Digital BW, The Print

I've now sprayed the Epson Premium papers - Luster, Gloss, Semi-matt, &
Semi-gloss - with PremierArt Print Shield.  

 

The bottom line is that Semi-gloss and Semi-matte are the winners, being so
close it's almost a draw in my view.  Which one is available in the needed
size will probably by the deciding factor.

 

The spray reduces the bronzing on all of the papers, with the Luster ending
up with the most.  On the others, I think most will never be aware of the
residual that those looking for it will find.

 

The Luster has more of a beaded surface that causes the reflections to
spread too much.  It's harder to eliminate irritating reflections.

 

The Glossy stays too glossy for me.  Also the spray doesn't go on perfectly
evenly, but only on the glossy was I able to see the unevenness.

 

The Semi-matte has a slightly finer-grained surface than the Semi-gloss.
Both are good compromises between a gloss and matte print.  

 

When the Semi-gloss test strip was laid on the near-black sky of one of my
dry-mounted silver prints, the surface texture and reflection spread on the
dark end of the test strip was almost identical to the air-dried
fiber-print.  I don't want to say they are a match, but it's very close.
The Semi-matte looked smoother than the fiber print.  

 

The dmax of the semi-matte was the lowest of the bunch at 2.12, but I had
just loaded the Photo K, and it looks like the head may not have been firing
on all jets.  I'll re-do this test.  A dmax of 2.4 for the Semi-gloss is
impressive.  However, in the past some of these super-high dmaxs have come
down to the 2.2 range over night.

 

As a practical matter, I can't tell much if any difference in the depth of
the blacks among these test strips.  They are all excellent.  Held up
against an EEM under glass, there is a marked difference in depth of black
between the EEM and these test strips.

 

If the Semi-gloss were available in the sizes I'm interested in, I would
probably favor it slightly over the Semi-matte, but if the Semi-matte is all
that is available in the sizes I want, then that'll do.

 

In light of the past sad history of RC print longevity, the Wilhelm tests of
these papers are significant.  I think papers with no such testing will be
at a distinct disadvantage.

 

Interesting possibilities here.

 

Paul

www.PaulRoark.com <http://www.paulroark.com/>  



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