I don't have a card today, but I promised that I would share what my thought are on the papers I have tried so far for use with Copics and Promarkers after I got a few questions asking what I recommend.
I would of liked to be able to show pics of each of the papers with a coloured image to show the difference, but I don't have all the papers that I have used so I couldn't do that, so instead here's a list of which papers I have used (not them all as I have tried loads, but just the better known brands).
What I look for in a paper is no bleeding, easy blending and no running ink lines when I print digis!
This is just my personal opinion and you may not agree with what I am saying, but I have tried to be as honest as possible and tell you what my experience with each paper was.
I have gave a final "verdict" lol and also the price of the paper and where you can buy it (in the UK), obviously there are many places that sell them and you may find a better price than I have if you shop around, but I have just added prices to give you a rough idea.
If you click on the shop names, it will take you directly to the paper.
The first paper is neenah- smooth solar white.
I have bought this from a few different places over the last few months and of course the paper is all the same, but I recently bought a pack from Sir Stampalot and although it says on the pack that is is A4 size, it's not! It's a little bit wider and quite a bit shorter so I had to adjust my printer from A4 size so that the paper would fit in (I don't like having to mess around, just like to pop the paper in and print!) and because I didn't actually notice to start with that it was shorter, I printed a page of digi images like I normally would and the feet off the bottom images got chopped off :( I have since learned to move my images further up the page so that I get the full image!
I have bought the same paper from Crafters Companion and a few other places and they all sell "proper" A4 sheets so I think I will stick with them from now on.
Sorry, got a bit sidetracked there! lol
The paper itself is nice to blend on and doesn't bleed, unless you use lots and lots of layers, then it may bleed a tiny bit, but that's easily sorted with a colourless blender.
Price- £3.99 for 20 sheets of A4, but Crafter's Companion do 3 for £10 :)
Verdict- I like this as a general use colouring paper and it's good for both Copics and Promarkers.
X-Press It Blending Card
This paper/card is more expensive that Neenah, and to be honest, I didn't find a huge difference between the two.
It blends nicely and no bleeding, but what I did find is that when using darker colours of Copics, the ink started to go shiny very quickly. I know this can happen if you use a lot of layers, especially with darker colours, but I found that even with two layers of a dark colour like E79 it starts to go shiny and it ruins your image, unless you have coloured pencils on hand, then you can use them to salvage your image, but I don't have my polychromos/Prisma pencils anymore.
I sometimes find that I need to heat set my digi image before colouring as the printer ink will run, but that's maybe just my printer.
Price- £4.99 for 10 A4 sheets from Sir Stampalot
Verdict- a good quality paper for use with both Copics and Promarkers, but be careful when using a lot of layers with darker colours.
Copic Bleedproof marker pad
This paper is very thin, it's only 70 gsm. The back of each sheet is coated so that it doesn't bleed through to the sheets below (like if you are just using the pad to draw with since it's a sketch pad), and I must admit, I was quite impressed that it didn't bleed right through the paper.
Of course, you can see the ink on the other side of the paper a lot more than the others because it's so thin,but this is not a problem.
Since it's so thin, you would have to mat it with white paper before using it on your card as the patterned/coloured paper shows right through.
I also found it easier to work with a piece of white card underneath this paper while I was colouring as if you use anything coloured underneath you can't see the proper colour you have used as the colours of whatever is underneath show through.
This paper doesn't bleed at all, but you have to work in really small sections if you want to blend as it dries so quick.
Price- £4.51 for 50 sheet pad from Artifolk
Verdict- A great paper for sketching with Copics, but for crafters I don't think it's one of the best, because it's a pain to have to mat it with white paper/card before you can use it on your card.
Winsor & Newton Bristol Board Extra Smooth Surface Drawing Pad
This is a good weigh paper- 250 gsm and is very smooth which makes it great for blending.
I haven't used this paper in a while, but I felt that I had to include it as it used to be the paper I used all the time for Copics.
I must admit that I have never tried it with Promarkers, because at the time I used it regularly, I only owned Copcis.
It doesn't bleed and you can layer up quite a lot of colour on it without the colour sitting on top of the paper.
It is quite expensive, but it is one of my fave papers. I only don't use it anymore as Neenah is much cheaper lol.
Price- £8.33 for 20 sheets of A4 from Artifolk
Verdict- I love this paper, but it is a bit on the expensive side to just be using for colouring images (well for me anyway lol)
I hope this answered all the questions that people have asked me, but if there's anything else you need to know, just ask and I will get back to you asap :)
I would of liked to be able to show pics of each of the papers with a coloured image to show the difference, but I don't have all the papers that I have used so I couldn't do that, so instead here's a list of which papers I have used (not them all as I have tried loads, but just the better known brands).
What I look for in a paper is no bleeding, easy blending and no running ink lines when I print digis!
This is just my personal opinion and you may not agree with what I am saying, but I have tried to be as honest as possible and tell you what my experience with each paper was.
I have gave a final "verdict" lol and also the price of the paper and where you can buy it (in the UK), obviously there are many places that sell them and you may find a better price than I have if you shop around, but I have just added prices to give you a rough idea.
If you click on the shop names, it will take you directly to the paper.
The first paper is neenah- smooth solar white.
I have bought this from a few different places over the last few months and of course the paper is all the same, but I recently bought a pack from Sir Stampalot and although it says on the pack that is is A4 size, it's not! It's a little bit wider and quite a bit shorter so I had to adjust my printer from A4 size so that the paper would fit in (I don't like having to mess around, just like to pop the paper in and print!) and because I didn't actually notice to start with that it was shorter, I printed a page of digi images like I normally would and the feet off the bottom images got chopped off :( I have since learned to move my images further up the page so that I get the full image!
I have bought the same paper from Crafters Companion and a few other places and they all sell "proper" A4 sheets so I think I will stick with them from now on.
Sorry, got a bit sidetracked there! lol
The paper itself is nice to blend on and doesn't bleed, unless you use lots and lots of layers, then it may bleed a tiny bit, but that's easily sorted with a colourless blender.
Price- £3.99 for 20 sheets of A4, but Crafter's Companion do 3 for £10 :)
Verdict- I like this as a general use colouring paper and it's good for both Copics and Promarkers.
X-Press It Blending Card
This paper/card is more expensive that Neenah, and to be honest, I didn't find a huge difference between the two.
It blends nicely and no bleeding, but what I did find is that when using darker colours of Copics, the ink started to go shiny very quickly. I know this can happen if you use a lot of layers, especially with darker colours, but I found that even with two layers of a dark colour like E79 it starts to go shiny and it ruins your image, unless you have coloured pencils on hand, then you can use them to salvage your image, but I don't have my polychromos/Prisma pencils anymore.
I sometimes find that I need to heat set my digi image before colouring as the printer ink will run, but that's maybe just my printer.
Price- £4.99 for 10 A4 sheets from Sir Stampalot
Verdict- a good quality paper for use with both Copics and Promarkers, but be careful when using a lot of layers with darker colours.
Copic Bleedproof marker pad
This paper is very thin, it's only 70 gsm. The back of each sheet is coated so that it doesn't bleed through to the sheets below (like if you are just using the pad to draw with since it's a sketch pad), and I must admit, I was quite impressed that it didn't bleed right through the paper.
Of course, you can see the ink on the other side of the paper a lot more than the others because it's so thin,but this is not a problem.
Since it's so thin, you would have to mat it with white paper before using it on your card as the patterned/coloured paper shows right through.
I also found it easier to work with a piece of white card underneath this paper while I was colouring as if you use anything coloured underneath you can't see the proper colour you have used as the colours of whatever is underneath show through.
This paper doesn't bleed at all, but you have to work in really small sections if you want to blend as it dries so quick.
Price- £4.51 for 50 sheet pad from Artifolk
Verdict- A great paper for sketching with Copics, but for crafters I don't think it's one of the best, because it's a pain to have to mat it with white paper/card before you can use it on your card.
Winsor & Newton Bristol Board Extra Smooth Surface Drawing Pad
This is a good weigh paper- 250 gsm and is very smooth which makes it great for blending.
I haven't used this paper in a while, but I felt that I had to include it as it used to be the paper I used all the time for Copics.
I must admit that I have never tried it with Promarkers, because at the time I used it regularly, I only owned Copcis.
It doesn't bleed and you can layer up quite a lot of colour on it without the colour sitting on top of the paper.
It is quite expensive, but it is one of my fave papers. I only don't use it anymore as Neenah is much cheaper lol.
Price- £8.33 for 20 sheets of A4 from Artifolk
Verdict- I love this paper, but it is a bit on the expensive side to just be using for colouring images (well for me anyway lol)
I hope this answered all the questions that people have asked me, but if there's anything else you need to know, just ask and I will get back to you asap :)
1 comment:
hi lora i quite agree with the nemah paper its a good all rounder and it
all i use when using promarkers and my ink in my printer isnt the proper ink cartridges but it holds my colour well and i get my sheets from crafters comapanion best value too thanks for your insight hugs sassyxx
Post a Comment