Digital BW, The Print

Steve;

I find it curious that only a few short weeks after 'the great glop 
debate'none of the responders have brought gloss optimizer (glop)up 
as as option. I suppose this means most have written it off as an 
option for one reason or another. Since the R1800 is out , and both 
Roy (QTR) and Paul Roark are workng to support it, I feel that 
dismissing the technique is very premature, so I'll give you a brief 
summary:

Gloss optimizer as you probably know is a resin solution used in one 
of the R800 channels to even out the gloss differential and 
eliminate 'bronzing'with the UC inks when used on gloss/semigloss 
papers. The R1800 is set up the same way, just a bigger printer. 
Some of us experimented a few weeks back with MIS' version of the 
product, either overcoating with a second pass, or using QTR or 
another rip to control a glop channel.  The results are quite worth 
the extra trouble if you are still 'hung up' on the air-dried glossy 
look, or need hi-gloss for those vulgar (in my opinion) PR shots 
that some keep referring to. Epson premium semi-matte, or a smooth 
semi-gloss paper takes on a surface sheen that is the closest yet to 
air-dried, and the dmax kicks up to well over 2.0 (compared to 1.7 
for matte papers) with a clearing and deepening of shadow detail 
that is every bit as nice as a fiber print.  If you are using a UC 
printer with QTR and color inks, the glop benefits your color 
printing as well.

The down side? well, the extra complexity of course, if you're doing 
it with a printer(s) not setup for it. Also, the glop offers no real 
protection like the printshield does. And, the MIS version right now 
is not clear, but slightly tea-colored, so if you put it on too 
thick it visibly warms the tone of the print and paper.

My opinion on the gloss/vs matte issue is that we are more hung up 
on it than the print-buying segment of the art market. Many buyers, 
collectors, gallerist, etc. are still a lot more hung-up on silver-
gel vs. inkjet as a whole and don't really give serious 
consideration to the details of inkjet prints beyond just picking 
them apart. The real educational job here is to get that bias out of 
our way- the technical side will evolve quickly enough.

Steve Karafyllakis


 In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "SteveZ" 
<blizzie12@y...> wrote:
> 
> 
> Today I met with an old associate of mine, he owns a local framing 
> store, but his specialty is fine art photography and portraiture.  
> Originally from eastern Europe, where he received his training in 
> traditional, analogue photography/print making, he now makes his 
> living in Canada, still shooting film with wet dark room 
processing.
> 
> I had him look at some of my digital b&w prints done on EEM paper 
> with my 2200, and he was impressed, except for one thing:  
> 
> "No Glossy Paper."
> 
> I suppose in his mind, a black and white print does not have much 
> merit unless it's produced on glossy or semi-gloss photographic 
> paper.  He suggested I make some prints on semi gloss paper as an 
> experiment and and I told him I would try and show him the 
results. 
> 
> What are your opinions about using glossy media for fine art 
prints?
>