Digital BW, The Print

Antonis,

Thanks for your observations on the new OFB paper and for posting the  
profiles.  I tried the ISP profile and found the tonal distribution to  
be quite pleasing.  Still the same problem with midtone bronzing that I  
ran into earlier, but this time I was able to minimize the bronzing  
with two good coats of Kamar (Is there a comparable product that  
doesn't have the obnoxious odor?).  I noticed that you had the ink  
limits for lt cyan and lt magenta set quite low in the ISP profile.  In  
my earlier profile attempts with ISP I had the limits up around 10 to  
11 and that may have exacerbated the bronzing somewhat.  Also, the  
Kamar varnish kicked up the dmax about 0.15 units and I'm wondering if  
I should re-linearize the profile after the varnishing.

Carl

On Monday, June 2, 2003, at 02:28  AM, Antonis Ricos wrote:

> .... and here are some brief comments on how I saw the beta Oriental  
> Fiber
> Based paper:
>
> 1. I think it wins on being the only one of the "glossy" types to be  
> so thick and
> OPAQUE. Unlike many of the Epson and Ilford papers this one you can't  
> see
> through to the back.
>
> 2. It may also win on longevity tests, though that remains to be seen.  
> If indeed
> it has OBAs as Robert found out, it may yellow "down" a bit, but the  
> backing
> and coating may be more archival than other similar papers.
>
> 3. The sheen of the surface is not quite a shiny as an air-dried fiber  
> paper, it
> appears duller. In my rub-down tests (rubbing the surface with  
> sterilized
> cotton), I noticed a white "dust" coming off, much like a clay-coated  
> paper. This
> may make the surface delicate. No telling if this is how the final  
> release will
> be, however.  There seems to be an unusual 3-layer coating that  
> produces 3
> distinct  surfaces when rubbed away.
>
> 4. Next to the Ilford Smooth Pearl, this paper produced an even  
> bronzing in
> the denser areas without color shifts (used with UltraChromes and  
> IJC/OPM).
> Ilford, produced a different color bronzing in the mid tones than the  
> shadows
> which I found annoying. Oriental probably has the least bronzing of  
> many
> other "glossy" paper I've seen with UC inks (printed samples courtesy  
> Robert
> Morrison).
>
> 5. Despite the low bronzing and good look-and-feel, when I held up a  
> real
> double weight fiber print, the difference in surface sheen produced by  
> the
> amount of ink on the Oriental prevented it from looking like a  
> darkroom print. It
> does look like one when the light hits it at 45 degrees and the ink  
> doesn't
> shine. Otherwise, it looks funny, just as any pigment inkjet print  on  
> glossy
> would. In that respect, we are not there yet.
>
> 6. Using Inkjet Control to profile and OPM to drive the 2200, I made a  
> neutral
> profile (i.e. with some LCyan and LMagenta) that brought the dmax up  
> to a
> respectable 2.14.  With the same software, however,  I brought the  
> Ilford
> Smooth Pearl to around 2.4. It's a trade off between bronzing and dmax  
> it
> seems. For those who want to play, both profiles are in our Files  
> section,
> (though it may be a while before Oriental samples  become readily  
> available).
>
>
> In conclusion, if I wanted a digital paper that felt a lot like a  
> darkroom
> double-weight fiber paper, I would have no other choice but to go with
> Oriental.  It is still a compromise compared to a silver print, but a  
> light coat of
> Krylon would probably mask the slight bronzing, and logevity would be  
> better
> than other similar papers.
> However, I'll have to wait for the final production sheets to see if  
> the surface is
> smoother and less delicate than this sample. After all, I only had 2  
> sheets: 1 to
> make a profile and one to print a picture!! So, please take these  
> comments as
> very preliminary and with a large grain of salt.  Many thanks to Robert
> Morrison for generously sharing the very few sheets he managed to get  
> his
> hands on for these tests.
>
>
> Antonis
>
>
>
>
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