The HP Pro B9180 Inkjet Printer - Pro Quality at an Enthusiast's Price
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Paper Tray Tips

There are two options for sending paper through the B9180 printer--the main tray and the specialty media tray. Unless you're using heavy fine art paper, the main tray is the most convenient. You can load it up with stock that's between 4 by 6 and 13 by 19 inches and begin printing. As long as you remember to put your paper face down in the tray, not much can go wrong. That is, unless you specify the wrong tray in the print dialog box.

If you specify the specialty media tray when you really wanted the main tray (or the other way around), you're probably in for a printer reboot. This is the thing you most want to avoid, because the wait can run as long as 5 agonizing minutes. So be sure you have the proper media tray selected in the dialog box before initiating the launch sequence.

When you need to use the specialty media tray, such as for the excellent Hahnemuhle Watercolor paper, double check your dialog box to ensure the specialty tray is selected. You can load only a sheet at a time, with the side you want to print on facing up. There's a bit of a knack to loading the paper. You have to get it in position on the tray that drops down, then hope you have it loaded perfectly straight so when the printer grabs the page, it stays straight. You also have to allow room behind the printer so it can pull the paper all the way through as it prepares the job. I lost a few sheets to misloading. The printer pulled them through at an angle, and it creased the paper. Ack!

Once I got the knack of loading single sheets, my losses diminished. As long as I didn't think I'd mastered the technique, I was OK. The minute I got cocky, I'd lose a sheet to misfeeding.

Moral of the story is, use the main tray when you can. It allows you to push the printer up against the wall (saving space) and doesn't misfeed as easily. But when you want to swing for the fences with the heavier fine art paper, be prepared to lose a sheet or two along the way.

Black and White Printing

When you look at the ink configuration for the B9180, you may think it can't print in B&W like some of the other printers in its class, such as the Epson R2400. The HP holds only three black ink cartridges (as opposed to the four that you often see). You'll see photo black, matte black, and gray. That's it. Yet it produces wildly attractive B&W prints.

Here are a few tips that will help you get the best, longest lasting grayscale images. The first thing to understand is the difference between composite B&W printing vs. using gray inks only. This option is presented to you in HP's print dialog box.

If you print B&W using composite, some colored inks are used. The primary reason for this is to control the bronzing effect on coated photo paper. If you were to print gray inks only on glossy stock, for example, the bronzing might be very noticeable.

But there's a beautiful solution to this challenge. Instead, use HP's Fine Art stock, such as the Hahnemuhle Watercolor paper. You don't have to worry about bronzing on HP's fine art paper, so you can use the gray inks-only option. Not only do you get true B&W prints this way, but your prints should be good for 230 years or longer because you don't have any colored inks in the mix. (Colored ink is more vulnerable to fading under UV exposure than black ink.)

HP engineers recommend for B&W printing that you use the sRGB color space, gray inks only, fine art paper, and choose "printer managed" for color management. Believe it or not, there's a coated side to the Hahnemuhle Watercolor paper (when I hold the paper by my fingertips in the center of the long end, the paper would curl inward toward the coated side), and that's the side you want facing up when you load the stock in the specialty media tray.

I haven't felt the urge to apply any toning to the watercolor fine art paper, because it's already fairly warm toned. Following these guidelines, my output has been outstanding. Beautiful, rich B&W prints that rival anything I could do in the chemical darkroom, and just as able to hold up for centuries. Apparently the B9180 doesn't need four black-ink cartridges. This is a great printer for B&W enthusiasts. If you want to use composite printing on regular photo paper, it looks very good but the fine art stuff is tough to beat.

Paper Stocks

HP offers a pretty good variety of printing paper. The HP Advanced Photo Paper is available in Satin-Matt and Glossy in the 13 by 19 inch sizes ($49.44 for 25 sheets). These surfaces dry quickly, are water resistant, and have substantial weight (10.5 mil thickness). Advanced Photo Paper is also available in standard sizes including 4 by 6, 5 by 7, and 8.5 by 11.

During testing, I became quite fond of the Hahnemuhle Watercolor paper. It's acid-free and contains 50 percent cotton rag. It has a nice heft at 13.4 mil thickness, and will run you about $4 for a 13 by 19 inch sheet. Expensive, yes. But for your favorite B&W images, it's worth it.

There are three other fine art stocks: Aquarella, Artist Matte Canvas, and Hahnemuhle Smooth Fine Art. All of these papers are heavy and expensive, but beautiful.