Digital BW, The Print

Thanks for the answers so far. Paul your points are all valid. I do see more separation of 
tones than in silver papers. I do like that. Also my silver prints suffer from that reflectivity 
you talk about, and it is something I don't really like much. 

So the main thing is the paper. I am looking for something in between matte and gloss, so 
I can get deeper blacks and more definition and sharpness, especially in the highlights. 

I have tried silver rag and did not like the surface at all. To pebblely and shiny and bright.

To illustrate the look that I am trying to get you just have too look at any page of 
Lenswork Magazine. Believe it or not, I truly feel that the prints in that magazine look way 
better than my prints with c88 on photorag. 

Maybe what I want is impossible with inkjet technology. Maybe we just didn't get there yet. 
I don't know. But maybe you guys that print every single day will know more how to advise 
me.

So the main thing is the paper and it's got to be very smooth, closer to glosss than to 
matte, but not so much that it will look like RC.

Thanks again,

Christian


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark" <paul.roark@...> 
wrote:
>
> Hi Christian,
> 
> >... purchased an C88+ and the mis bulk inks and printed ...
> > on Photorag 308g. ...
> >... my prints. They have a depth that even silver papers struggle to get. 
> 
> >I still would like to see the fine detail that I see in the 
> >highlights of silver papers but matte papers cannot go there 
> 
> Some will dispute this.  Maybe the C88 can't go there quite as well as some
> of the others that have smoother highlights. 
> 
> I think one of the differences I see between silver printing and inkjet
> printing is the extent to which inkjets can attain higher contrast in the
> highlights that only bleaching could achieve with a silver print.  The
> chemical processes inevitably rolled the highlight values off in a
> "shoulder," whereas the inkjet technology produces a straight line curve
> right up to the paper white.  Of course, if one likes the rolled-off
> highlights, that can be done in Photoshop. 
> 
> >... they cannot achieve deep dmaxes. 
> 
> The glossy paper measured dmax is terrific.  But due to reflections, the
> super-deep blacks are only visually realized when ideal lighting is
> available.  All too often reflections mask the deepest blacks and the subtle
> details there.  In real world display, the matte papers do rather well due
> to their lack of reflections.  Under glass, the differences are usually
> rather minor.  Like the highlights, the ability to have higher contrast in
> the shadows also makes inkjet dmaxs more realistically useable than the
> ultimate silver print dmaxs. 
> 
> Your C88 with MIS PKN ink can make quite good glossy prints.  So, you can
> try some of the different papers rather easily.  Crane Silver Rag was one of
> the early "fiber based" glossy papers that is definitely worth a try.  It
> has no OBAs so is a bit warmer than the others.
> 
>
> >... I also read some about BO printing with the epson 1800 and 
> > it sounds interesting but I am a sucker for smooth tones ...
> 
> The 1800 3-MK highlights are probably better and smoother than the C88.  See
> http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/R1800.htm for a general write up of the
> approach and http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/R1800-Image-Structure.pdf for
> scans of the dot patterns that show relative smoothness.
> 
> The 1800 approach can also be used with PKN for glossy paper.  Eboni is
> strictly a matte black ink.
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
>