Digital BW, The Print

Folks,

I just uploaded my paper database in FileMaker Pro  v.5 format in the Files 
area:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/files/Paper%20
data/

The file is compressed using stuffit 5.5. If that is a problem, please let me 
know. 

If you do not have FMPro and prefer other formats, please let me know as well 
and I will export records accordingly.  Keep in mind that there are about 150 
records with dozens of fields, so something like Excel and similar  "flat" views 
would involve a lot of scrolling. 

In the future I will also make an html table of the most relevant data, for easy 
access by all. Meanwhile, if someone experienced with db formats is willing to 
convert this to other programs (Access, 4D, etc), that would be very welcome. 
I am one of two moderators on this list and can upload the converted db to the 
Files area.
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Background for those few (! just kidding!) who haven't heard of this project 
before:

I got into the PiezoBW printing system late last year, and bought all inks and 
papers from inkjetmall. While that worked fine, I began to look at other papers 
to see what my options for price or quality or surfaces and color were.

I then stumbled unto the infamous renaming game that  Hahnemuhle has 
wrought upon us. Each of their distributors is free to call their papers by 
whatever name they please. Quite the opposite of, for example, Crane for 
whom Museo is Museo is Museo, and even the papers they make for Epson  
are marked as being "by Crane".  Who knows what brilliant mind came up with 
the Hahnemuhle "strategy". 

 Anyway, that lead to my realization that someone could go, for example, to 
Digital Art Suplies and pay oodles more than mediastreet  for the exact same 
thing and not realize it. I, frankly, considered this a scam and set out to make a 
database to sort out who is who. That was the humble beginnings of this 
project.

Then things got far more complex than I envisioned. There is a lot more 
papers and info out there than I thought originally. I followed discussions, sent 
the database by email -  free for the asking - and asked people to write up 
their own test results in public. So here is where this stands now:

- This is a database mostly for papers that have been tested with piezoBW.

- Multiple sources and multiple names for the same paper are provided, but 
the prices are only current as of a few months ago when I put them in. There 
are web addresses as well as entire pages with prices and info dumped 
directly from the site of the source, to avoid typing errors.

- All density reads in the db are based on printing the 100% patch with 
piezoBW using the most likely profile (noted in the db) and read with an X-Rite 
810 (status A) densitometer set to Visual (as opposed to CMY). The 
differences between different piezo profiles in the dMax is minimal. Profiles 
make the most difference in the rest of the tonal scale.

- I appreciate user feedback and incorporate it as I see fit. Sometimes my 
early judgment on a paper will change as a result of other's feedback. This is 
work in progress. Every upload will have a "freshness" date attached to the file 
name in the form of a 6-digit number (073101 means today, July 31, for 
example).

- Future updates may have new or bigger  fields to incorporate more 
commentary from people, including conflicting opinions.

- Also, a propos of this group, future updates may have new data with 
performance for other inksets.

- While no data is included yet, information on how papers do under coating 
(experiments by Martin Wesley and Mark Romine) will also be incorporated.

I consider this a communal project, and you have no idea how happy I am to 
finally post this on line (something that could not be done on a group list 
owned by any single commercial outfit). 

So, please report discrepancies or new info, including price comparisons and 
sources. The db is only as good as the data is current and accurate.

Thanks to all for their past (and future) contributions!

Antonis