Digital BW, The Print

I received a box of 8.5x11 Bright Cube Eclipse Velvet, 350 gsm, 
Bright White, Double Sided paper today. This evening I ran a few 
sheets through the 7000 with Paul Roarks Curves and the MIS Variable 
Tone inks.

The reults are actually very nice. I don't have a densitometer, but I 
may scan it and compare it to Torchon. The standard EAM curve works 
well. At first the denser areas looked darker and had a shelf at 75%, 
but after a very few minutes the paper dried and the curve apears to 
be linear and well distributed.

The paper has a lovely surface that when looked at with a 4x loupe is 
reminiscent of velvet. The surface is not perfectly smooth, but has a 
very delicate texture like Torchon, but 90% smoother. Much like Epson 
Watercolor paper, but smoother.

When printing without the Roark curve in Grayscale the paper hides 
much of the standard dot dither. It receives the MIS inks very 
nicely. I understand that the results with Piezo inks are not nearly 
as good.

I made a Chaco Canyan landscape scene print on the Eclipse Velvet. 
The print (when dry) had a lovely smooth glow. No harsh shadow areas. 
Blacks seem adequate, not Torchonesque, more like the dmax of a fine 
platinum print. The MIS Variable Tone inks offer a myriad of 
possibilities with this paper.

The Eclipse Velvet is a nice white color. Not blue and not yellow. It 
is a shade whiter than Torchon. Quite nice! When I hold a sheet of 
the Epson Fine Art Smooth next to it, the Epson Fien Art Smooth is 
yellow/green in color (yuch, I never noticed that before).

Another paper with possibility.

Mike