Digital BW, The Print

Sorry I left an impression that I was trying to "impress you". These days just
about anyone can do big prints on an Epson machine. That doesn't mean anything. 
What I was suggesting is that I've done a lot of prints that have very large areas with
significant black content for years, so I've seen more of the scuffing potential
of a lot of papers than if I had been dealing with smaller sizes. Although it is a
problem with them as well.

I do brush off the Hahnemuhle media before printing and that does help. Putting
a cleaning brush on the printer would not be wise because the fibers would end up
right down in the printer and in the heads, and this is exactly where you don't
want them.

I did not make up this problem with Hahnemuhle media flaking, scuffing, and
scratching easily. This issue has been discussed regulary on these yahoo lists
and around the world forever. To be fair, most of the fine inkjet papers out there
that have good dmax, surface and, absorption are tender also. Premier Art is one of
the few good papers that doesn't, but it's dmax is limiting, the rolls are thin, and it 
can do strange things to the color of monochrome work. But I still like Premier Art 
Hotpress for color work because of its sharpness.

What I relayed was just my personal day to day experience and impressions. Others
will surely have their own favourites and opinions. That's good. We don't want to all 
be using the same media or the same inksets. We NEED competition out there. I 
have not tested any of these papers scientifically. But, I think you will find in the 
months to come that a lot of people agree with me. Only time will tell.

John