Video Script

Hello, my name is John Read, and I am the Lyson Photographic trainer. Over the next nine short movie clips, I hope to be able to show you how the Lyson chemists and technicians have been able to create and select a range of professional inkjet media which superbly complements the best modern inkjet inks available today, whether pigment, or dye-based in origin.

I will be describing each inkjet paper in turn, first quoting the laboratory description of the paper, then give you my personal impressions, and show you a few sample prints to camera, but really the best way for you to fairly evaluate these papers is to get us to send you a Lyson sample media pack, which contains one A4 sheet of each, to allow you to print on for yourself. Perhaps the best method if for you to create a half A4 of your most challenging colour image, and combine it with your favourite black and white image on the other half – as you see here... Shows prepared A4 test print..

Print out each paper with your own test image, so you can compare tonality, white point, black level, gradation, colour saturation – all the things that are important to your print appearance. Alternatively, you can send us your image in digital form, and let us print it out for you to evaluate.

Remember that modern pigment inksets need to be set up with the correct black ink: Matte Black for matt and fine art papers, and Photo Black for glossy, satin, or papers which exhibit any sheen – If in doubt, always contact us for your best ink / paper combination..

There are a number of tricks of the trade for me to pass on to you when considering adopting a particular Inkjet paper for your production or occasional use – what do professional high-end photographers look for in an inkjet paper?

Well, obviously, the price has got to be competitive – bear in mind, however, that you can always buy a cheaper inkjet paper of low quality, that is easy, but you throw away a large part of the quality of your image if you adopt a cheaper paper that simply does not perform. Lyson have reduced their pricing over their range by an average of 20%, so now they compete with most consumer brands, and offer an extremely good deal when compared to the rest of the marketplace..

Take out your inkjet paper sheet – lay it on the table – does it lay absolutely flat? – You will be surprised how many well-known papers do not pass this test! – It is important that your media is presented perfectly flat, so your printer handles the media as uniformly as possible – there are many low quality inkjet medias out there which simply do not reliably feed through modern inkjet printers, because of insufficient media grip, incorrect media thickness, surface fibre breakdown..

Next test – try pushing a one pound coin across the surface of a printed page – does the coin leave a scratch mark? – Lyson media is created with an extremely durable coating, which is formulated to combine with quality brand inks to form an extremely tough surface..

For production Gloss and Satin papers, it is vital that the white base colour of your media is bright, clean white, not a creamy, or even yellowy base. It is incredible to me that many well known brand medias in gloss and satin/luster/pearl are presented in a cream base – remember, there are no white inks in your printer, so if you need to present clean white wedding dresses, you absolutely MUST start with an inkjet media which gives you a pure white starting point!

For matt and fine art media, look for it's ability to achieve a good rich black, but must also exhibit a smooth 'lift off' of density from black to deep shadow to mid shadow. The easiest way to check this is to print out a smooth gradation, which is easily created in Photoshop within the gradation tool, black to white. Check for the familiar 'blocking in' of shadows, often seen when using consumer quality media..

There are many other parameters that the Lyson laboratories look for and specify in their requirements for a professional inkjet media, but perhaps one of the most striking is how they insist that the paper is presented: Always packed in a substantial heavy professional black card box, with full overlapping lid, packed full with 30 sheets for Fine Art, 50 sheets for production gloss and satin, and 100 sheets per box for their professional matt proofing paper. They never supply skinny sleeved paper containers, always insist on a hermetically sealed shrink-wrap to preserve optimum moisture content, and finally, because they know what often finished prints are transported and shown from the inkjet media box, a professional subtle artwork to the outer casing, so as not to detract from your presentation..

One tip: Only take the correct number of sheets required for the print run from your paper box, AND ALWAYS REPLACE THE LID – Failure to keep your paper within the media box, and this applies to any brand of inkjet paper, can jeopardize the optimum moisture content of your paper, and could easily result in a less that perfect result..

A final tip: We will be looking at each Lyson media variety under my GTI professional viewer, which is foldable, and maintains a constant 5000 degree Kelvin viewing condition over an A3+ area even when we use the dimmer. Great for professionals who wish to show their prints to customers at the ideal light level and colour temperature. A non dimming version is available from us at around #300, and the dimming version we use here is priced at around #600. An alternative, much cheaper viewer is this desktop viewing light, which gives an extremely acceptable colour temperature, folds down to a tiny size, and is available from us at around #60. Click on the links below this movie screen if you are viewing online, and you will be able to buy either product straight away. Please note that clickable links appear underneath all these media review movies, enabling you to order online the particular paper I describe simply with one click.

As I have mentioned elsewhere in this video series, I travel around the country, attending photographic roadshows, in which I challenge photographers to give me their favourite prints for me to attempt to beat, when I print out the same image using Lyson professional inks and media. I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to start with the best basic components: the best inks, and the best media: Many times, when I see the print that I have to beat, I can tell that it is the inkjet paper which is letting the image presentation down, and it is an easy thing to put right.. Thank you for watching.