Digital BW, The Print

A quick report...

I'm printing with an Epson R2400, UltraChrome K3 inkset, standard
Epson drivers on Windows Vista, ABW mode.

After hearing about SilverRag and FibaPrint Ultra-Smooth Gloss, I
figured I really had to try them.  Here's the results of my
initial test.

I printed 51-step test patterns on both papers using the following
settings:

Paper type: Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster
Mode: ABW/Normal/Neutral/Photo Black(PK)
Resolution: PhotoRPM/Fast

The patterns were allowed to dry overnight and black-only
profiles created using PrintFix PRO and QTR-Create-ICC.

Dmin/Dmax for the two papers are:

Museo Silver Rag	0.04	2.54
Innova FibaPrint US	0.05	2.50

The Silver Rag base appears slightly warmer.

Printing the same test image on both papers resulted in,
to my eye, extremely similar results.  Silver Rag appears
slightly warmer and perhaps very slightly brighter than the
Fibaprint (no surprise).

Gloss differential is slightly more noticeable on the Silver Rag,
but you have to look for it on both papers; under glass, it would
be very difficult to see, even if you're looking for it.

Both papers are outstanding and, of course, pricey.  The slightly
lower cost of the Silver Rag along with the slightly greater density
range makes me think I'll favor it in the future, but I'm
splitting hairs.

Dana