Digital BW, The Print

John-

Actually the Epson USFA is available in sheets at 325gsm, dual 
sided.  The rolls are different.  Yes, the image is very sharp on 
this paper.  Unfortunately the dmax is not at the level of the Velvet 
Fine Art, but is typical for matte papers, identical in my 
measurements to the Photo Rag (1.65 or so).  Since I'm using the K3 
inks, I haven't dealt with metamerism issues.

On a related note, today I visited Exim Vaios (sp?), which happens to 
be in my hometown in Berkeley.  A good and knowledgable bunch.  They 
told me that they sell both the Epson water-resistant canvas and the 
material directly from the people who make it for Epson.  "We have 
never replaced a roll of the Epson material, but we replace a lot of 
the other."  They're big Hahnemuhle fans, which I can't get behind.

Walt

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "john dean" 
<deanwork2003@y...> wrote:
>
> Thanks for that paper update.
> 
> It seems like I have heard somewhere that Epson takes the Premier 
Art rag and coats it 
> again to produce thier Ultrasmooth. If you are seeing less scuffing 
on the Ultrasmooth that 
> could be the reason. 
> 
> Unfortunately from what I can remember the Ultrasmooth is not 
available in 300 gsm dual 
> sided, only Premier Art Hotpress. The US is available in 400 gsm 
dual which is too thick for 
> books. And that is too bad because I found this paper to transfer 
blacks less than any 
> paper around. ( the Crane Museo Max is new and I don't know about 
it yet and its not as 
> smooth). I also find the Ultrasmooth to be the sharpest paper I've 
seen in a 100% rag. It 
> also shows a lot less metamerism with some inksets due to that lack 
of OBAs.
> 
> I hope what you experienced is not the norm but if it happened on 
two different batches 
> that is a  real concern.
> 
> John
> 
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "wwodets" 
<odets@c...> wrote:
> >
> > I recently went to Epson Ultrasmooth Fine Art for an OBA-free 
paper and 
> > was impressed with it:  good image, impeccable quality, etc.
> > 
> > Having heard that Premiere Hot Press was the same paper, I 
ordered 150 
> > sheets of it.  It looks like the EUS, measures like it and their 
> > profiles are essentially identical.
> > 
> > The Premiere paper, however, shows *terrible* quality control: 
bad 
> > edges, miscuts, insects smashed in the coating (really) and, 
worst of 
> > all, radom scuffing of the coating that is quite visible in black 
areas 
> > of the print.  
> > 
> > At the same time I bought a box of the Premiere Hot Press 
Textured and 
> > these sheets were so badly cut and stiff and deformed that I had 
> > difficulty loading them into the printer.  It is a very rough 
surfaced, 
> > ugly, badly finished paper.
> > 
> > So, if you're thinking about a Premiere paper, watch out.  I was 
> > shocked.
> >
>