REVIEW UPDATE: Since this review initially ran, we've redone our testing using the Epson 3880's Rear Manual Feed paper path -- as opposed to the Front Manual Feed path -- and have experienced no paper jams with Epson's Cold Press papers. Print quality, particularly for color landscapes and B&W images, remains exceptional on these art papers. We wholeheartedly endorse them to any photographer looking to add some pizazz to their inkjet print work.


There are days when I wonder why I still bother to print. I had just such a crisis of faith recently while testing Epson's "Signature Worthy" Hot Press and Cold Press Art Papers. The photo papers, which are Epson's latest take on fine-art watercolor or cotton rag papers, are capable of producing some glorious, artful prints. Getting them to behave the way you want them to can be a major chore, however.

I spent an expletive-filled Saturday afternoon last month ripping mangled sheets of this pricey medium out of an Epson Stylus Pro 3880 printer. Getting the Cold Press papers—which have a rough, textured surface—to do a proper manual load into the 3880 was such a pain I started to think Epson should consider using that Bob Marley tune, "Jammin'" in its commercials. "We're jammin', jammin' and I hope you like jammin', too!"

Okay, perhaps I'm being a bit harsh. After some trial and error I was able to produce some beautiful color and black-and-white 13 x 19-inch photo prints with these art papers from Epson and if the process could be frustrating—not to mention expensive—the results were wonderful when done right. (Editor's note: As this story went to press, Epson informed us that the papers should be manually fed into the rear slot not the front slot to prevent jams.)

By the end of the day, with at least a dozen high-quality photo prints that I could either hang or sell, I had again slipped to the side of the "printing is worth it" schism even while experiencing heart palpitations every time a Cold Press sheet fed awkwardly into the 3880.

In the world of digital photography, we're so used to getting images the way we want them with just a modicum of effort and expense, printing on temperamental art papers is almost like stepping back into the darkroom. The question: is this for the better or worse?