Hahnemuhle Albrecht Durer paper review

A 210gsm matte textured watercolour paper

During Keith’s testing of the Canon iPF 6400/6450 printer we had quite a range of papers to try, giving a bit more of a feel for how the printer would perform in our main area of printing, the fine art/photographic market.

The lightest paper used was a 210gsm mould made textured art paper from Hahnemuhle.

Article Index

• About the paper
• Using icc profiles
• Print Quality
• Summary

About the paper

The paper is a cotton/cellulose mix that has no optical brighteners (OBAs). The surface is quite finely textured, in a way that feels slightly rough to the fingertip.

Prints feel relatively light and the light transmission of the paper (3.5%) mean that you need to pay a bit more attention to the backing materials and handling when mounting. The surface finish though gives a much more solid look – you almost expect prints to be thicker when you pick them up.

This from Hahnemuhle:

• “Albrecht Durer – a white, 50% cotton, 50% a-cellulose paper – guarantees archival standards. The mould-made watercolour paper features a distinct textured surface. With its premium matt inkjet coating Albrecht Durer meets the highest industry standards regarding density, colour gamut, colour graduation and image sharpness while preserving the special touch and feel of genuine art paper.
  Compatible with pigmented and dye inkjet systems.”

Available sizes

ICC profiles and media settings

The paper was profiled for the iPF6450 after creating a custom media setting, based on a Canon watercolour paper (FineArt Txtr).

The profile was built using a ~2900 patch target, measured on an X-rite i1iSis spectrophotometer and processed using X-rite i1Profiler software.

The Albrecht Durer paper is also the one used for linearity testing in the black and white printing section of the iPF6400/6450 review.

Some of the test prints.

Print Quality

The print surface is textured, with a very distinctive rough feel if you run your fingers over it. The thinner paper does make it somewhat susceptible to creasing if picked up roughly – the fact that it looks thicker than it actually is, makes this something to watch for.

Although it contains no OBA’s the paper is fairly white, but its warmth does show if put next to a brighter paper, so be careful if mixing paper types for display.

A closer view of the texture (roll length is up/down in this view)

The surface held detail very well (no effect from the texture) and managed a deepest black density of around 1.65 (measured during the B&W print testing).

Below, Reed beds at Snape, on a stormy day.

As a landscape and architectural printer, I tend not to print much of my work on textured papers, much preferring a smooth finish (like the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag BW 310 I also looked at), but did find quite a few of my softer images, like the Canon Beach one above, that drew favourable comment from visitors.