Crane Museo Fine Art Paper

Although I've used Epson UltraSmooth Fine Art paper for years and have  been very satisfied with its qualities, I have at times been frustrated by supply limitations. I recently was forced to look for an alternative and decided to give the Crane Museo line of papers a try.

I couldn't be happier with that choice! Shutterbug reviewed this paper in 2005 and had this to say:

Crane & Company has introduced new, double sided Museo II... This completely new, fine art matte paper is 100% acid free and buffered with pure calcium carbonate to protect the paper from environmental acidification throughout its lifetime. Museo II contains no fluorescent brightening agents. It is made from 100% cotton fibers, which are the purest source of cellulose and it’s produced with micro-filtered, naturally occurring, Artesian well water...

Museo II meets Library of Congress standards for archival permanence, ISO 11108 requirements for permanence and durability for archival paper and ISO 9706 requirements for document permanence. Because no fluorescent brighteners are used Museo II is less subject to yellowing or other color shifts over time. The lack of optical brighteners also means that Museo II will not fluoresce in mixed light environments that may contain UV illumination.

Those are great specifications, and this is a truly wonderful paper. I love the luxurious velina finish and beautiful eggshell color. And the prints are the best I've ever produced. Crane Museo is my new standard!