Digital BW, The Print

> ... My darkroom prints are always trimmed right to
> the edge of the image, drymounted and overmatted with a reveal of
> the bottom mat board all the way around. Signature on the lower mat
> board just below the print and showing in the window reveal. Thus
> the top window mat board and the small reveal of the lower mat board
> match in color.

Yes, I did the same thing.

> Now with inkjet printing on papers that have a much "bluer" paper
> ... really clashes with the color of the mat boards.

Yep, it looks bad.

I have some prints where I put the top matte board slightly over the image,
but I don't like that because the mat touching the image might mark it, if
there is any image change from light like the carbon warming, it'll show if
the window mat is removed, and the signature that shows is on the window mat
-- not on the print where it belongs.

So, I now favor using un-brightened paper.  My favorite is PermaJet Alpha,
but with the demise of Jobo, I'm not sure who the U.S. source will be.  PJ
Alpha matches my Light Impressions Exeter Gallery White board almost
perfectly.  It also has an excellent dmax, is very smooth, and just a nice
cotton paper to print with.  (While Permajet papers are similar to Innova,
there is no Innova brand paper that matches PJ Alpha.)  The other paper in
this category that I like is PremierArt Fine Art Hot press.  It's
essentially the same as Epson UltraSmooth, which I also use.  These papers
are not quite as creamy as the Alpha, but they are not blue and very good
papers.  These are the only natural, non-OBA papers that I've found that
have almost no flaking, very good (Alpha) or at least acceptable (PA Hot
Press) dmax, and print smoothly.

I now leave about 3/4 inch of paper showing around the image.  This makes it
much easier to align when framing.  I just tape hang the prints from the
backing of the hinged board.  This is easy, looks good, and avoids the
problems I've had with the other methods I've used. 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com