Digital BW, The Print

Hello Terry,

>I'm curious about how Innova FibaPrint is in terms of flaking and 
>how well it stands up to general handling? Is it more robust than 
>cotton rag papers, and can I use it for general customer prints?

I've used it a little bit, but not extensively (somewhere around 15 or
20 prints).  When the prints are fresh the surface is extremely
delicate and they flake and scuff easily, much more than any other
paper I've used.  I learned to not handle them at all until after they
dried for a few hours.  After that they seem to be quite durable and
difficult to scuff, with no flaking that I can recall.

Sorry I can't be more precise than that.  I haven't tested to see
exactly how much drying time they need, nor have I done any sort of
scuff-resistance comparison with any other paper.   But maybe this
will give some idea of what it's like.   My general impression is
that, after drying, the paper rates very highly for durability.

As for appearance, they have an ink color and Dmax in the same league
as PR, but with a harder, smoother surface.  BO prints look smoother
on it than on PR.  I once printed an image on PR and Fiba and couldn't
tell them apart from normal viewing distance.  Quite a nice rich
looking paper, and real thick, so it feels nice to hold.  It does tend
to curl, with the image on the convex side.  

Fiba does tend to print darker, and usually requires a slight
lightening curve to match an EEM proof.  PR prints almost identically
to EEM, and often requires no adjustment curve.


Regards,
Clayton


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