Digital BW, The Print

Bill,

> ... I am stunned.  [Kirkland Signature Professional Glossy Inkjet 
>Photo Paper] provides, hands down, the best color and 
>black and white photos on glossy paper ...

Yep, it's almost shocking.  If Costco can sell this for $0.15/letter size
sheet, it says we have a very good future ahead in terms of glossy photos,
which, as you note, the public prefers.  

Getting the inksets good on glossy paper has been a major push of mine for
the last year.  I think these "barrier" papers have a huge potential.
Resistance to light fading is virtually a done deal now.  Gas fading and
physical damage may be more serious, and I like the idea of encapsulating
the carbon pigs between polyethylene and a lacquer (or acrylic) coating --
at least for the serious prints.  Who has the room to store all the print in
glass frames?  

For the quick and easy photos, getting rid of the bronzing and
susceptibility to fingerprints in the dark areas without any spray is
needed, and the Costco paper does well in those areas also.

>...
>There are two things I wish about this paper:
 
>1) That it was archival...

See my earlier post.  My Abbey test pen says it's acid free paper on the
inside.

>Lightfast?

Pigments are much less sensitive to paper variations than dyes.  I will try
to give it a fade test in the near future, but note that Epson Premium
Semigloss, coated with PremierArt Print Shield tied with Epson UltraSmooth
as the best I've tested.  So, RC papers can be very good indeed.  I suspect,
however, that the Kirkland paper has OBAs in it.  Those could be a negative,
but EEM also has them and does well in fade tests.  However, I'd like an
OBA-free version of this paper.

>2) That it was available in larger sizes / or on roll.
 
I've been in touch with Costco, and the paper buyer is not interested in
helping us there.  Hopefully one of our usual inkjet resellers will convince
Ilford to sell a similar paper.  It's just a matte of time before this
technology spreads.  It's not Costco's, after all.  It's Ilford and Epson
from what I can see.  The Costco paper is just the first to hit the market
-- they couldn't care less about making their existing inventory obsolete.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com