Matt, satin, rag, etching or bamboo? A plain-English breakdown of the best Hahnemühle papers for giclée printing — and which one suits your artwork.
“Which paper should I print on?” is the question we get asked most in our print room — and the honest answer is that the “best” paper depends entirely on the artwork. A watercolour needs a completely different surface to a bold digital illustration or a moody black-and-white photograph. Here’s how we think about it, using the Hahnemühle range we print on every day.
What actually makes a giclée print “giclée”?
Three things: an archival, acid-free paper; pigment inks (not dye); and a wide-gamut fine art printer. Skip any of the three and it’s just an inkjet print. Every paper below is 100% archival and rated for 100+ years without fading when printed on our Canon Pro-4600 with pigment inks.
Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm — the all-rounder
Best for: watercolours, illustration, pencil, mixed media, most photography.
If you can only pick one paper, pick this. 100% cotton, smooth but not shiny, with a soft matt surface that flatters almost anything. It’s the paper most galleries and museums default to for a reason — deep blacks, natural whites and a lovely tactile feel. If you’re unsure what to print your first edition on, start here.
Hahnemühle German Etching 310gsm — texture & depth
Best for: oil paintings, acrylics, charcoal, bold illustration, anything that benefits from a hint of surface texture.
A heavier, more textured mould-made paper with a subtle felt-like finish. It gives prints real presence — reproductions of oil paintings on German Etching are often mistaken for originals at arm’s length. Slightly warmer than Photo Rag.
Hahnemühle Baryta Satin 300gsm — for photography
Best for: photography, high-contrast digital work, anything that needs punch.
A satin-finish baryta paper that gives the widest colour gamut and deepest blacks of anything in the range. If you’re printing photography or work with fine tonal detail in the shadows, this is the paper. Not recommended for painterly work — the slight sheen fights it.
Hahnemühle Matt Smooth 240gsm — the value option
Best for: open editions, high-volume prints, posters, marketing prints.
A lighter, smoother matt paper. Not cotton and not textured, but still archival — a great choice when you want a beautiful print at a keener price, especially for large open editions or A4/A3 sizes sold in volume.
Hahnemühle Bamboo 290gsm — the eco choice
Best for: artists who want an eco credential to tell.
Made from 90% bamboo fibre — the world’s first fine art paper made from a fast-renewable source. Warm-white base, subtle texture, sits somewhere between Photo Rag and German Etching in feel. Genuinely lovely for landscape and botanical work.
Quick match: artwork type → paper
- Watercolour, pen & ink, pencil: Photo Rag 308
- Oil painting, acrylic, palette knife: German Etching 310
- Photography, high-contrast digital: Baryta Satin 300
- Open editions, posters, volume prints: Matt Smooth 240
- Eco-conscious editions, botanical, landscape: Bamboo 290
How to actually decide — order a test strip
Screens lie. Colour, contrast and paper texture all shift the moment ink hits paper, and no amount of soft-proofing beats holding the real thing in your hand. Before committing to an edition, order a small test strip on your two most likely papers. It costs very little and it’s the single best investment you can make in a print you’re going to sell for years.
Where papers fit in the bigger picture
Paper choice is one step in a longer chain — scanning, colour-matching, editioning, packaging. If you’re building a print business, our companion guide walks through the whole workflow: How to sell prints of your art. And if you’d rather someone else handle the printing, packing and shipping in your branding, that’s exactly what our Artist Support programme is for.
Not sure which paper suits your piece? Send us a photo of the work and we’ll recommend the right paper honestly — and print you a sample strip before you commit.
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