Digital BW, The Print

Hello Steve,

Thanks for the report.  You sound like a happy camper <g>.


>1) Epson Velvet fine art 13x19: Awsome paper 

It does have an incredible richness and depth.  Amazing stuff.


>2) H. photo rag 308 13x19: Great texture and depth.  Hard to tell
>the print apart from the epson velvet fine art.  Will likely not 
>order again because it is the most expensive, and I had trouble 
>seeing the difference from epson velvet fine art. It is ever so
>slightly less warm.

Perhaps I'm over-sensitized from too much looking, but I see quite a
difference between them, and not just being warmer.  VFA has a texture
to it and takes the ink dots differently - PR has smoother mid tones.
I'm keeping PR in my arsenal for now until I find something to replace
it.  Right now there's nothing else quite like it.


>4) Hawk Mountain Merlin Smooth:  It will probably be my best all 
>around paper.

Same here.  Great stuff.


>I think the Hahnemühle Photo Rag did not display greater Dmax
>then the Hawk Mountain papers.

I have examined carefully for this since reading Paul Roark's
densitometer figures.  I forget the actual numbers, but the Dmax of
these papers is excellent, and on prints with small or broken up areas
of black it looks just as good.  However, one of my test prints has a
large solid black background and when comparing these prints the
greater Dmax on PR can be seen.  But it's an unhappy photographer who
lives purely the numbers.  These papers are excellent - contrasty and
punchy - and prints on them can hold up against PR or any of the
others.

Keep up the good work.

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm