Red River Paper's going to Photoshop World

Come see Red River Paper at booth 544 September 3-5 in Las Vegas. Great teachers, events, and classes make PSW a truly first class event.

We will host a number of speakers in the Red River booth during trade show hours. Stay tuned to the blog for a schedule.

Go to the Photoshop World website

Photo Stitching Digital Panoramas

Related to our line of pano sized inkjet papers, it is important to learn how to get your file ready to print. Not every pano is captured fully in your camera. In some cases, you can stitch together multiple files to make a single image.

Cambridge In Color has a fine tutorial on the process that you might find helpful.

Click here for Photo Stitching Digital Panoramas

Canon Cost Per Print Study Published

Following up on the recent Epson R1900 and R2400 cost per print analysis, Red River Paper is pleased to share our findings for the Canon Pro 9000 and Pro 9500. The study investigates the cost of ink per print for based on analysis of ink tank usage for 400 8x10 prints.

Summary of ink costs by print size for the Canon Pro 9000 and Pro 9500 printers:

Printer	4x6	5x7	8x10	11x14	13x19
PRO 9000	$0.19	$0.28	$0.64	$1.23	$1.98
PRO 9500	$0.23	$0.35	$0.80	$1.54	$2.46

Read the full report here

Meet the Red River Paper Pros

Red River Paper has been fortunate to be introduced to some of the best photographers, artists, and creatives in the industry.

These are all working professionals who make their living shooting, creating, and teaching others. We’ve brought them together as Red River Paper Pros to share their experience with our company, products, and how inkjet printing influences their business. We hope you enjoy their work as much as we do.

See the Red River Paper Pros here

Cool Weekend Links

Cool Links

Flickr HDR Group

Strobist.com

Tilt-Shift Photography Photoshop Tutorial - must see fun

Deke’s 101 Photoshop Tips in 5 Minutes

BertMonroy.com

"Color Profiles for Inkjet Made Easy"

DPReview.com printing forum

Custom Paper Sizes for Inkjet Printers

Custom Paper Sizes

Learn how to get set up and printing

Whether it's your own special paper size for a portfolio, or using Red River's great lineup of inkjet greeting cards, you will need to create and manage custom paper sizes.

To help you out, we have a series of web and video tutorials that show the process for Epson, Canon, and HP on both PC and Mac platforms. Start learning more here.

Polar Placid Lite Half Price

Polar Placid offers a unique and subtle semi-matte finish and brilliant photo reproductions from any inkjet printer.

FOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Placid is excellent for comps, proofing, and layouts - especially at these great prices.

FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
Use Placid to proof, or make photo books. Compatible with any inkjet printer

Shop here and save 50% off the regular price of Polar Placid Lite

R2880 Color Profiles for Red River Inkjet Paper

ICC profiles have been posted for the Red River papers compatible with the new Epson R2880. Download them here

The addition of the R2880 brings our library up to 448 custom ICC profiles for Red River paper. One more reason Red River Paper is the SMARTER way to buy inkjet paper.

Print Panos On Your Inkjet Printer

A great feature of inkjet printers is that you can print projects not readily available from your local photo lab. Take for example panoramic scenes. Affordable stitching software, or just a little hard work in Photoshop, and you can have great looking panos of just about any subject.

Red River Paper offers two great sizes for pano printing:

8.5" x 25"
13" x 38"

Now you can print panos and wide format photography even on small desktop printers. Due to a limitation in Canon software, Canon printers can only print up to 23.9", so the 25" size will be your choice. If you have a 13" wide Canon, we can cut 13x38 down to 13x25 for a small fee (call for details).

Shop for our pano inkjet paper sizes here

You can learn more about pano photography, software, and get help with custom paper sizes here

Buy an Epson R2880 or R1900?

An updated article is now available that puts the Epson R1900 and the Epson R2880 printers head to head. We've left the full reviews to others, but you can use this article as a basic guide to "diagnose" your needs and pick the right printer. Read Buy an Epson R1900 or Epson R2880? here

Nik + Red River Paper = $30 Off Your Order

You need powerful, easy to use tools in your photo workflow - AND - you need premium quality affordable inkjet paper to print your creations.

So what's a photographer to do?? Save $30...that's what.

Order a Nik Software title like Viveza, DFine 2.0, or Color Efex 3.0 from us, add any Red River brand paper to your cart, and get an instant $30 credit!

Its easy, saves you money, and makes your life generally more pleasant.

Click here to learn more and order

Graphic Designers Take Note

If you need a new inkjet printer for comps, layouts, and portfolio work, you need to consider the Epson 1400. They are inexpensive, fast, and offer color and detail that are amazing.

This 13" wide printer, with Red River's line of great inkjet paper, will make your work look its best and sell more to your clients.

Shipping Tips

Everyone knows - Pricey fuel means paying more for shipping costs. You can beat this problem by thinking ahead or by calling a friend. Tip #1 - Order More, Order Less Often As you add more to a single order, your shipping cost per item goes down. Tip #2 - Share with a friend Call a fellow inkjet friend, and put together a bigger order (see above), or split the paper and freight.

Let us deliver You save fuel

RRP GreenPix - Or How to be a More "Green" Photographer

Red River's GreenPix, the world's only photo weight 100% recycled content inkjet paper, got a mention over at the phototodo.com blog this week.

Read their post, "It's Easy Being Green" on more enviromentally friendly products for photographers.

Cost Per Print - A Look at Real World Inkjet Costs

A new study by Red River Paper investigates the cost of ink per print for two popular Epson printers, the R1900 and the R2400. With debate continuing to rage regarding the cost of ink, cost of prints, and even cost per gallon, we undertook this 600 print experiment to see if our guidance about ink costs over the years was accurate.

What we found is that the ink cost per 8x10 print is actually lower than our estimates. Adding a margin of error back into the estimates still allows for what we consider very affordable cost given the alternatives for obtaining 8x10 and larger prints.

Here is a summary (amounts are cost of ink by printer and print size):

Printer	4x6	5x7	8x10	11x14	13x19
R2400 PK	$0.27	$0.40	$0.90	$1.75	$2.80
R2400 MK	$0.23	$0.33	$0.76	$1.45	$2.33
R1900 PK	$0.19	$0.28	$0.63	$1.22	$1.96

Adding in the cost of our most popular paper, UltraPro Satin, you arrive at a full bleed 8x10 price of $1.22 for the Epson R2400. Compared to a custom photo lab, and given the long print life of Epson UltraChrome inks, we feel there is a compelling argument for inkjet printing.

Again, and we stress this a much as possible in writing, the choice to use an inkjet printer is personal and based purely on economics. Your time, your level of quality control needs, and your desire for on-demand photo output are the deciding factors in how and if you use an inkjet printer.

Read the whole on the cost of inkjet printing here

Printerville's Take on the Epson R2880

Some first impressions of the new R2880 from the writers over at www.printerville.net

New Epson R2880 Review

The replacement for the Epson R2400 is the R2880. A review from the UK is online now.

Aurora Fine Art Inkjet Paper - Roll Sale

Save up to 45% off regular price for Red River's Aurora Fine Art White or Natural.

Aurora is a smooth surface, 100% cotton archival inkjet paper. The Natural version has no optical brighteners. Our rolls are 50 feet and come wound on a 3" core.

Aurora is compatible with Epson, Canon, and HP printers. Custom ICC profiles are available on our website.

Great pricing makes fine art printing truly affordable:

17" x 50' $32
24" x 50' $38

Compare to similar papers at over $80.

Shop here

Premium Gloss PLUS Inventory Reduction

8.5x11 50 Sheets now on sale $14.50 / box

Premium Gloss PLUS - What exactly is it?

Here is a quick brief on Premium Gloss PLUS, and why you might need a few boxes.

Premium Gloss PLUS is a cast coated paper on a plain paper base stock. This is different from the resin coated papers like UltraPro Gloss that have a photo base stock like a traditional photo. Cast coating is harder than resin, and can better withstand handling.

Premium Gloss PLUS is also unique in that it is compatible with dye and pigment inks. As far as we know, it is the only cast coated paper to work with pigment inks.

So why buy? Premium Gloss PLUS is stiffer, thicker, and universally compatible. Plus you can write on the back with any pen or pencil. Use it for photography, portfolios, business cards, presentations, and much more.

At 29 cents/sheet for a super high gloss photo finish, it is uniquely affordable.

Learn more and order a box today

Partner Offer from Frame Destination

Take 10% off any mat board order until May 27.

Frame Destination is our favorite place to buy custom frames, off the shelf frames in many sizes, and great quality mat board.

Use CODE: RR4698

10% OFF – May 20^th 2008 thru May 27^th 2008

Start shopping here

Arctic Polar Satin 8.5x11 30% OFF

Arctic Polar Satin

8.5x11 100 Sheets $30.00

We have a limited quantity of this premier Red River brand on sale to reduce our inventory. Normally $43 / box, you should really take advantage of the big savings while supplies last!

Order here

C4FAP Peace Corps Photo Exhibit

The Center for Fine Art Photography in cooperation with Beet Street, will be hosting a show of photographs created by Peace Corps Volunteers during the 2008 Peace Corps
Reunion in Fort Collins, Colorado. Selected images will be exhibited in the Center’s gallery during the reunion, August 20 – August 30, 2008 and on the Center’s website for two additional years. There are also plans for a traveling exhibition.

The theme of the exhibition is open and pictures will be accepted from all active and former Peace Corps Volunteers. The Center is looking for images depicting Peace Corps activities throughout the world. There is no submission fee for this show. The show is underwritten by Beet Street*.

Images are due on line or via mail by May 29, 2008 and notification of images selected for the show will begin June 10, 2008. The exhibition dates are August 20 – August 30, 2008 and the Peace Corps Reunion is August 22 – August 24, 2008

To submit images online please visit The Center for Fine Art Photography’s website at www.c4fap.org, and click on the International Peace Corps Show Picture Submission link.

Photojojo Features Red River Paper

Our GreenPix Warm Tone is featured in the latest Photojojo photography newsletter featuring
10 Tips for Being a Greener Photographer

GreenPix Warm Tone is the world's only 100% post-consumer recycled content premium photo inkjet paper (that's a lot of descrtiption!) Truly unique, you can use GreenPix for lots of photo printing apps like greeting cards, book marks, snapshots, and calendars.


With over 170,000 readers, Photojojo is a twice daily e-newsletter that features photo tips, DIY projects, and gear.

Update: Epson R1900 or Epson R2400..Which to Buy?

An updated version of the popular R1800 or R2400 article is now available. We take a look as the Epson R1900 and the R2400 to see what each offers. The key to the article is self-diagnosis on the part of the buyer. They need to understand and define their printing needs. Once this is complete, the choice will become crystal clear.

Read the new "Epson R1900 vs. Epson R2400, which to buy?" article here.

Guide to Traditional and Digital Print Stability

The Image Permanence Institute offers a free downloadable guide to traditional and digital print stability. The guide does a good job of explaining the forces at work in print fade and decay. It's good information to have on hand.

Download the PDF file here You can also go here to request printed copies for workshops or meetings.

Red River Paper uses the IPI for all of our independent fade testing. We're one of the very few independent paper houses to expend the time and resources conducting such tests.

The Image Permanence Institute (IPI) is a university-based, nonprofit research laboratory devoted to scientific research in the preservation of visual and other forms of recorded information. It is the world's largest independent laboratory with this specific scope. IPI was founded in 1985 through the combined efforts and sponsorship of the Rochester Insitute of Technology and the Society for Imaging Science and Technology.

Arctic Polar Luster - In Depth

Setting the bar for premium photographic inkjet paper, Arctic Polar Luster is the paper pros demand and enthusiasts deserve. This is the height of true modern photographic look and feel. Extra weight and profoundly beautiful surface will make your photography look its best.

Arctic Luster features a deep luster finish (explain this) which offers the perfect balance between deeply saturated color and minimized gloss reflectivity. If you use pigment inks, this is especially helpful and will greatly reduce gloss differential and bronzing.

• Optimized for pigment inks with minimal bronzing and gloss differential
• Extra coating layer on back helps slow fade with dye inks
• 13mil photo thickness
• Acid free base stock. Coating slightly acidic. (explain this)
• Cool white paper tonality

Compatible with any inkjet printer, Arctic Polar Luster fits an important niche for professional photographers. Increasingly, pros and enthusiasts require a high-end photo feel product that combines quality and consistent usability. Unlike many of the new boutique photo papers flooding the market, this Luster will feed consistently, withstand handling, show minimal fingerprinting, and offer cost savings.

Surface Photos

These photos are intended to give a sense of the elegant finish and lustral qualities of this paper. Note that on the scale of luster surfaces, Arctic Polar is among the deepest, similar to a benchmark product, Epson Luster.

You can learn more and order here

Xtrain and Russell Brown

If you are looking for a video tutorial site for a wide variety of digital photography subjects, consider signing up at www.xtrain.com. They have a number of free courses including Dr. Brown's Photoshop Laboratory and the Russell Brown Show. Both feature Adobe's Senior Creative Director, Russell Brown.

Russell was kind enough to include Red River Paper in his Digital Printing on a PC & MAC in Photoshop video. You should watch it here. For a full listing of his free tutorial classes click here

Satin / Luster Inkjet Paper Surface Depth Primer

Satin Surface Depth Primer
Whether called Satin, Luster, Pearl, or Silk, these names almost always refer to an E-Surface finish. Just look to the nearest photo lab print and you will most likely see this pebbled finish. The DEPTH of this surface varies from paper to paper. The more shallow the depth the less you will notice the surface on a printed image. See depth chart:

Shallow

Arctic Polar Satin (cool tone)

Premium Polar Satin (warm tone)

Reference: Epson Premium SemiGloss

---

Medium

RR UltraPro Satin

Reference: Ilford Pearl

---

Deep

Arctic Polar Luster

Reference: Epson Premium Luster

START SHOPPING Red River's great lineup of satin / luster here

Inkjet Papers and Suppliers for Panoramic Photography

Panorama photography is one of the fastest growing segments in the field. With the aid of widely available stitching software it is easy to capture simple 2 to 3+ shot landscape panoramas effectively turning a 8MB camera single image to an equivalent 16MB to 24MB+ file.

Add to that the well kept secret, that Epson and Canon inkjet printers can utilize extra long sheets of paper - perfect for printing your own panoramic images.

Red River Paper has long lead the way with hard to find sizes, especially in larger sheets. We have just expanded our offering of pano sized papers in glossy, satin, matte, and fine art media.

To bring more attention to the panoramic photography and pano printing world, we've partnered with some leading companies from this niche, and posted a panoramic photography and printing resources page here.

Please contact us with your thoughts or suggestions for making that webpage better.

Epson R1900 Color ICC Profiles Ready

We just received new ICC profiles from our color management partner Chromix.

They are ready to download at the Epson R1900 color profiles page

Partner Offers from Frame Destination and Nodal Ninja

Take 6% off READY MADE FRAMES from Frame Destination. These include special FDI frames, and Nielsen and Photo-Collection ready-made frames.

Discount Code: RR601899
Good for 6% Off FDI and Nielsen Ready-Mades
Offer expires 3/30/08

SHOP FOR FRAMES HERE

NODAL NINJA - Panoramic Tripod heads for superior pano images using your DSLR camera.

Mention Red River Paper will save $2o off a Nodal Ninja order

CLICK HERE

Papers for the Epson R1900

Red River Paper's selection of inkjet paper for the new Epson R1900 is sure to meet any need. From the highest grade photo luster, to specialty stock for books, proofing, and greeting cards, our lineup is formidable and will save you money over the big name brands.

If you are a new Epson R1900 owner, you should certainly try the Pigment Ink Sample Kit for only $7.99. It includes two 8.5x11 sheets of 19 different inkjet papers for your printer.

Shop the Epson R1900 inkjet paper selection here

Order a R1900 sample kit here

Red River's Recommend Reading List

We've started an Amazon.com store of the top recommended books about fine inkjet printing. Also included are great books on digital photography in general, workflow, and software help.

Check it out here

Product Announcement - 60lb. Premium Matte Double Sided

Now available, 60lb. Premium Matte Double Sided. Use this top notch paper for portfolios, books, graphic design comps, and many more projects. It features a brilliant blue white shade and coating that reproduces deeply saturated color and sharp details.

This paper was brought on as a semi-replacement for the dearly departed 65lb. Premium Matte. While not exactly the same, the new paper should work well for those who need a little extra thickness and sturdy feel.

See the new 60lb. Premium Matte Double Sided here

17x25 Inkjet Papers and Frames

Looking for 17x25 inkjet papers? Red River's lineup of 17x25 is comprehensive and continues to expand. This size is perfect for full frame 16x24 prints from the Epson 3800, 4880, Canon ipf5000, and other pro level Epson, Canon, and HP printers.

Shop for 17x25 inkjet papers here

Now that you have your 17x25 paper needs met, how about some frames? Frame Destination has one of the only ready made 17x25 frames available. Please visit their site 17x25 frame page here

Red River Paper to customers: Buy a humidifier!

It's still cold and dry throughout most of the USA. This means your inkjet paper is not happy. Remember that paper wants to return to its natural state that is basically:

75 degrees Fahrenheit
50% Relative Humidity

If your printing space is not there, then your coated inkjet papers will likely curl, warp, and cause feeding trouble. Buying a simple humidifier can go a long way to solving these issues.

Harman Gloss FB 8.5x11 50 Sheets $60

For a limited time....we have 75 boxes of Harman Gloss 8.5 11 50 SHEETS FB AL Baryta inkjet paper for $60 each. Compare to the regular sale price of $76.

If you're already a fan of this paper its time to stock up. If you are not familiar with Harman well you're in for a treat. Using a Baryta base, the Harman Gloss mimics the look, feel, and performance of fibre base lab papers. For the ultimate in black density and a truly unique feel, try a box of Harman today.

Order here

More Epson 4880 7880 9880 color profiles posted

The balance of the profile library for Epson Pro x880 printers has been posted. We now have the complete line of MK profiles for our matte and fine art papers available.

Click here for the profile library home page

Denali Gloss Photo Inkjet on Sale 50% Off

Denalil Gloss is on sale 1/2 off (all sizes except 4x6 and 5x7).

Denali is a nano-coated photobase high gloss paper. Compatible with all inkjet printers, Denai is a premium grade product that reproduces tack-sharp detail and bold colors. Made in Switzerland, you can count on Denali to make your printing experience enjoyable.

Custom ICC profiles for many Epson and Canon printers are available for Denali Gloss.

Shop and order Denali Gloss here

Harman FB Gloss 17x25, 17" and 24" Rolls in Stock

We finally have Harman 17x25 sheets, 17" rolls and 24" rolls in stock.

Harman continues to be the favorite Fibre Gloss inkjet paper of choice in the market. If you have not tried this paper you should! The sample kit is only $4.99 for 5 sheets. Order one here

Center for Fine Art Photography - Call for Entries

Street Photography - Photographing life in public spaces and the many elements that affect our daily lives “on the street.” The images can be in urban or rural settings, and from any country or culture in the world.

Gallery Exhibition - March 28 – April 26, 2008.

Awards: Presentation in CameraArts magazine Artists' ShowCase, $600 in awards, Two-year online exhibition - More. Information and online submissions at:

The Center for Fine Art Photography: www.c4fap.org Deadline: January 15, 2008.

Epson R1900 Announced

Rick LePage details the announcement of the Epson R1900 over at Macworld.com here

The replacement for the R1800, new developments include changes to the ink system. The new printer features the gloss optimizer, matte and photo black, and cyan, magenta, yellow, red and orange. Also, the print head has been redesigned to help minimize clogging.

Photo Book Roundup from Photoshop News

Here's a great roundup of photography books by Photoshopnews.com. There are plenty of titles that deal with workflow and inkjet printing. Check it out here

via Photoshopnews.com

Red River Paper on Photo Talk Radio

The hosts at Photo Talk Radio were kind enough to invite our VP on their show to talk a bit about papers and inks. The show will air on 12/29, so here's your chance to get a sneak listen.

The show also featured Kevin Kubota of Kubota Image Tools.

You can listen or download the audio here

Special Year End Sales Event

Take advantage of this special Customer Appreciation Bonus through December 30th.

Here's the Deal:
Save 10% on all orders through 12/30/2007

Stock up and save even more!

10+ Boxes Save 15%
20+ Boxes Save 20%
50+ Boxes Save 25%

Good for Red River Brand papers ONLY. Discount does not apply to inks, non-Red River papers, and digital accessories. Offer is not retroactive.

OSX Leopard and Printing from Photoshop

Russell Brown (Adobe Senior Creative Director) has a new series of videos explaining print workflow for the Epson 3800, Canon Pro9500, and HP B9180. The videos address some printing troubles that plagued Leopard users running CS3. Worth the look even if you have not experienced trouble:

Epson 3800

Canon Pro9500

HP B9180

Imaging Insider Back Up

After about a month of no activity, our friends at www.imaginginsider.com are back up and posting. If you have not seen this site, go there now and bookmark it. Imaging Insider provides an in-depth look at everything photographic from capture to output in newsfeed format.

2007 Inkjet Gift Guide Ready

If you have a friend or relative that loves to shoot and print, or if you know someone who needs a shove into the digital age, here are some great starter gifts for this Christmas season.

Red River Paper Inkjet Gift Guide 2007

Photoshop CS3 Printing

If you have experienced recent trouble with print quality from Photoshop CS3, you may find this document from Adobe helpful. Download the PDF by clicking here

Cold Weather Printing

Cold Weather Printing Alert

When its cold it is usually very dry. Low humidity conditions can affect paper, causing it to curl as it loses water content. Curled paper may then have trouble feeding into your printer. This has been a problem in the commercial printing industry forever. Now that we inkjet users are all "printers", we have to deal with simlar issues.

So what can we do to minimize cold weather printing problems? The best solution is to humidify the room where your printer resides. A humidifer can be found at any local drug or hardware store and usually costs between $15 and $50, depending on its capacity. Another approach is to leave a pan of water in the room. Simple evaporation can help to raise the local humidity. Even a small increase in relative humidity can make a very large difference. The ideal relative humidity for printing is 50% at 74 degrees. Knowing your relative humidity is certainly helpful. You can by a personal hygrometer like this one for between $10 and $30.

Also in cold weather, static electricity becomes much more prevalent. That static can make paper stick together and misfeed. Here again, adding moisture can help reduce the problem as well as utilizing a fabric softner. Products such as Bounce can relieve the built up charge in a stack of paper. Lightly rubbing Bounce on a stack of paper, or attaching a sheet to the back paper tray of your printer will lower the static charge of paper.

A possible quick fix if you have trouble feeding. Take a look at your paper. If you notice a dominant curl in one direction, try to bend the paper the opposite way just before printing. This should flatten out the paper enough to begin the job. You will need to do this to each few sheets as your printing job continues.

Ken Gehle wins 23rd Annual PDN Nikon Self Promotion Award Using Red River Paper

Ken Gehle wins 23^rd Annual PDN Nikon Self Promotion Award for “Rural Gas”

Atlanta, GA November 13, 2007 - “Rural Gas”, a handmade photography book by Ken Gehle, location photographer based in Atlanta, GA has won first place in the 2007 23^rd Annual PDN Nikon Self Promotion Award in the category of Direct Mail. The Annual PDN Nikon Self Promotion Awards recognize the extraordinary self-promotional efforts of photographers in all genres.

“Rural Gas” is the result of a personal project Gehle had been working on over several years. After numerous trips throughout the Southeast seeking out and photographing old gas stations, Gehle decided to combine his favorite images into a book.

One hundred hand-made books were sent to a group of highly researched advertising agency buyers throughout the United States.

Books were printed in-house using two Epson 1280 printers equipped with Media Street Niagara CIS and perfect bound by hand using a custom jig. The paper stock used was Red River Premium Matte.

Gehle says of his project, “I wanted to send a very unique promotion piece that showcased one of my many personal projects. Recipients of the book called me personally to express how much they enjoyed the mailer and my work“.

The project is featured online at http://www.pdngallery.com/contests/selfpromo/23/ and in the October 2007 issue of Photo District News.

To view the books in its entirety visit the project’s page at http://www.kengehle.com/.

Pick the Premium Matte Inkjet Greeting Card That's Right for You

Its greeting card time again. As usual, we'll be highlighting all of the reasons why YOU should print custom i