The new high-end range was launched last week and is intended to take advantage of the growing trend for digitally printed photobooks.
It has been in the main designed for HP Indigo and Xeikon systems and is also compatible with dry toner and laser technologies, with Antalis saying this will provide general commercial printers with the opportunity to broaden production capabilities.
Antalis channel director for print James Jarvis said: “The number of printers using digital technology and the massive growth in it means they are now able to use a wider range of substrates.
“One of the big growth areas has been photobooks; people are able to take digital photographs and reproduce them themselves and there is a gap in the market for something that looks like an old fashioned photographic paper.
“You would normally do this using a silver halide process, which is expensive, so if they’ve got digital technology then they can buy E-Photo and it looks just like what I remember as traditional photography.”
The new range comes in four paper types: lustre, metallic, matt and pyramid. Antalis said the vivid range offers a high-definition print quality while lustre has "more of the look and feel of a traditional photographic paper". The SRA 3-size papers come in packs of 250 sheets, at weights of 130gsm, 190gsm or 260gsm.
The product has full FSC accreditation and is produced from raw materials taken from sustainable forestry.
Jarvis did not disclose price but said that as a higher-end product it costs more than Antalis’ standard coated range of papers. E-Photo could be used for jobs stretching from one sheet to several hundred.
“Because it runs and prints very well it would be ideal for long runs, so it could be a full-on production grade, but because it’s also digital the beauty of photos with digital imaging is you can literally just do one. So it would fill that whole spectrum,” he added.
Last month, Antalis and its partner Arjowiggins Graphic donated 200 solar panels to support education for children in Mali, and a month prior it launched a new roll storage unit and carbonless paper range.
