13 Reviews
Palo Duro Smooth Rag 310
You asked for a smooth, top performing fine art paper and we listened! Following on the heels of the award winning Palo Duro Etching, Palo Duro Smooth Rag 310 is everything you could ask for in a heavy smooth cotton paper.
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Reviews for Palo Duro Smooth Rag 310
Top notch quality and performance
John Marcy
06/08/2021
Verified Buyer
I am very happy with the results I've had with the Palo Duro Smooth. I have begun production of a comprehensive print archive of my photographs I've made over the last 50 years. The majority of these pictures will document all the trips my wife and I have taken together, though I do not consider myself to be a "travel photographer" in the usual sense. The most recent print I made for this project was of a window on the side of a long abandoned house in Round Harbour Newfoundland. Round Harbour was historically an outport village, meaning there was no road leading there. The Canadian government decided to relocate the people living in these outports and they are now almost all abandoned.
The print I made on your paper beautifully describes in a visual and emotional sense my experience of being present in that empty village in a remote part of the coast of Newfoundland. In the window there was left the remnants of a colorful curtain. This image is one a choose to print in color. The majority of my work is B&W.
I would like to give you a brief bio on my work in photography. I worked for many years as a high level black and white print maker. I first had a large darkroom where I produced prints for photographers exhibiting their work in galleries and museums.
I've had a great life experience working with many contemporary and historically important photographers. When I say your paper is good I back that up with my experience and development of my sensibilities in printing.
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Excellent paper
Greg Dedrick
06/06/2021
Verified Buyer
Love the depth and richness of blacks and shadow details on this paper. Feeds with no problems or issues with paper curling following ink saturation. RRP quality is excellent.
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Palo Duro Smooth Rag continue to be one of my favorite papers
Elliot Puritz
04/05/2021
Verified Buyer
I continue to use PD "Smooth" paper when I want a very slightly textured and slightly warm matte paper that renders exhibition prints in a unique manner Don't overlook the excellent ICC profiles that Chromix produces for this paper. One's RAW file edited carefully using the Chromix ICC profile will render a print that can reprise a print on glossy paper without the metamerism and reflections that can be an issue with prints produced on luster papers. As is always the case with artists seeking to produce unique prints, time spent with careful editing is necessary to produce memorable prints. Moreover, the price for this paper is quite reasonable and encourages experimentation.
2 of 2 customers found this helpful.
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With the right ink, it's a 5
Mark Rouleau
03/16/2021
Verified Buyer
I tried this out originally on a dye based printer and was disappointed by the weak blacks. Recently I upgraded to a pigment based printer (Epson P700) and was stunned by how much better the blacks were, as well as by how much detail the paper was able to hold. So this is a conditional 5-star rating: give it a spin on your printer but you will probably be much happier if you have access to pigment inks.
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Excellent paper
Michael DeLuca
09/03/2020
Verified Buyer
I downloaded the profile
And was blown away by the quality
2 of 2 customers found this helpful.
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New favorite fine art paper
Ron Sprunger
06/08/2020
Verified Buyer
I was looking for a paper comparable to Epson's Ultrasmooth Fine Art (USFA), but without the OBAs for more natural color. Smooth 310 fits the bill and then some. Color prints positively glow (where meant to glow) with rich colors, great detail, and a wonderful texture similar to Epson's Hot Press Natural. Couldn't be happier with the color.
But what I really wanted was a smooth surface, no-OBA paper for black and white using ABW on my P800. This paper was terrible when paper type was set to USFA as recommended by Red River. Specifically, the blacks blocked so badly that there was no shadow detail at all in zone 1, coming up darkly in zone 2. On a whim, I tried setting it to Hot Press Natural, 1440 dpi, Dark, and suddenly I have the B&W paper of my dreams. The luminance linearity is the best of any matte paper I've tested, DMax is a very good 1.610, and most importantly the prints are gorgeous. A print of Keith Cooper's (Northlight Images) test print shows detail at both the brightest and darkest ends of his printer torture test.
Definitely the best matte fine art paper I've ever used, and I highly recommend it.
18 of 19 customers found this helpful.
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WOW! What a beautiful product!
Steve Orr
03/04/2020
Kudos to RRP for their customer support and Palo Duro. I am a RRP regular, but this time I was in search of a paper that would best show prints that I carefully digitally painted. As usual, your support team answered my call quickly, and the helpful person recommended Palo Duro Rag 310. I was told to make certain I had the proper drivers and settings and to set my printer for heavier paper.
The order was received quickly, and I was anxious to try my first print. I followed all directions including loading paper from a different tray on my Epson P800. The very first print out was gorgeous, and it is going to the framer today! Frankly, I did not find printing with this paper to be more difficult than any others; just follow directions.
I like the tone and texture of the paper for fine art/"painted" images. I really like how substantial it is.
Good job RRP folks!
2 of 2 customers found this helpful.
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Takes some work but worth the effort
AJB
01/24/2020
I have not found this paper prints to easily, I would not recommend it for quick prints. But if you put in a bit of extra effort in it, it is worth the effort.
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Excellent B&W
TJV
06/19/2019
One other review suggested using this paper for color and not a lot of black... Not true! I do a lot of B&W printing, tried a number of different papers and this is hands down my favorite.
6 of 6 customers found this helpful.
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Excellent paper
Love the depth and richness of blacks and shadow details on this paper. Feeds with no problems or issues with paper curling following ink saturation. RRP quality is excellent.
Verified Buyer
Greg Dedrick - 06/06/2021 Not Sure Which Paper?
Not sure which Red River paper is best for you? Order a sample kit now and discover the perfect paper now. Free shipping on sample kit orders.
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Carl Juste
Photojournalist
"Red River 60lb. Polar Matte produces the right balance of contrast and detail even with an image captured at an extremely high ISO setting. Polar Matte gives me the results I need under extreme lighting conditions."
