Repeat Request: What Paper Works For Digital Printing And Fountain Pen

April 26, 2018

Pen folks,

I apologize for posting this question again in a different sub-forum. In January there were only a couple of people who had no concrete suggestions for a suitable paper for both digital image printing *and* handwritten fountain pen messages.

I'm a photographer and want to mail reproductions of my own photographic images to friends, clients, and prospects. Most of the demand print world of today is accomplished with fused toner and turns out poorly calibrated, odd-looking color. Small batches pose high cost and I lose the spontaneity of printing my own images right in my office for targeted communication. When I started in the business we sought careful separations in CMYK with careful grey component replacement. Black magic, really.

OK, current day. I now use dye inks (in a high-end 13x19 printer.) Strathmore makes a folding "digital printing card" and matching envelope that ends up folded to 5x7 on an uncoated paper - pretty good for the photographic image but terrible for fountain pen inks. I have experimented with a fair number of inks and nibs. Some are better than others but there is usually way too much feathering. I have written several paper manufacturers for samples to consider buying the paper loose and either going to a converter for custom envelopes... several have not even answered my letters. You see the issue...

We fountain pen users are a tiny, specialized, platoon in a big army.

I tried an iron gall, Mandarin from KWZ. That feathered badly. The best ink in my limited experience is Noodler's Bay State Blue for its fast drying. This ink allows me to safely write on the slimy back of a Canon 4x6 glossy stock if I give it just a bit of time before throwing it into a mailbox as a 35-cent postcard. I considered the idea of printing on an 8.5x11 photo paper and folding it but usually the emulsion side cracks in a goofy way, and it's clearly a print... needs to be stationery.

I admit that there are many inks I have not tried. I found some smooth 100-lb cover card stock that's very good with my pens. But the smooth papers I find, like this cover stock, do NOT take color ink with enough "punch" for professional-level photography presentation. I also want a paper that either can be or is already made into matching envelopes.

OK, enough telling why I have NOT been successful. Please pass on any suggestions of card stock that works for both printer and pen. Doesn't have to fold. It's nicest if there's a matching envelope. In fact that's kind of the point of my request for help. A true stationery/personal letter experience.

Thanks in advance, everyone.

Jonathan

www.jonathanrawle.com

May 10, 2018

Your best bet is to contact your local printer.

You will be able to buy sample sheets and test them both with your printer and fountain pen.

They will also know which paper sample has matching envelopes.

If you find a paper that takes both printing and fountain pen wonderfully but doesn't have a matching envelope, there are many mylar templates, envelope makers available in craft stores, I know it sounds labor intensive, but your requirements are pretty specific in the world of either cheap printer paper or Rhodia for fountain pen.

I think Clarefontaine makes printing paper but, I don't know if this is available in the U.S

I believe that, in Seattle, the University bookstore might carry Clairefontaine printing paper, if not Exaclair is the U.S distributor for Clairefontaine products. https://exaclair.com/

May your search be successful!

Edited May 10, 2018 by Anne-Sophie

May 11, 2018

As mentioned, Clairefontaine makes a Digital Copy Paper in various grades from 100gsm on up, as does Fuji-Xerox. Also Hewlett-Packard.

However, I back up the suggestion to have a talk to any commercial print shops in your area. Take your fountain pen with you.

As for ink, you may want to look at pigmented inks (Sailor make a range of Storia Pigment inks) which are FP safe.

Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng is a bulletproof purplish ink that sticks to 'most anything.

May 14, 2018

Thank you both (dcwaites, Anne-Sophie) for your suggestions. I do work with my good local print shop. I spent lots of time in one part of the print production world so I learned early to lean on the expertise of printers. They evaluate/buy a lot of paper for specific needs. They are always willing to talk about the exact task/problem I want to solve. They also have access to converters (the companies that create envelopes).

I now believe I will print the cards on the ink-jet-and-photo-friendly folded stock from Strathmore and insert a a6 card for the handwritten message. This allows the recipient to use the card if they want. The envelope supplied by Strathmore with their "Ink-Jet Cards" better shows handwritten fountain pen ink than the cards with which it is supplied.

The more influential element of my problem is photo reproduction (ink-jet printer) on a paper that then accepts and displays well fountain pen handwriting. I would print - through lithography - sets of cards but treasure the ability to create a one-off or small run of three or for cards with a chosen image from my image library. Short run and lithography are not cost-effective partners.

At another FPN-er's suggestion I tried an iron gall ink and that did not help on my Strathmore ink-jet cards. Noodler's "bulletproof" Bay State Blue is better than most - on some papers I have tested for the pen need. Unfortunately I like very wet nibs! They feather the most on nay stock.

Here's a different way to accomplish my communications need, albeit way less formal: I write with Bay State Blue on the back of Canon 4x6 glossy photo paper (Canon "Photo Paper Plus Glossy II PP-201"). It dries reasonably quickly and if I have to hustle it into the mailbox I have a hairdryer plugged in within reach of my desk to make possible that quick turn-around. A 35-cent stamp stays put on that surface. This paper is available inexpensively. The cards survive the USPS machinery... I test this by mailing far-flung friends occasionally just to test that survival and ask them to send me a shot of any damage to front or back.

My two needs are likely impossible to meld into one paper stock. No one here at FPN has solved this.

All suggestions and additions are welcome.

May 30, 2018

We love pictures.

I confess, I use a Xerox Phaser / Color Cube for my color pictures. It is not a laser printer, it is more of a crayon printer. The color correction is awesome. It has no dry time (because it uses solid ink) and I can use any paper (though my older versions use only specific sized paper). It is super cheap to run and I can adjust the colors individually.

When I do postcards, I run them through with card stock or heavier weight and I can print them using mail merge and Endicia so I don't need to add on a stamp. The solid ink is amazingly resilient. I went to the Xerox webpage to see if I could find the newest iteration and could not find one. I've had one of these since they were Tektronix printers 20+ years ago. These are amazing.

If you like, I can see about sending you a letter / postcard. Send me a PM.