Which side of the paper to print on

How to tell which side of inkjet paper is the one to print on

It’s normally pretty obvious which side you need to print on when using paper for inkjet printers. However I was testing an Epson 3880 recently and decided to use some HP paper, in particular HP Hahnemuhle Watercolour Paper (210 gsm).

The paper looks pretty much identical on either side, and once I’d picked up a couple of sheets it’s not clear which side is for printing.

Why it matters what way you put the paper into the printer

Specialist ink jet and fine art papers are actually much more complex in their construction than you might think.

Some have many layers to capture and hold inks. These layers may or may not look different – the two pictures below show that the results are quite different, but most people don’t want to waste a sheet to find out.

Epson Velvet is supposedly more white on the side to print on (a very nice cotton rag paper 260g/m2, with 19 ml thickness. It has an ISO brightness of 94%, and opacity of 96%) Well, I’ve looked and can’t see much difference…

Lick it and see

Move your mouse over the image below to see the difference between printing on different sides of the paper.

My own favourite test is to -lightly- moisten the tip of my finger and touch the corner of a sheet. If you drag your fingertip a bit, the printing side will just seem that bit more ‘sticky’.

Practice on some old scraps of paper and you will notice the effect quite easily.

The inkjet media coatings are used ensure that the ink and paper surface react in a consistent manner and don’t run or soak in too much.

Look at the detail of the prints below, to see how different coloured inks have different properties which have changed how the print looks (move mouse over image to see the two prints).

Our monochrome test image

We’ve lots more printer related info on this site, including specific printer test images like the one to the right.

There are images for both colour and black and white.

Other related resources on this site

• Matching prints to your screen – can it be done?
• Why are your prints too dark? – simple fixes
• Choosing a working space – colour management when editing images
• Keith’s thoughts on black and white printing
• Getting into Black and White – an interview with Keith Cooper
• Basic info on monitor set-up

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More print related information

For information about other printers, paper reviews and profiling (colour management) see the Printing section of the main Articles and Reviews page, or use the search box at the top of any page. There are also specific index pages for any articles connected with the following topics:

• Digital Black and White
• Tutorials and 'How to' articles
• Colour Management
• Printer test images
• Why do your prints look wrong?

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