Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Carl Schofield <list@...> wrote:
>
> I think you might be surprised at the dmax and "pop" of the Eboni 3- 
> MK prints from your 1800.  Since you already have the right printer,  
> ink, and QTR why not give it a try? 

I would highly agree.  I was following Paul's development of the 3MK approach with the 
R1800 when I decided to give it a try on an R220 I keep around for that sort of playing.  I 
figured if it worked well on a 3.5 p/l printer it would be that much better on a 1.5 p/l 
R1800.

I had a few extra carts and chips and plenty of eboni so all it took was some time.  I was 
very, very impressed with exactly what you mentioned.  The "pop" and the luminance were 
wonderful and the best I've gotten out of a matte paper.

I tried the same with PKN and fb papers and while good they didn't snap like the pk and  
matte papers even with the increased Dmax of the fb paper.  

One caveat: I tried this with a sample pack of Harman Matte fb warmtone and the grain 
was very pronounced and the shadows seemed blotchy and uneven.  I think the Harman fb 
paper (Baryta) has an extremely low dot gain and doesn't do well with this approach but the 
more traditional mattes were great.  Even this may be eliminated though with the 1.5p/l 
printers and is probably worth a try.

Robert