Digital BW, The Print

Hello Gary,

>My results are the same as yours regarding density. Eboni does 
>produce an excellent neutral to cool tone using Premier Smooth BW 
>310. My only concern is that this paper does contain OB...The black
>density is about 1.72 with Eboni. Have you used this paper and do 
>you have any thoughts on it? 

I haven't used it but have heard a lot about it.  I think that's the
best dmax you'll get from a cool toned paper.  Most of them are under
1.7 (and, I'm pretty sure, they all have OBAs).


>What ink and paper are you using these days? 

I've been using K3 in a 2400 since August '05.  I use two papers now: 
VFA - best dmax for K3 ink, gorgeous tonality, has OBAs.
STA (Innova Soft Texture Art) - best non-OBA paper I found for K3,
beautiful tonality, warmer paper color and tones, but less dmax.


>What about the optical brightener issue? 

There are no completely satisfying answers here.  I did some research
on this a couple of years ago (see the OBA section of article #5 at
the link below) and the bottom line is that there are different kinds
of OBAs, the technology is improving, and they're getting more stable.
Problem is, paper makers don't tell us what kind they're using or how
they're using them (in the coating, in the paper, or both) or in what
quantities.  So we have no way to objectively evaluate a paper's OBA
"profile".

Some people think it's a crucial major issue and others think it's
overblown. Many float around between those extremes and can't make up
their mind. It's often pointed out that the fiber darkroom papers we
used for years had OBAs but it wasn't a subject of discussion and
nobody worried about it.  I've got silver prints here approaching 30
years old and they still look fine.

Our choices seem to be: 
1) avoid them altogether and be free from worrying about it
2) look for technical test results and/or anecdotal reports to help
with making choices
3) throw caution to the wind and forget about it

Problem with #1 is you lose out on some of the best papers.  #3 seems
foolish.  I fall in the #2 category.  I've been conducting various
tests of my own for several years, have read various Wilhelm papers,
followed this forum closely, and have made careful choices.  For
example, my favorite OBA paper is VFA.  I've been conducting a direct
sun torture test on a print and it recently passed the 100 hour mark
without any sign of OBA burn off (or ink fading for that matter).  So
I use it with confidence and sell prints on it.

Bottom line for me is I think it's a real issue worth considering, but
the modern papers are so good that any visual differences that may
happen will happen slowly and evenly over a long period such that it
won't ever be a real problem.  Part of my arriving at that was
experience with Condor BW, a favorite cold tone paper in my Eboni BO
days.  I noticed that after sitting around the workroom for a few
months prints were not quite as bright as fresh sheets from the box. 
They were just as white, just not as bright.  Old prints looked as
good as fresh ones and I never saw any uneven changes of any sort. 
For several years I used 7 or 8 papers regularly and conducted all
sorts of tests.  That's my personal history on it.

Everyone has to come to their own peace about it.

I hope this is helpful.

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm
I-Trak 2.1   http://www.cjcom.net/itrak.htm