Digital BW, The Print

Roy,

>Something very strange is happening to my prints using UT2 on 
>Ilford Heavy Weight SemiMatte paper.  The high end densities are just
>melting away very rapidly.

I'm not familiar with this Ilford paper, but my experience is that the high
dmaxs of most RC papers decrease significantly over the first day or so.
I'd guess a decrease of 0.15 for some before stabilizing is not unusual.
The PremierArt type sprays may to reduce the loss a bit.  I have not made a
detailed study of this.  

Epson Glossy Photo Paper does not seem to exhibit this loss of dmax.   When
the loss for others and the lack thereof for GPP are factored in, the cheap
old Glossy Photo Paper begins to look like even more of a bargain.

I wish it didn't get wavy in high density areas and was archival.

In that respect, I've been curious about an Epson paper called "Glossy Paper
Heavyweight."  See
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/ProductMediaSpec.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&i
nfoType=Overview&oid=-8813&category=Paper+%26+Media  (Cut and paste the
wrapped portion.)

This paper, that is only available in rolls, is said to have "good"
archivability.  This is the same rating as the Premium RC line.  So, maybe
this is another acid free (buffered paper core) RC paper.

Note that it is also said to be "non-yellowing."   Is that a hint that a lot
of these papers do yellow?

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com