper fans,
I just noticed this offer of 50 rolls (of 44"x 49ft 70gsm smooth inkjet coated one side) for sale in NYC that were purchased for a project but turned out not to be right for the proposed use.
They’re asking $250 per roll, and I suspect they’re negotiable since they have 50 rolls to dispose of.
https://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/art/d/japanese-kozo-inkjet-paper/6695163748.html
It appears that the same Awagami paper roll is available via special order at B and H for almost $400/roll.
Enjoy,
Brodie

10

One seller of this paper (freestylephoto.biz) says Best used with Epson Velvet Fine Art Media Setting for what that’s worth.

11

So far I’ve found the Awagami 13x19 250g Bamboo difficult to print on with my Epson 4880 and Pro Ink set. It seems tiny hair like fibers on the papers surface pick up ink as the print head moves across and consequently stain the white margins with ink. Increasing the platen gap from standard to wide helps, but the problem is not totally eliminated at this setting either. All other thick matte papers I use, H. Museum Rag, H. Bamboo, etc don’t do this and are fine with the platen gap set to standard. I lightly brush and blow the paper’s surface and make sure the paper is flat, something I do with all the paper I use.

Any suggestions?

Thank you,

JP