Digital BW, The Print

John,


Yes, Luster does have brighteners in it; Premium Semigloss and Gloss don't.


> As to Wilhelms test data, I still wonder about the long term effects
> of climate and temperature on that rc base.

I agree, the polyethylene barrier is an issue I'm concerned with too.
Overall, I think we are best off with the pigs encapsulated inside a
sandwich of polyethylene and some laminate or coating.  Protecting the pigs
from the environment seems like a good thing to do.  But, how good these
barrier substances are adds some uncertainty.  For coating I like either a
Wilhelm test or the use of a substance that has been used and accepted by
the conservationist types (like Rohm & Haas B72 [Lascaux]).

I'm somewhat encouraged when I see that polyethylene is what is used in join
replacement technologies.  Of course, there are probably all sorts of
different types of this basic chemical, but it seems to be highlight thought
of for a number of purposes.  The Wilhelm accelerated aging tests also give
some confidence, although accelerated aging testing has much more
uncertainty to it than accelerated fade testing. 

> ... 20 years.
> Most of the fiber prints look the same as they always did. But all of
> the rc prints, whether color or black and white (that I fixed and
> washed myself) seem brittle and dried out to me. Now some of this may
> have to do with the chemical processing but I still wonder what this
> plastic would look like in 30 years much less 300.

That is basically my experience also.  I don't fully trust the RC yet -- may
never.  But it has attributes that make it a very strong contender for many
uses.

> On a side note ...
> Breathing Color called me and tried to sell me on a new canvas they
> have just released with a "whole new" type of brightening process that
> does not involve the yellowing ob's now used in other inkjet products.

There are, apparently, a number of different brighteners.  Many seem to be
dyes that absorb UV and re-emit as bluish light.  Dyes fade.  That is what
the "yellowing" appears to be.  

There is no way to know how long a new brightener will last without testing
it -- just another source of uncertainty.

> ... I've always wondered why they
> couldn't just use some form of Titanium white pigment for brightening
> canvas and paper as has been used for centuries in other art media
> without apparent problems, .... or did it yellow too...

I, too, thought everyone would just use titanium white, but Kodak says it
was that brightener that wrecked the early RC papers.  Titanium dioxide (I
think that's what was used) apparently put out very reactive oxidants that
cracked the early polyethylene.  (Titanium dioxide is apparently even being
used in a direct solar hydrogen generator.  It seems to act as a catalyst
when light hits it, breaking up water [humidity] into its constituents,
which then, apparently, proceed to attack whatever is around.) 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com 



> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark"
> <paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> > (Pardon my jumping in.)
> >
> > Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper and UltraSmooth share the top spots
> on the
> > Wilhelm dark storage ratings (see 9800 test at
> > http://www.wilhelm-research.com/epson/9800.html) at > 300 years.
> Both are
> > also OBA free.
> >
> > Glossy paper has a huge dmax, and when sprayed or laminated glossy
> paper is
> > probably the most physically durable medium we have.  Between the
> paper and
> > coating technologies, I think the surface will be whatever we want.
> > Bronzing is going to be history soon (and already is if coated or
> > laminated).
> >
> > "RC" or "barrier" papers have, in my view, a huge future even at the
> high
> > end.
> >
> > (But tape-hung matte under glass -- or, better yet, in a
> www.clearbags.com
> > envelope -- is still the easiest.)
> >
> > Paul
> > www.PaulRoark.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
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