Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl Reviews

Rating
Reviewed by:

Dave Underwood
( Intermediate)

Review Date
November 29, 2006

Overall Rating
4 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5,
1 votes

Review 1 of 7

Price Paid: $80.00 from wholesale provider

Summary:

Note that the quoted price is for 100 sheets. At AU80 cents per sheet, this product is a steal.

I use three papers in around equal quantities for producing exhibition and gallery work with an EPSON R800:
* Ilford Smooth Pearl
* Ilford Smooth Gloss
* Epson Archival Matte (for black-and-white and sepia tritones)

Of the two Ilford papers, the smooth pearl is my favourite. Using the profiles provided by Ilford, I have never needed to apply any adjustment.

The paper has a good feel and very faithful colour rendition for a product so cost effective and I've never noticed any real bronzing. It's also quite resilient to finger marks and therefore better to use in portfolios because it wears better.

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Rating
Reviewed by:

vibrio
( Intermediate)

Review Date
June 12, 2006

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Review 2 of 7

Price Paid: $18.00 from 7dayshop

Summary:

this is a better alternative to epsons own premium luster. its cheaper and a better weight. I print using an epson R2400 with ilfords own icc profiles.

when printing I use print with preview, photoshop controlling colour, perceptual with black point ticked and the profile for the paper is ilfords. then in the printer properties I use the semi gloss setting and photo quality setting.

The paper produces fantastic prints both colour and resolution. I see no real reason not to use this paper over epsons own luster.

Strengths:

price, finish, colours

Weaknesses:

people are put off with ilfords crappy papers

Similar Products Used:

Olmec optimum satin
7dayshop own semi gloss
epson semi gloss
epson luster

Customer Service:

never needed

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Rating
Reviewed by:

Dakemist
( Intermediate)

Review Date
June 27, 2004

Overall Rating
4 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
1 votes

Review 3 of 7

Price Paid: $19.00 from Montreal

Summary:

After a bad experience with the Ilford Galerie Pearl Classic, I decided to make temporary amends and try out another Ilford product on my Canon i860 printer. Whereas the Pearl finish resulted in prints with terrible incorporation of the ink, the Smooth finish gave prints which were much more robust, in a much faster time period. The satin sheen to the photos is remarkable, and gives a stunning effect to portraits and close-ups. The colours obtained are sharp and vivid, but compared to the Kodak Ultima High Gloss paper I was using previously, I perform manual colour correction, and reduce the yellow level to get more accurate reproduction. I use only the specified, Canon inks with my i860.

Strengths:

Sharp, vivid images with a beautiful image. Cheaper than most competitor paper.

Weaknesses:

Print is not totally resistant to water, and some bleeding will occur if exposed.

Similar Products Used:

Kodak Ultima High Gloss Ilford Galerie Classic Pearl

Customer Service:

Not used

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Rating
Reviewed by: Jason
(Expert)

Review Date
December 8, 2003

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
1 votes

Review 4 of 7

Price Paid: $35.00 from Camera Solutions

Summary:

This is nice paper! I currently use a Canon S800 with canon inks and was looking for Canon Photo Paper Pro quality results without the super gloss look. I'm very happy with the results, no banding what so ever, in fact I prefer this paper to the Canon PR-101 paper (I've never been keen on super gloss paper - not for photos of people anyway). Needless to say I'll be buying another pack of this paper when I'm nearly out of it. Hopefully I can find some a bit cheaper (paid AU$35 for 25 sheets) - it is slightly cheaper than the canon pr-101 paper however and it's definately cheaper printing my own 8x10's at home then at the lab/store. Settings I use for this paper with the Canon S800 printer are as stated on the ilford web site - Photo Paper Pro, High quality, Auto colour adjustment.

Strengths:

weight, look, feel

Weaknesses:

price

Similar Products Used:

Canon PR-101 (Pro Gloss Paper)

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Rating
Reviewed by: pzo
(Expert)

Review Date
September 30, 2003

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Review 5 of 7

Price Paid: $14.00 from The Camera Trader, E

Summary:

Contrary to the previous review, I find the entire Ilford line beyond reproach on my Canon S800 (essentially the same printer, I think the 820 has more dpi or borderless or some minimal additional feature.) The fact that he got banding suggests printing at too low dpi, I've had that happen. I've gotten eye-popping results for non-art quality with Ilford Classic, Ilford Smooth, Great White Matte ($12 for 100 sheets), Jetprint Proof Paper, Jetprint Glossy (forget what quality level.) I've never been happier with a printer and paper. Plot it in, perfecto. As to inks, as the Canon cartridges got used up, I replaced them with some $4 eBay Chinese ones that worked fine, no discernible shift of color. I'm now refilling those tanks with MIS bulk inks (inksupply.com?) Perfect.

Strengths:

Great color Inexpensive Readily available Available in fast dry smooth or long life Classic

Weaknesses:

Nothing

Similar Products Used:

Epson papers on Epson printer

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