A Review of the Hahnemühle Matte FineArt Textured Collection

Already a few years back I wrote an article on the different papers in Hahnemühle’s Glossy FineArt Collection. Please check out that article for why I went with Hahnemühle as paper manufacturer and some basic information on their paper collections.

By and large my printing has been focused on semi-gloss papers so far, with Photo Rag Pearl’s  warm tone and soft pearl-finish being my favorite for most of my printing. However, I also have a stockpile of Hahnemühle’s popular matte, smooth Photo Rag paper, which occasionally sets the right stage for more muted photos with soft colors and lower contrasts.

So this time around I wanted to take a closer look at other matte papers from Hahnemühle, expecially the very interesting Textured Collection: Albrecht Dürer, Torchon, German Etching, William Turner and Museum Etching. In some instances I’ll show comparisons to PhotoRag and the glossy FineArt Baryta.

This review is structured in the following sections:

  • Characteristics: general description of the properties used to compare the papers.
  • First Impressions: describes each paper and my subjective impression of the texture.
  • A Closer Look: detailed photos and scans of the prints to convey their texture and tone.
  • Color Gamut: graph-based analysis of the color range each paper can print.
  • My Choice & Final Words: which paper I choose for my own use and why.

For testing I used two of Hahnemühle’s sample packs to make prints of the same test photos I used in my previous article:

Characteristics

The following characteristics are the main differentiators between Hahnemühle’s matte textured papers, and are key to decide which paper fits best for your images.

  • Weight: the papers come in weight ranging from 190 gsm to 350 gsm. While for many applications the weight will not matter, for some it does, for example you might choose a lighter paper when printing a book or binder, and a heavier paper when printing a boxed portfolio or photo cards.

  • Material: the papers are made of either cotton-based fibres, wood-based alpha-cellulose fibres or a mix thereof. What you’ll notice is a difference in whiteness, since only the alpha-cellulose papers are offered in brighter tones (more on this in the next point). However, this is not an inherent property of the material, but simply the way Hahnemühle chooses to process these papers.

  • Whiteness: Hahnemühle classifies the papers into three categories: “natural white” papers contain no brightening agents (OBAs) and have a  warmer, yellowish tone, “bright white” papers have more OBAs and a colder, neutral tone. and “white papers” fall  in the middle of those two. Compared to Hahnemühle’s glossy papers, the differences in whiteness are more subtle when putting the blank sheets next to each other, and will become even less noticeable once the surface is printed on. But still the paper’s tone will be visible in the brighter areas of the print, and underlines the mood and feel of an image. It is also noteworthy that the OBAs will break down under UV light over time, so over the course of years also the brighter papers will turn into their natural state if not protected from UV light.

  • Texture: this is where it really gets interesting, the texture is what sets the papers discussed in this article apart. The differences are most visible when looking at smaller prints from a normal viewing distance. The larger the print and thus the viewing distance, the smaller the texture pattern becomes in comparison. For example, the differences are obvious in A4 prints lying in front of you on your desk, but you’d be hard-pressed to notice them when looking at an A2 print from 2 meters away. So for larger prints I see the benefit more in the impression you’ll leave on people handling your prints or taking a closer look, not on the causal observer. I will note my subjective impressions when discussing each paper further below and also I have added some photos that show the texture of each paper.

  • Color gamut: the range of colors and deepness of the blacks the paper can display. All of the papers are very similar in that regard, but I will share my results anyway to point out some differences that lie in the details and make a comparison to a glossy paper.

The next sections we’ll use these characteristics to have a look at  and compare all of the papers.

First Impressions

Below I have summarized my impression of each of the papers, together with some basic data on weight, material and whiteness.

  • Albrecht Dürer (data sheet, 210 gsm, 50% cotton/50% alpha-cellulose, white, no OBAs): this paper has the finest and yet deepest, most defined texture of the five. Also the texture seems more pronounced horizontally than vertically, when looking at my samples in portrait orientation. In prints smaller than A3 it is noticeable already from a normal viewing distance and becomes a defining part of the print, especially in bright and uniform areas.

  • Torchon (data sheet, 285 gsm, alpha-cellulose, bright white, moderate OBAs): the Torchon’s texture represents the other end of the spectrum compared to Albrecht Dürer, with a large and relatively shallow pattern. It also has the brightest and most neutral tone of all five papers.

  • German Etching (data sheet, 310 gsm, alpha-cellulose, white, very low OBAs): the texture of the two Etching papers falls into the middle of the pack, both in size and deepness of the pattern. The German Etching’s pattern is a bit smaller and deeper than that of Museum Etching, and it is a hint brighter.

  • William Turner (data sheet, 190 gsm and 310 gsm, cotton, white, no OBAs): the texture of this paper is second in fineness and deepness, after Albrecht Dürer. Also with William Turner, the texture is quite visible in smaller prints and from normal viewing distances and will noticeably contribute to their nature.

  • Museum Etching (data sheet, 350 gsm, cotton, natural white, no OBAs): as said above, together with German Etching, the Museum Etching falls into the middle of the pack, in a positive sense. To my eye, the texture of the Museum Etching is the most pleasing, soft yet defined, visible yet not obtrusive. I also like its warm nature, which suits the style of most of my photos.

More importantly than my own impression I would like to give you the opportunity to see for yourself. To be able to show the papers character for this review I have used two capturing techniques. First, photos of the prints, lit with a studio flash from the side to emphasize the texture and using the same white balance determined with a grey card, so you can also compare the tone of the paper. Second, scans of the prints, done at 1,200 DPI with an office scanner, for a more neutral view on the texture and to give visibility to the fine structures and details each paper can display.

To give you a first impression of the papers and also the effects of the two capturing techniques, here a side-by-side comparison, starting with the photo of my first print, followed by the corresponding scan and then photo and scan of the second print. Each picture starts with Hahnemühle’s smooth PhotoRag paper for comparison.

A Closer Look

Now we’ll take a closer look at the photos and scans of the prints. Each slideshow has Hahnemühle’s smooth PhotoRag paper first for comparison, and are otherwise ordered as in the list above. Use the icon in the lower right corner to show the name of the paper.

The first print, a black and white photo of Venice’s Grande Canal,  does a good job at showing the papers texture and tone, especially in the area of the bright sky:

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Museum Etching

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Museum Etching

Also the second print, a dawn landscape, has some areas where the texture is quite visible, and further shows the papers characteristics in a color print with muted tones and natural structures:

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Museum Etching

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Museum Etching

I have omitted the photos of the third print, since its dark and high contrast nature does not show the differences in texture very well. So we’ll continue with the photos of the fourth print, where you can see how the papers work with skin tones and in uniform bright and grey areas.

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Museum Etching

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Museum Etching

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Museum Etching

Now we’ll continue with the scans of the prints. On the one hand, the top-lit scans show the texture in a more neutral way and on the other hand the scans give a good indication of the resolution and details the papers are able to print. From the first print I have chosen a detail area with fine, man-made structures.

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Muesum Etching

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Museum Etching

And here the scans of the second print, where especially the details shown in the treetops are interesting:

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Museum Etching

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Museum Etching

From scans of the third print I have chosen another area with high contrast and fine structures:

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Museum Etching


And finally the photos of the fourth print, again interesting with its skin tones and uniform areas:

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Museum Etching

PhotoRag

Albrecht Dürer

Torchon

German Etching

William Turner

Museum Etching

Color Gamut

To look at the printable gamuts on the papers, I analyzed the ICC profiles made available by Hahnemühle for my Canon PRO-1000 printer.

The gamut of all five papers are very close, but as expected noticeable smaller than that of glossy papers. To show this, I have included Hahnemühle’s glossy FineArt Baryta into the lists and graphs below.

Apart from the slightly deviating Albrecht Dürer, all the matte papers have the same maximum black value, while the glossy FineArt Baryta can show significantly deeper blacks. Below the maximum black is specified as the “blackest” L*a*b value from the ICC profile, with lower numbers indicating deeper blacks.

  • Albrecht Dürer: L=16, a=1, b=2
  • Torchon: L=16, a=1, b=1
  • German Etching: L=16, a=1, b=1
  • William Turner: L=16, a=1, b=1
  • Museum Etching: L=16, a=1, b=1
  • FineArt Baryta: L=2, a=1, b=1

As seen in the graphs below, also in terms of overall gamut the matte papers stay fairly close together, with some differences being visible in the blues and purples. Again, the gamut printable on the glossy FineArt Baryta significantly exceeds that of the matte papers. The last graph shows a 3D comparison of the two papers with the smallest and largest gamut, showing the relatively smaller Albrecht Dürer gamut in color and the larger Museum Etching gamut as black grid.

My Choice & Final Words

What sets the reviewed papers apart is clearly their texture and whiteness, both very subjective qualities. Differences in the other, more technical areas of resolution and color gamut are not significant enough to matter in practice.

The whiteness you’d choose to go with the colors and tonality of your prints, while for your choice of texture also the print size matters. Like I wrote in the introduction, as pronounced as the textures may be, if you look at larger prints from a normal viewing distance, you’d be hard-pressed to notice the differences. But to keen observers taking a closer look, and anyone who gets their hand on your prints, the texture can contribute to the nature of your print.

My personal take-way from this review is to add the Museum Etching paper to my paper portfolio. Its warm tone suits my style and I really like the unobtrusive yet defined nature of its texture. After a shoot I like to hand out smaller prints, and also I occasionally send or give photo cards to family and friends. With the recipients holding the prints in their hands and being able to see them closeup, I feel the character added by the texture of the paper can enhance and contribute to their overall nature. For larger prints that go up on a wall, I will most likely continue to use my previous favorites, the semi-gloss Hahnemühle PhotoRag Pearl and matte, smooth PhotoRag papers.

I hope you’ll find some of the information provided in this article useful, and as always I’d be happy to hear from you with any questions or comments.

All the best, Robert