Re: [Digital BW] What's your favorite paper & "archival"
2002-08-29 by Paul Roark
I concur with Robert. Epson Archival/Enhanced Matte is the best compromise if you like a smooth paper. I'm now printing for a wedding I covered, and EAM is what I'm using. PhotoRag has deeper blacks (by a couple of percentage points), but they may not stay that way for long. As to the question of whether EAM/EEM is "archival," it may depend on how you define the term. If "image permanence" is the issue, then EAM appears to do better in my tests than any of the other popular coated papers except Eclipse Satine, which did just a hair better but has weak blacks. Some, however, hold that if a paper has optical brighteners in it, it is not "archival." Such brighteners will "burn out" and cause the paper to shift from a bright (slightly blue) white to a hair yellow after being on display for a long time. Most papers do this. The yellow shift is very slight, but can be seen if prints are held side-by-side. Museo and Eclipse Satine Soft White do not appear to have brighteners, most others do. I have not seen any evidence that brighteners shorten ultimate print life. Some refer to "archival" as meaning long term dark storage capability. In the long run, if a paper has significant amounts of acid in it, the acid will destroy the cellulose paper base. Traditionally the best papers have been made of cotton, which is considered nature's purest source of cellulose. "Acid free," "rag" (cotton) papers have, thus, traditionally been considered the safest bets for ultra-long-term storage. EAM is a wood-pulp-based paper and is not strictly "acid free." However, wood-pulp paper can be archival according to some experts. Lignin is said to be the source of acid in wood pulp. Epson has represented that EAM is lignin free. Also, modern paper processes do not, apparently, use the acids that the old paper processes used. As such, EAM could be archival. Some, however, use acid test pens to see if a paper is "acid free" and thus "archival." EAM does appear to be slightly acidic at least on one side with these test pens. I have a test pen, and I find that buffering makes short-lived newsprint test out better than my archivally-processed silver prints -- which test out about the same as EAM. As such, I have not faith that these pens tell us anything useful. Silver prints cannot use buffering because of the acid stop bath, probably among other reasons. Epson has apparently found that buffering is also inconsistent with the best image permanence. Buffering is apparently very cheap. It would have been easy for Epson to add some and represent it's paper as "acid free" if is was consistent with the best image permanence. So, EAM does not test out as "acid free" with a test pen. However, if it has just a slight residual acidity and no acid reserve (lignin), there may not be enough acidity to matter. Bottom line -- we just can't be sure whether EAM is suitable for long-term storage or not. No cheap, readily-available tests that I am aware of can measure and accurately predict long-term storage. If Epson's manufacturer has truly removed all the lignin and appropriately processed the paper, then it probably is "archival." If I don't trust Epson to have properly manufactured the paper, what gives me more faith that those representing their papers as "rag" and "acid free" have done a better job? Since I think that image permanence is still the primary issue, I'm not spending much time worrying about whether EAM is "archival." With pure (or predominantly) pigmented inks (like Piezo, MIS, and the 2000P pigments) EAM is about as good as it gets. (This is not the case for the new Ultrachromes.) For my museum reproductions, I might use Eclipse Satine. Paul http://www.PaulRoark.com
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On 8/28/02 8:00 PM, "treadwinkle" <VOLveeta@...> wrote: > Especially for actor headshots or portraits? I ordered the > Hahnem\ufffdhle photo rag and I have to wait. It's on backorder. Poor > poor me. :-) In the meantime, what are the cone papers like? > What's your fave!?!?! > > treadwinkle >