Digital BW, The Print

Hi Paul,

I've made a 70 page photo album using a media made up of Monadnock Astrolite 100 lb cover paper coated with clear gloss inkaid. The album pages were printed in color using an HP Designjet printer (Vivera dye) and in monochrome using an Epson R1800 (Eboni+LK+LLK). I coated the prints with a Lacquer-Mat Diamond lacquer spray. The result is breathtaking and can endure the beating of a traditional bookbinding process.

The Monadnock paper is very white, has no OBA, and is acid free. Unfortunately they've discontinued the 100 lb cover weight. But thepapermillstore.com has some alternative of comparable quality.

The beauty of this inkaid stuff is it will accept all the ink I throw at it and dry quickly. I can apply the inkaid, print, and varnish the prints within a couple of hours using a hair dryer if I really need something quickly. This is not the case with any available swellable polymer products in the market right now. This is probably due to the uncoated substrate (Astrolite paper) that allows moisture to escape relatively quickly.

Fearing the disappearance of swellable polymer media from Ilford and HP I had to look for alternative and was so thrilled to have discovered Inkaid, or Golden digital grounds. I meant to send you some Inkaid coated sheets to you to try but haven't gotten around to it due to a major project I'm working on. Perhaps soon.

Best,
--nick

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "pr_roark" <paul.roark@...> wrote:

> I think it's a field that should be explored.  It's yet another way 
> to make a product that is unique and more of a hands-one process.
> 
> I'm particularly interested in whether titanium white can be used in 
> a coating to produce a bright paper with no OBAs in it....