Sihl Media Paper for Wide Format Printing.Where is the best place to get poster paper, banner material, backlit film for large format printer. Media (paper, vinyl, canvus, etc) is available from so many sources. How to chose large format paper? First, be sure that the media you use is specifically made for the particular ink and printer that you have. You cannot just stick any old paper into a large format printer and expect to get good results. If you have an Encad printer, then chose media that is made for Encad inks. Check to see whether the media is for dye base or pigmented inks. As you may expect, not every company which sells media actually makes the underlying material nor coats it. One of the few companies which actually produces the underlying paper, for example, is Sihl. Sihl, a Swiss company, has paper mills in Germany and elsewhere. Sihl makes wide format paper for Brady (Fuji), Encad Nova and Pro series, HP 2000/3000 series, HP 750 series, Calcomp CrystalJet, ColorSpan, Mimaki, Roland, Western Graphtec, Iris from Scitex, and the Xerox Vivagrafx. If your printer is not in this list, figure out who made your printer. If you have an Oce, Kodak, or Ilford printer, it is likely that an Encad is under the Oce, Kodak, or Ilford label. If you have an Ilford IJT or Agfa Montana you have a ColorSpan printer. As soon as we can see the results in our own reviews we will post the pictures. In the meantime, we recommend media from American Ink Jet Corporation and Rexam Graphics because we have received enough different kinds and sizes of their media to try out. It is a lot easier to document that a media works if you have actually used it with your own images on your own printer. As soon as media is available from Sihl we will post the results here and in a special section devoted to Sihl. For additional information and for help making your decision, ask for the "FLAAR report on signs, posters, banners" (specify whether for indoor signs or outdoor signs in the rain and sun) or for the FLAAR report on "Piezo vs Thermal printheads, fact vs fiction, pros and cons of each kind of inkjet printhead." You can also ask for the report on "Media and Inks for Photo-Realistic and Fine Art Giclee," or "Media and Inks for Sign Printing with Large Format Inkjet".
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