Customer Reviews

Canon Photo Paper Pro Platinum, 8.5 x 11 Inches, 20 Sheets (2768B022)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got a Canon Pro9000 printer over a year ago, and ever since then I've been experimenting with different papers. I order sample packs from paper companies such as Red River, Hahnemuhle, Ilford, and of course the native Canon paper. Since I was a total beginner when it comes to printing, I kept detailed notes in OneNote, compared the same image on different papers, calibrated my monitor, used soft proofing, etc. My goal was to find a paper that I love and that had predictable results from monitor to print.

After much toil and compromise with the 3rd party brands, I realized that Canon's Photo Paper Pro was a high-quality, consistent paper. It wasn't an exciting discovery - using the expensive paper from the printer manufacturer instead of discovering some money-saving yet exotic specialty paper - but at least my prints were looking good.

Then as I was restocking on ink, I noticed that Canon updated their product line, releasing Photo Paper Pro II and Photo Paper Pro Platinum. Intrigued, I ordered a 20-pack of letter sized Platinum. Sure enough, soon I had a chance to shoot a portrait of a friend of mine that had many vivid colors, high dynamic range, and a great level of detail. I did a small shoot-out between some Red River paper, Photo Paper Pro (the original), and the Platinum. I won't labor you with the details, but when I printed on Photo Paper Pro after a few Red River misses, I sighed with relief - the colors were rich and faithful, and the image looked great. I then pushed the envelope and printed with Platinum. Wow!!! It got even better! The differences were subtle, but perceptible. The Platinum seemed to have a bit more "pop", probably owing to its higher brightness.

For a recent gallery showing, I printed a couple dozen more prints on this Platinum paper, and got a good feel for its performance. I found that soft proofing wasn't really necessary with this paper - it looked very faithful to the screen without having to bring anything back into the gamut. Despite being a brighter base paper, the prints came out a bit darker than some of the other papers I was messing around with. A bump of 5% to brightness in Qimage did the trick. The colors also seemed a bit less saturated. This is a tough one to make a call on - I'm used to Canon's idea of colors (whether camera-processed JPG or their super-glossy paper) being a bit too much on the Disney side, so I was actually appreciative of a more subdued default. A saturation boost of 2% or 3% did the trick. Note that the "unsaturated" colors were still plenty deep and rich, just not quite as punchy.

I'm going to try the Photo Paper Pro II next to see if it's a good middle point between the (already good) Photo Paper Pro and this beautiful but expensive Platinum. This paper definitely earns its name - it's the top of the line with a price to match. I didn't see a world of difference between this and the old Photo Paper Pro in terms of visuals, but Canon claims that the archival qualities in this paper are state of the art, and I believe them. So for prints I really care about, I'm all about the Pro Plat!

Get best results with Canon Photo Paper Pro II. Also a little bit less pricey. Using Canon 9000 Pixmar Pro.
Could not tell any difference that would justify the extra money spend on this type of paper.

I use a Canon Pixma Pro9000, which I just got a few months ago. I am going to discuss the paper quality versus my printer, however, because sometimes the color production from the printer seems perfect, and other times it comes out dark. But the printer always gets the sharpness and image quality right.

So far, I am very pleased with this particular print paper. The colors are well-saturated, clean and glossy, although I find sometimes I may have to wait a while for the print to have "dried" before the colors are accurate. Again, this may be more the printer's fault than the paper itself. I have given prints made on this paper to various clients and they have been very pleased; so far, I have not heard any complaints about fading. (However, I think ANY print will fade in time if left in direct sunlight frequently.)

The print quality is fantastic and I've been pretty happy so far. As I experiment with papers more, I may find one I like better, but this is pretty good for now.

I download images of coins and print them for a research project. My Canon IP 4600 + Pro Platinum paper produce prints as good as professional catalogs. For the first time, I'm completely satisfied with my prints. Furthermore, Canon says the paper is of archival quality, but it will take >25 years to prove this.
On the down side, the best prices I've found are ~$1/page and $15/cartridge(IP 4600 has 5 individual cartridges), so a high volume user might find this costs too much. The IP 4600 itself wasn't expensive.

This Pro Photo Paper is the best I have ever used. I have a lot to do with photography and the pictures I print on this paper to use in my portfolio is amazing. There is no finer photo paper!! If you want the best looking pictures this is hands down the best paper to show off your work, or just to have photos hanging around on your walls.

I am not a professional, but I have been into photography for about 25 years. I now print through Lightroom 3 or PS5 using a calibrated IPS monitor with a Canon 9000 MkII and use only Canon ink. What I don't print myself I print through Bay Photo, who usually do a fantastic job, so I tend to compare my prints to those from Bay Photo.

I was not happy with Canon's Glossy II or the Photo Pro II because I felt colors were a bit washed out and the blacks were unimpressive, so I tried the Platinum Pro. To compare the Platinum Pro to the Photo Pro II, I printed a series of 10 photos at 4x6 that ranged in color content from starry night skies, sunrises, reef fish, amusement park rides, wedding shots, macro bug shots, landscapes, and B&W covering many of the color matching problems I've ran into. YMMV, but here's my observations:

First off these two papers are very different. Physically, The Platinum Pro paper achieves final color after only a few hours while the Photo Paper Pro II takes about 48 hours to fully set. Also, the Platinum Pro paper feels stiffer, but this may be due to a resin coating on the paper, and it definitely lies flatter after it is dried. Color wise, the difference in "most" of the photos is amazing and very evident - the Platinum Pro is nothing less than impressive. As Canon claims, the Platinum Pro displays a noticeably expanded red gamut and much deeper blacks. The difference is significant and can be amazing with some prints (e.g. sunrise over Mt. Haleakala - simply spectacular on the Platinum Pro, nice but unimpressive on the Photo Pro II). All pics with blacks or dark shadows, such as tuxedos in wedding shots, were noticeably darker and more saturated in these areas. Shots with lots of red are where the color differences are most noticeable, as Canon would have one expect, but blue skies (e.g. a carousel shot against a bright sky with the saturation bumped up in PS5), also were noticeably more saturated.

For some photos, the increased red gamut and saturation and the deeper blacks makes the shots "pop" in a way I have not seen with other Canon papers, and usually only see on metallic or other commercial prints. The concern I have with the Platinum Pro is the expanded red ends up being a bit over saturated on people shots, particularly with pale skinned people with a hint of red tone. Some wedding prints were clearly over saturated in this area. Also, the deep blacks do seem to cause some loss of detail (those tuxedos again), though IMO this is offset by the richness of the blacks. The overall reservation I have with the Platinum Pro paper, and the reason I give it only 4 stars, is the overall affect on a lot of shots is over saturation. Some people argue that Canon favors the "Disney" look in colors and there is a bit of this with the Platinum Pro paper. This is definitely not the case with the Photo Paper Pro II, but that paper has a slight under saturation problem in my hands. I like the "pop" on many of the shots and know, now, what to expect, so it is an easy task to tone down the red (or blue) saturation, particularly in flesh toned shots if I need to.

Where the Platinum completely fell apart in my tests was with B&W prints. The good part is the paper produced B&Ws with an amazingly neutral bright white, whereas the Photo Pro II looks much closer to the Glossy II paper, and both have a noticeable tint. Unfortunately, there is a noticeable loss of detail in the Platinum Pro paper with B&W. The loss of detail was, for me, very unexpected and completely unacceptable. I did not see this loss of detail in the color shots. I've only printed two B&W on this paper and will print more to further test this, but detail was clearly lost in both prints. The Photo Pro II and the Glossy II produced much better B&W prints.

Overall, the types of photos I print look better on the Platinum Pro, so it will be my new [Canon] paper of choice for color prints, but I will have to adjust the saturation for flesh toned prints. For B&W? Well, so far, I have not tried any Canon product that impresses me, at least not on this printer. There are lots of other choices out there that are favored for B&W printing, and the PIXMA 9000 MKII is not noted for it's B&W capabilities anyway, so for this review I was more interested in color prints, and the Platinum Pro is without a doubt an impressive paper.

I ran photos on Canon Photo Paper Pro Platinum and Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy II. I could not see any difference between the photos. I ran them on a Canon Pixma 9000 Mark II. I would say save your money for ink, you won't see any difference in the papers (both papers make beautiful prints).

The 80 pound paper is super impressive and the glossy finish is perfect. Prints from my Canon i9900 have never been so nice. I highly recommend this paper.

I have seen a number of reviews stating that the Canon Plus Glossy II paper prints just as good as the Platinum Pro Paper- I don't think so folks! I printed the same pic on the same settings on a sheet of Glossy II and Pro Platinum. While I would say that the Glossy II created a beautiful print in the end, the print had to dry for about 48 hours before I liked it. I hated the print when it came off the printer and I was about to toss it, but it did dry beautifully after 48 hours. Now with the Pro Platinum paper, you get the wow factor straight off the printer. The Platinum Paper DEFINITELY creates a more defined image with a deeper contrast where the colors pop than the image on the Glossy II paper. It was OUTSTANDING after 24 hours of drying time. In my humble opinion, the Pro Platinum and the Glossy II creates two totally different images with the Platinum paper outperforming the Glossy II in definition, contrast, brightness, and color vividness. The Glossy II would be my photo album paper while the platinum paper would CERTAINLY be put in a nice frame to go on the wall. I can't tell you what to do with your money but, I am going to spend the extra of mine on the Platinum paper because it's worth it. Oh! My wife agrees and that does not happen too often!:)

Given that I don't print too many photos any more, I consider Pro Platinum my bottom line when it comes to photo paper quality these days.

I kind of 'evolved' into the Platinum series after many years of happy Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy II use. As digital displays are in the process of dethroning physical photos the way digital cameras almost fully replaced film-based cameras, I found that I am printing fewer and fewer 'on paper' photos and the few that I do print these days tend to be 'large'. So... they'd better be on good quality paper. Which is the reason why I am only buying 8.5x11" or larger now and why I am using Pro Platinum more or less exclusively. For only a few extra dollars - really pennies per sheet - you get a visibly superior product so, there's no going back to 'Plus Glossy II' for me.

For good quality, predictable results can't go wrong with Canon paper, especially on a Canon photo printer loaded with genuine Canon ink. It's not cheap (the ink) but you probably come way ahead of the Walmart center, at least when doing 8.5x11" prints.