Digital BW, The Print

"The thing that people objected to most about Museo Max, besides the
inability to hold blacks very well, and the way it curls, which can be
significant, (like the other Crane papers) was that they raved about
how this paper was designed to produce a better dmax than any media on
the planet. They bragged in their promotionals that they had beat
everybody in quality, hands down.

Fact is, we found out very fast, that was a distortion, to be polite
about it, and all of the Hahnemuhle papers beat it as well as most
Innova in dmax. So that, along with the quite expensive cost, kept
people away from it. It is a perfectly decent coated paper, better
than Arches or Legion, just not revolutionary by a any measurement. As
far as I can see the papers Hahnemuhle has been making for 7 or 8
years are still the ones to beat. I think I started using German
Etching back in 1999 and it had a better dmax than MAX does now. I
keep waiting for a "revolutionary" matte paper with awesome tonal
capabilities and sharpness. There isn't one being made. I think most
of the research is going into the glossy fiber papers now."

My experience has been just the opposite. I have found it gave far
better blacks than almost any of the Hahnemuhle papers (never did like
german etching) - as well as most of the other matte papers I've used.
It also hasn't suffered from any of the odd yellowing issues that
plagued Photo Rag etc. It is also really good for not blocking up in
deep shadow areas and giving lots of detail.

As some have mentioned, you can't throw lots of ink at it though - you
have to get your black right

The texture can be a bit much on some types of prints

I still use it, but do most of my stuff on silver rag these days.



tim a




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