Digital BW, The Print

On 3/15/03 2:14PM, "Victor Simon" ibsimon@... wrote:

>This post (snipped) from ... on Epson2000 group mentions yellowing:
>>"Archivability is only considered as fair by Epson
>>and based upon my experience here is why: Much like the Archival
>>(Enhanced) Matte, the paper yellows quite easily over time when
>>displayed. This can be almost eliminated by using a print sleeve or
>>lamination (you can use both hot and cold lamination with this paper)
>>or minimized a great deal under glass".
>I had a discussion with JT at US Inkjet (866-874-6553), and he said the 
>Pro Glossy is a cast coated paper;  if I remember correctly, this 
>is a paper where the inkjet coating is applied straight to paper, with 
>no barrier, and no RC material involved.  Maybe the paper yellows 
>because it's not rag, and thus the comparison to Epson Enhanced Matte.  

Vic,

Sorry to be so late getting back with this.
I took my PH-pen to Eps Pro Glossy. The printing surface AND the paper's 
middle layer were definitely alkaline. The back surface was dead neutral. 
That is, unlike Eps Enhanced Matte, not a trace of acidity anywhere. 
So I don't have a clue about where the reported yellowing might come from. 
While EPG's print surface is not very white, I suppose it could have some 
optical brighteners that yellow; if OBs do cause yellowing in EPG, that 
effect should peak in the short-run, rather than continue progressing 
over the long-run.
EPG strikes me as having some unusual features. The back surface looks 
like it's an RC base for the sheet, but you find it's just a thin layer 
when you tear it. The middle is very white, and, then, there's the coated 
off-white front,which has a very shiny granular quality. This composition 
is unlike that of any other paper I've checked out. All the other glossy 
inkjet papers I've seen are smoother, like ferrotyped traditional prints 
-- the closest match for EPG's surface I've found is on traditional 
chem-processed air-dried Ilford Galerie Fiber Base, my favorite from my 
darkroom days; (Oriental's traditional FB Glossy is much smoother than 
the Ilford FB Galerie; I'm curious whether the soon-to-be-released Oriental 
FB inkjet paper will have the same surface as its FB chem paper). 
I like the EPG surface a lot. My hunch is that all its glossy granules 
reflect light in some way which results in the image looking more dimensional, 
as well as like a traditional air-dried glossy. Whatever it is that's going on, 
it looks good to me. 

Regards,
John      



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