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Digital BW, The Print

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OBA's - what's the downside (and how much)?

2005-08-06 by Intrinsic Pictures

Hi,
I believe I recall the primary problem with optical brighteners in 
paper being that they have a tendency to lose their whiteness over 
time. Am I remembering correctly?

I'm assuming this shows up as "yellowing", but wondering if Paul or 
someone else has quantified just how much of a change we are talking 
about, and approximately how quickly it can be expected to happen in an 
otherwise stable paper/ink combo. (And does the "OBA effect" happen 
pretty consistently across similar papers, e.g. "brights", "naturals" 
w/OBA's, etc.?)

Finally--just eyeballing it, are we talking a bright paper that ends up 
looking more like a natural, or is it something more extreme? What I'm 
getting at here is of course, would a purchaser be struck by the change 
in say a Hahnemuhle Photo Rag over the years, or would you really have 
to compare a fresh print to an older one to even notice?

So many questions! TIA,
Doug
http://www.IntrinsicPictures.com


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