Digital BW, The Print

Tony,

Thanks for the description.  I imagine that the HP inks are looking 
very different on the Harman than the K3 inks (with MIS carbon in the 
yellow position) that I am using.  These produce no bronzing on the 
Harman and only the slightest GD.  So perhaps the GE on the HP is 
correcting a problem that I don't see with the K3 inks, at least on 
this paper. 

The sheet feeding problem on the Z3100 is mentioned often--what is 
it?  I use a 4800 and front loading and find it quite convenient.  

Thanks,
Walt


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Tony Sleep 
<TonySleep@...> wrote:
>
> On 18/02/2008 wwodets wrote:
> > I've gone through all the Z3100 posts and found little actually
> > describing the appearance of the GE. How would you describe the
> > appearance in terms of color and gloss level? Has anyone used this
> > with the Harman Gloss FB AI? Used over the entire surface, does 
the GE
> > raise or lower the gloss as compared to the straight Harman paper 
in
> > unprinted areas? Compared to other of the gloss papers? Does it 
raise
> > or lower the gloss of the inks? Is this a high gloss surface, a 
satin,
> > etc.?
> 
> I have seen Z3100 Harman FB AL gloss prints done using 
black+gray+GO. 
> Overall they are pretty successful. The GO eliminates 80% of the 
bronzing 
> and GD that Vivera black & grey produces on this paper without GO. 
You 
> have to look quite closely to see any trace of bronzing, and these 
prints 
> are the closest I have yet seen to wet darkroom prints.
> 
> If anything tone is a little too neutral. Bromides tended to be 
either 
> warm or cold, and the Z3100 samples were just a little sterile for 
my 
> taste. They reminded me of the original Seagull Oriental in Dektol 
in that 
> respect, which I preferred after selenium toning.
> 
> Aside from that, there is still a slight residual sense that the 
image is 
> sat on the surface rather than within the emulsion. But they are, 
as I 
> say, very close to FB bromides and I doubt most people would notice.
> 
> The GO appears pretty much clear. I don't recall any sense of 
yellowing, 
> but whether that would change with time I don't know. The coating 
itself 
> is very thin and adds a little gloss but without changing the 
slight 
> surface texture. The application did not look completely even, even 
though 
> it was a full rather than economy/selective coating. Without be 
able to 
> pin this down, I remember thinking that the coating looked like a 
coating 
> rather than an integral part of the surface. I was told - by the 
guy who'd 
> been testing - that they had a few issues with adhesion of the GO 
on 
> Harman, but the 2 prints I saw were OK and showed no flaking except 
at the 
> cut edge where it had been trimmed after printing.
> 
> Overall highly impressive and very promising. But I think it might 
work 
> even better with one of the Innova papers - Fibaprint White Gloss, 
> Warmtone Gloss or Ultra Smooth Gloss White. The surface of the 
first two 
> is slightly less glossy than the Harman and a little 
more 'textured' with 
> the Ultra Smooth down the middle. I've experimented with this 
latter paper 
> (on a B9180) and (aside from an occasional overinking issue) it 
achieves a 
> better Dmax than the Harman. Innova tell me the White Gloss and 
Warmtone 
> Gloss work better with Vivera but I haven't yet tried the samples I 
have.
> 
> -- 
> Regards
> 
> Tony Sleep
> http://tonysleep.co.uk
>