Digital BW, The Print

I've found that EAM/EEM coats very well with a single coat of Hydrocote
Polyshield gloss polyurethane (or probably other similar coatings) with the
#22 or #30 wire-wound rod.  The #15 was just not laying down enough coating
to cover properly.  So far, I prefer the #30 and will be attempting to scale
up to 16x20 with that combination ASAP.

The surface of the coated 8x10 EAM ends up very similar to my silver
prints -- in particular, an un-glazed but dry-mounted, air-dried, "glossy,"
lightly-selenium-toned Kodak Polymax Fine Art, fiber-based silver print.
The coated EAM is slightly less glossy and may have a hair more texture.
The reflections off the surface have a little lower maximum intensity and
are slightly less compact.

The dynamic range of the coated EAM, printed with FS-N inks in the 3000, is
clearly greater.  The blacks are noticeably darker (2.28 v. 1.9 -- more than
a full f-stop), and the whites are whiter.  The tones are very similar.

At this point, I'm inclined to go back to EAM for my personal printing.
With UltraChrome matte black the dmax will even be higher.

I have had more trouble with unevenness of coated 16x20 Eclipse prints that
were printed on the 3000.  The very moist areas (large deep black areas) in
combination with the 3000's pizza wheels leave the paper rippled.  The
ripples then make the coating go on unevenly.  I'm searching for a way to
flatten the prints.  I'm also hoping that EAM's thinner base may be an
advantage in this respect.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com