Digital BW, The Print

In a message dated 1/10/2004 4:21:41 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com writes:
Subject: Re: Laminating Rag

Hi Claude,

Can you tell me some more about this laminate: what machine or other method 
applies it, who does this lamination commercially, etc.  It seems most of the 
outfits 
in Colorado, where I live, don't use anything thinner than 3mm.  Thanks,

Tom Andrews

Sure. I got a used GBC Eagle 65 on Ebay, 25". It also does mounting on board, 
cold or hot (variable thickness). USI make the thinnest laminate available 
(also the cheapest at $33 for a 1,000 square foot roll, but you gotta get 
twins). Yeah, it seems that the 3, 5 and 10 mil are the most popular and get pricier 
with thickness, for machines, material, and services. A brand new 25" or 27" 
USI laminator for materials less than 3 mils can be had for about $895, which 
is half what I paid for mine used.

Some people won't like the extreme gloss, but it does deepen Dmax, per 
previous post. It also reveals an amazing amount of texture, eveon on EAM and HPR, 
because it's so thin. Even at that, it's about 10X thicker than liquid lam or 
spray.But talk about protecting prints with instant finish and no stinkies! You 
can display this stuff without glass any day as it's scratch resistant, 
waterproof, and certainly encapsulates "carbon on cotton" or RC completely.

I also have a roller coating machine. I'll be getting some Hydrocote from 
Paul Roark to see if I can get more Dmax AND maintain a finish closer to air 
dried silver fiber prints. I also want to try Clear Shield. I don't want anything 
but water based product. I may even get a spray gun and compressor. My 
ultimate reverence for print richness is air dried Ilford Multigrade FB lightly 
toned, Ilfobrom, and old Portriga Rapid 111.

My gut feel is that I will end up going the same direction as Paul Roark with 
MIS gloss black on Gloss paper with a SemiGloss roller or spray coat. I can 
live with a Dmax of 2.0, but not 1.66, even though the gray scale is much 
smoother than any silver print I ever made in my Zone System Darkroom of 20 years 
(RIP, 2000 AD).

As a portrait photographer, I am currently selling amazingly neutral B&W 
(with slight metamerism) from the Atkinson profiles with Epson UC inks in a 7600 
since I print color and B&W side by side. My customers don't know about 
metamersism and couldn't care less. However, I'm hoping to do the same with a 7500 
and Quads with twin toners on Glossy (and nada metamerism). It's a matter of 
principle to have a B&W AND a COLOR lightroom on different machines. I always 
reserved the B&W for personal work, the other for clients, except for my art 
scholl grad clients, they know B&W and want the museum quality behind glass. Nice 
to offer the full Monte on that. ;>)

Claude


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