Digital BW, The Print

Hi,

A few weeks ago Richard asked the list about Breathing Color's
Sterling papers. I order some boxes of their Sterling Decor 300g
paper. I want to report back to the list my impressions on this 
paper, thinking that perhaps they will be useful to someone. 

1) The paper is very stiff, but loads well in my 2400. 

2) I purchased 13x19" sheets and found that they are quite curled out
of the box. Apparently, they cut these sheets from rolls, and the
paper retains the shape. The paper remains flat under a mat, so this
is not be big problem. In any case, it is possible to reduce the curl
by rolling the sheets towards the other side. 

3) Today I received some samples of Silver Rag and printed four test
images (2 color & 2 B/W) on Slver Rag and on Sterling Decor. Although
Silver Rag looks excelent, the Sterling Decor is also very good. The
color gamut seems very good, but Silver Rag is better. The blacks are
better in Silver Rag, but the Sterling blacks are very strong - I 
think the best I have seen in matte paper. 

4) I am using the profile that the company provides. To my eye the B&W
prints are very good and neutral. I used the MIS' K4 inks. For Silver
Rag I used a cartridge of epson's k3 photo black together with the K4
inks.

5) The paper very white, made from alpha cellulose and contains
brighteners. The back of the paper is quite white, so the yellowing
might not be too bad when it happens. 

6) The company produces another paper -Silver Rag- from cotton that
does not contains OBAs but is much thinner. They sent a sample print
of Silver Rag together with my order, and I printed a 21-step
grayscale on part of the side. The blacks seem to be even better that
those of Sterling Decor, so it may be worth to try.

Well, that's it for now!

Manuel