Digital BW, The Print

I do not have separate curves for sprayed v. unsprayed prints.  

I do 3 - 4 light coats of PremierArt and find the densities are barely
affected.  For example, the Ilford Smooth Pearl I sprayed several days ago
has a 0% paper white density of 0.06.  The un-sprayed control strip has a 0%
paper density of 0.05.  I think that is the best measure of the extent to
which these sprays, if done lightly -- which is enough to protect the image
-- have very little affect on the look of the image.  The midtones are not
visibly affected.  

The dmax of the sprayed test strip is 2.32 v. 2.20 for the unsprayed one.
This is the area on RC paper where there may be the most change.  On matte
papers 3 light coats doesn't change the dmax for me at all.  Dmax of RC
papers, however, tends to decrease for some time.  (It may be caused by the
slow glycol release.  This is not an issue with matte papers, where the
glycol sticks to the cellulose so tightly is it never released.  This is the
source of the glass fogging problem with RC papers.) I'm not sure if the
spray is just delaying the reduction of dmax or if this differential will
stay that way.  With blacks that deep, it's rather academic anyway.

>I think part of our Holy Quest is about tweaking the process as far as 
>possible towards the appearance of an air-dried silver print just for the 
>perverse satisfaction of fooling some serious silver print guys for at 
>least a second or two.

Well, maybe this is true for some, but not for me.  On the other hand the
air-dried silver print became a standard for some good reasons.  So, as a
way to measure the success of our efforts to make a good-looking B&W print
with this new technology, it serves as a useful benchmark.

For me the challenge is simply to make the best B&W print -- as easily and
cheaply as possible.  A big part of this for display prints (and not
necessarily for other uses) is accessible/visible dynamic range.  The
greater the difference between the depth of black and brightness of the
whites I actually see in real-world viewing, the more I have to work with in
terms of making an image that has a high impact.  This is the same goal that
we B&W silver printers have been pursuing for years.  Silver prints beat the
other older technologies in part due to the higher dmax.  Selenium toning
was done by many for the dmax increase, not the longevity issues.  I can't
imagine anyone bleaching silver prints except to squeeze a few more
hundredths of units of brightness and dynamic range out of the image.

In my office I have the usual matte prints under glass and one sprayed RC
print dry-mounted and not under glass.  The RC print wins the beauty contest
easily.  I think the dynamic range and lack of reflections makes a big
difference.  The matte under glass images look veiled in comparison. 

>RE coatings, I think lacquer sprays are important for protection ...

Yes, I agree.

> but don't like the idea of having to complete the "look" of a print 
>with them. 

I agree.  Unfortunately, the technology right now demands some form of
protection for both RC and matte inkjet prints -- the non-encapsulated
pigments are sensitive to abrasion.  Also, the reduction in bronzing for RC
is significant.

>tried waxing with very tantalizing results (couldn't eliminate lap marks) 
>but wouldn't want to have to do that all the time for the same reason.

Ditto.

>My hope is someone will invent a pass-through coating device. ...

One of the forum members is going to try a coating machine for Hydrocote.
It's not cheap, but for some it could be an interesting solution.

So far, the sprayed RC papers seem to be the easiest for me in terms of high
visual impact per effort expended.  With a hair drier, I can print, dry and
apply several coats of spray in quick succession.  I'm going to try a cork
board or the like that can be hung temporarily on an outside wall for
spraying a number of small prints all at the same time.  I'll just use pins
to hold the prints down and spray the whole board full of them at once,
using a hair drier to speed the process.  Three quickies without having to
clean the aerosol nozzle until the end of the process seems to work.

I might add that sprayed matte snapshots have been on my refrigerator door
for over a year now and are still in good shape.  With my kids and dog
slinging food and water all over the kitchen this is quite an achievement.
The sprayed matte prints do not, however, have a washable surface the way
the sprayed RC prints do.  So, I expect the RC snapshots to fare even
better.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com