Digital BW, The Print

This review has been much discussed already; I had not commented
earlier because I then had no first-hand knowledge of these papers.

Suffice it to say this is a very subjective, and IMHO, not very learned, review.

Why do I say not very learned?  Because the reviewer starts with the
marketing hype of the paper, manufacturers, then screams when the
papers don't live up to the hype.  These papers allegedly, as the
reviewer notes, are supposed to "recreate the look of  a traditional
paper." This is marketing hype, and any artist who is familiar with
the history of digital imaging product will recognize it as such, and
frankly, give it exactly the credence it deserves. These papers need
to be evaluated in their own right, not as re-creations of a supposed
former glory.

The reviewer describes Fiba Gloss as "Naugahyde".  This is a very easy
denigration, complete with the requisite old car analogies supposed to
turn you off to the paper. It would have been interesting (but much
more difficult!) if the reviewer had actually tried to characterize
the paper.

Fiba Gloss does have a very particular texture- it is not plate
smooth, or photorag smooth, or very smooth at all. I print mostly on
William Turner, and this texture is likewise very different. Some
people I can well imagine disliking this texture, particularly if they
are used to printing on very smooth papers.  The gloss differential
can be daunting, but much less so than with other gloss papers. For
really deep, really saturated colors, though, (for me) it opens up a
whole new world!

I welcome more reviews of these papers from actual users, describing
their suitability (or not!) for particular image types. Reviews such
as the one cited, IMO, do not advance our understanding.
-- 
Regards,

Bill Morse
Wm. Morse Editions

(617) 429-3298

On 10/10/06, Kirk Thompson <thompsonkirk@...> wrote:
>
> Many have tried these papers & have decided not to use them, usually for the reasons in
>  this review:
>
>  http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/surface-reflections.shtml
>
>  I've tried them myself & have received some other folks' examples in the Print Exchanges
>  on this forum.  My hope is that the next generation of papers that are supposed to look
>  like air-dried gelatin-silver will be more successful.
>
>  Kirk