Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., " Ruhrfoto/Bernd L." 
<ruhrfoto@y...> wrote:
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Martin Wesley" 
> <mwesley250@e...> wrote:
> > The color shift in the EAM base was probably the brighteners 
> fading 
> > out.
> > Martin
> 
> Martin, Todd, et al
> EAM is that extra bright because it seems to have brighteners in 
> the coating (brightness grade more than 100% - blueish tint). 
> Photo Rag has abot 97 to 98 % without  using brighteners.
> Bernd

Caveat:  Some of the below may be self-serving/self-promotion, but it 
is intended with education.
Although i have not seen and tested this particular sheet, it would 
surprise me if this particular 100% cotton sheet has a brightness 
rating of 97-98 WITHOUT optical brighteners.  Most of the other 
digital art papers we have done competitive testing on here in our 
labs DEFINITELY have optical brightening agents (OBA) in the sheet, 
and this includes Torchon, German Etching, and William Turner.  (i 
have not tested LPM, Eclipse, and some of the newer papers mentioned 
in this list...yet.)
It is true that OBA are not stable and may effect the print over 
time.  in my very humble opinion, i would personally be careful of 
using sheets with OBA for my prints.  

Self-promotion now coming:  the Crane digital art sheets (Museo, 
ESFA, ETFA) do NOT contain any OBA and are in fact the whitest that a 
100% cotton sheet can be.  As a very large purchaser of cotton fiber 
(think of all the currency paper), Crane specifies the cleanest 
cotton fiber from all our suppliers, and has a very rigorous 
inspection system for all incoming raw materials.

thanks for your attention, 
robert rex
(already hired by crane) ;)