I am a big fan of fine art papers. So I was very pleased when I first read across Uwe Steinmueller's Fine Art Paper Directory. One feature that caught my thoughts in particular was the little reflectance graphs in some paper descriptions. In an article Uwe explained that these were created using BabelColor's Color Translator & Analyzer.

Fast forward in time. As we started to sell Hahnemühle's Digital Fine Art papers in Hungary, I also bought an Eye-One spectrophotometer - both for my own profiling needs and for starting a profiling service that could accompany the paper business. And of course I played several nights with BabelColor CT&A measuring the spectral response of different papers (from ordinary laser copier papers and literally anything on my table to the papers I use and we sell). The only problem was that with BabelColor CT&A one could not compare spectral characteristics of more than two papers.

So at the end I've created this simple tool - a web page containing all the measurement data for the papers I have at the moment presented in an easy-to-use graphical form. On the graph's legend you can turn on and off the reflectance graph of each individual paper to compare them. Flash/JavaScript required.

Click here to access the online Paper Spectrum Comparator version v1.05

Want your favorite paper included? Just measure two or three pages with BabelColor CT&A and send the data to me, and I will include the paper in the next release.

Revision history:

• v1.05: Removed Epson Singleweight matte, as it is not a fine art media; added Hahnemühle Daguerre Canvas, Epson Hot Press Bright & Natural, Cold Press Bright & Natural; papers are grouped by manufacturer for clarity
• v1.04: Added Hahnemühle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth and Photo Rag Baryta
• v1.03: Added Hahnemühle Monet Canvas
• v1.02: Added Hahnemühle Bamboo paper; sorted paper names
• v1.01: Added Hahnemühle FineArt Baryta and Epson Traditional Photo papers