Is 100% Cotton really worth the price?

After all, how much does paper composition, weight, and feel really matter when our universal objective is selling more art? 200g, 250g, 300g, 350g.We happily pay more to use a heavier weight paper, but does a paper's weight affect an art buyer's purchase or does it just senselessly raise our production costs? Would not an art buyer make the same purchase if a lighter weight paper was used to exhibit the art? In reality, art buyers are not informed of any of these subjective attributes when purchases are made in galleries. The sizable majority of fine-art printed on paper, is typically framed and behind glass, where it may only be seen by the buyer - not felt. Additionally, art buyers are rarely aware of specific media attributes, such as weight and composition, as they are not often featured or displayed along with the art in its description. So, if end consumers are not influenced by the multitude of paper attributes so heavily marketed today, then why are we? If not to sell more art, what exactly are we spending all of this money for?

Printmakers and Self-Publishing Artists and Photographers are in the business of selling art. In order for this unique group of entrepreneurs to achieve lasting success, all of their sales and marketing strategies should serve the fundamental purpose of selling more art, at the highest possible profit margin. Output/print quality, customer service, advertising, business signage, marketing materials, etc. are examples of legitimate expenditures within the digital printmakers' most advantageous art sales strategy. Recognizing and implementing a good strategy is extremely important for small businesses, as it is a fundamental tool for increasing sales and profitability. Likewise, the ability to recognize and confront a bad strategy or one that does not increase sales, is a critically important process in facilitating long-term growth and stability for any small business.

A recent debate among the digital printmaking community is whether the prevailing use of expensive, 100% cotton-rag base-material (hereinafter referred to as "R" for "Rag") is good strategy now that far less-expensive, "quality-equivalent" alternatives exist. The debatable question is this: If quality-equivalent alternatives to R exist and are implemented, will they or will they not retain the same sales numbers? The only way to answer this question objectively is to find a quality-equivalent alternative to R, and then compare the measurable product-attributes that contribute to each particular product's sale-ability.

A good example of a "quality-equivalent alternative" is an archival alpha cellulose paper. Alpha cellulose is a high grade wood pulp that is acid and lignin free (hereinafter referred to as "AC"). It can typically be purchased at half the cost of R and in some cases even less than that. Because digital printmakers are recognizing the opportunity to cut their costs in half by using a quality-equivalent alternative to R, AC is rapidly gaining popularity. A specific AC paper may be considered a quality-equivalent to R, when its inkjet receptive coating can reproduce equal or better color-gamut, detail (dot precision/gain), and longevity by comparison.

It is a measurable fact that industry-leading AC papers can reproduce color and detail as well as industry-leading R papers. The explanation for this is simple; color gamut and detail are not determined by the base material, R or AC. Rather, these properties are solely determined by the inkjet receptive coating which can be applied to any base material/substrate. In fact, a number AC papers with equal or superior color-gamut and detail to R are already widely available.

The issue of longevity is also measurable and has been documented by well-known testing facilities namely the Wilhelm Research Institute. (http://www.wilhelm-research.com/pdf/WIR_Ep9600_2003_07_26.pdf) This page on Wilhelm's website suggests that base paper materials alone, are not a clear indicator of a paper's potential lifespan. For example, Epson's alpha cellulose, which is acid free, lignin free, buffered wood-pulp fine art paper called "Epson Watercolor Paper - Radiant White (Non-R)" has permanence results of greater than 98 years under glass, where as "Epson Velvet Fine Art Paper (R)" has permanence results of only 61 years under glass, and "Epson Somerset Velvet Fine Art Paper (R)" has permanence results of 62 years under glass.

The only seemingly relevant argument made in support of R, however subjective, is that R simply feels better in your hand. As a business owner you must ask yourself, does "feel" sell more art? It is not common practice for an art buyer to sample the "feel" before making an acquisition of a favored work of art, which is usually framed behind glass and was originally created to be visually stimulating and aesthetically pleasing to the eye, not the hand. Art buyers don't care about feeling art.they care about how it looks. They care about how the art will fit into their home or office. So if the art buyer does not buy based upon "feel", why should we create art based upon this criteria?

A self-publishing fine artist/photographer who may spend $20,000/year exclusively using R could cut this in half to $10,000/year using AC. This puts an additional $10,000/year in their pocket without effecting art sales. For this reason alone, printmakers as a whole should always strive to use Non-R unless R is specifically demanded by a customer and knowledge-based persuasion is not feasible.

Remember: The artists using AC are getting the same gallery placement and dollar value for their art as the artists using the more costly R. The only difference is that one of them is making a much higher profit margin from each sale.

EXAMPLE: COST COMPARISON

Two Products with Equivalent Color Reproduction and Dmax
SterlingT 300g Bright White (Made from Acid and Lignin Free Alpha Cellulose)
17" x 40' - $40.00 ($.69 per square foot)
24" x 40' - $55.00
44" x 40' - $102.00

Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308 (Made from 100% Cotton Rag)
17" x 39' - $99.00 ($1.65 per sq. foot)
24" x 39' - $129.00
44" x 39' - $249.00

About Breathing Color, Inc.
Breathing Color, Inc. is a leading designer and supplier of digital inkjet media and post-print protective coatings. Breathing Color is focused on the art and photographic markets with products that maximize color and longevity. Breathing Color’s customers benefit from the highest quality at competitive prices by buying direct.