Digital BW, The Print

Paul:


> My latest Epson Premium Semimatte ("PSM") prints have a dmax and dynamic
> range that exceed the traditional B&W silver print by a significant margin.

1. What inks are you using? 
2. Do the ULtrachrome inks have the same dmax and dynamic range on Epson Premium 
Semimatte?

> I spray these with PremierArt Print Shield and dry mount them.  I think the
> finish is very competitive with my air-dried fiber prints.

Does the spray elominate bronzing? I also like Semi-Matte but have solved the bronzing 
problem, and increased dmax, by laminating as I mentioned in an earlier posting.


> So, I think matte paper is a major source of the problem.  It's not digital
> or "carbon" printing, per se, that is the source of the low dmax.

Absolutely, the problem is from matte paper: in his book, The Print, Ansel Adams states 
that the reflective range of glossy-typers is something like 1-100 while that of matte 
paper is 1-25, if I remember the numbers correctly. My feeling is that when people started 
printing b&w on inkjets, when the inks could not print on glossy papers, they made a 
virtue of necessity and then fell in love with heavy-weight papers and some of the matte 
textures. Of course, so some type of prints that rely mainly of mid-tones matte paper can 
be beuatiful; but if you want or nees deep blacks, there is no substitute for glossy-type 
papers.

> Seeing is believing.  Try some or ...

Yup.

--Mitch/Bangkok