Which paper has to be used to print a photo, which is low contrast and mostly grey?

Question

I have been asked a print of this photo (60x40 cm).
Picture being very low contrast, I do not know what kind of physical medium to have it printed.
The printing will be hung on a wall of a living room lit by an incandescent lamp.
I must correct the levels of the picture, making it less dark or is there a physical medium that can match, more or less, the vision on the monitor?

I want to add that I usually print using this online service: https://us.whitewall.com/

AJ Henderson · Accepted Answer

Generally glossy papers will have a deeper black point than matte.  The exact ideal depends on the type of printer.  If using photographic prints, then it depends on the characteristics of the photo paper itself.  If using inkjet based (either die or preferably pigment) then the ink system is also going to matter a lot for having not only deep blacks, but fine detail.

That said, your image honestly does not appear all that difficult to print for a good printer.  I don't know much about whitewall, but I could personally print this without issue on my Pixma Pro-1.  The image doesn't even have any deep blacks, so paper type probably doesn't matter in this case, just the level of detail in the color that can be produced by the ink system or photographic pigments.

I might actually try it on a matte or luster paper more to go with the feel of the image, which I don't think would look right with glossy due to the highlights from light falling on it.  You want something subdued and probably with a nice texture.  The traditional problem with matte paper is that you lose deep blacks, but you don't need them here, so it actually makes it easier.

Olin Lathrop · Answer

I think part of what to do depends on where the picture came from.  Did someone give you a snapshot and say "print this", or is this from a serious photographer that already did a lot of post processing, knows what he's doing, and truly wants the picture to be as given to you?

If the unsophisticaed customer case, then part of the solution is to fix the low contrast snapshot to use the full dynamic range and therefore have higher contrast.  For example, here is the original:

and here is a version with the lightest and darkest parts expanded to be full black and full white:

Personally, I like the second picture better as it is much more dramatic and interesting to look at.  In the case of the unsophisticated customer, this might be what they expect you to produce.  Of course if someone that thought about it and really wants the dark and dreary mood of the first picture, then you need to preserve it.  Even in the first case, a conversation with the customer is in order.

user22394 · Answer

With printer paper, the better the paper, the more your digital images look like traditional print photographs. If your printer can accept different kinds of paper, you need to evaluate the quality you need versus the cost of the paper:

Answered by user22394 on March 2, 2021

Which paper has to be used to print a photo, which is low contrast and mostly grey?

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