Gloss Optimizer as overcoat-report
2004-12-05 by Steven Karafyllakis
Hello All; I received the bottle of MIS Gloss Optimizer (GLOP) this past Thursday and have some results to report that anyone using UC inks on RC papers will find very interesting. The first tests were done with MIS UC-clones in a 7600, with Eboni K. First tests indicate that the GLOP is NOT compatible with EBONI- it not only doesn't help it in any way, but a heavy enough coat causes the ink to bead and craze and generally look very ugly. I then took out the Eboni and replaced it with MIS Universal K, an ink I was not very pleased with when I first tried it. I will probably wind up using with MIS PK. As my final solution for RC papers. The first quick test I did was to put some in a cheap ($20.00) Badger air brush and spray it on a couple different papers, just to see if it was worth the effort to proceed. Results: GLOP does less than nothing for matte papers-it actually hurts the DmaX a bit. On semi-matte RC paper, with the eboni ink, any area that was pure Eboni was basically un-affected with a light coat, but any other area showed an increase in Dmax, an major improvement in the clarity and depth of the image tones, and not even a hint of bronzing or differential glossing of the surface. Definitely worth pursuing further! I then pulled out the old 1270, flushed the K head with ammonia window cleaner (Windex) and put a virgin cart filled with GLOP in it. It took three cleaning cycles to get the old junker giving a clean nozzles test (you have to do it on glossy paper so you can see the change in reflectivity of the GLOP). I then set in on BO did a print, and discovered that ....the printer was useless. The C and M nozzles that had been misfiring in color would shut off in BO. Well, 'in for a penny, in for a pound' I thought, and repeated the procedure with my 1280, which up until now has had nothing but dyes in it, and has very little wear. The nozzle check was good the first time, so I overprinted several pages of test images I had prepared the night before. The papers I tested were: Epson Premium Glossy Ilford Classic Gloss Epson Premium Semi-matte-250 Proof-line Photo glossy DP Oriental Graphica Lustre Proof-line Semi-matte/DP Proof-line Photo Lustre The 'image' was a simple 100% black rectangle applied through the 'color controls' setting with only the black ink, at 1440 dpi and high speed on. Results: Glossy papers: The Epson PGPP and the PL glossy respond essentially the same way: a single average coat completely eliminated any hint of bronzing, and kicked up the Dmax and color saturation enough to make it worth the effort. One coat however did not even out the gloss, there was still an obvious difference between lightly inked highlights and heavier areas. It took a second pass through the printer to achieve even gloss, though I'm hard pressed to see any real improvement otherwise. On these two papers and the semi-mattes, the GLOP dried as quickly as ink would, so running them through a second time was not a problem. The GLOP also reduced the overall shine of the paper considerably, to more of a smooth semi-gloss that looks much closer to air-dried Fiber-Based paper than anything else I've seen so far. This was especially true of the Epson PGPP The Ilford Classic Glossy takes a long time (days) to really dry out, so waiting 12 hrs before coating it may not have been enough for a fair test. This paper takes UC inks without any bronzing at all, but the surface remains fragile even after ti has dried. When I cotaed it, the coating showed un-evenness in the form of lines parallel to print head travel, even though none of the other papers had that problem at the same settings. A heavier coating on the other half of the test sheet did not help much, and the entire sheet showed roller and pizza-wheel marks. Perhaps this would work in a wide-format printer where ther are no rollers after the head, but with the smaller printers I'm not optimistic. Too bad, since this kind of paper gets the best longevity ratings in the RC category. The Semi-matte/Lustre papers also responded similarly to each other as a group: They coated evenly with only one coat, gained in DMAX, color saturation and depth of tone, no longer showed any hint of bronzing, the gloss was perfectly even for all of them. In this case, instead of reducing the shine, the GLOP increased it, to the point that the only real difference between the semi-mattes and the glossies was a bit more 'tooth' in the former. And of course the second coat needed for the glossy paper. Of the four I tested, I preferred the final look of the Proof-Line and Epson semi-mattes- Epson has the smoothest texture of the group, but the Proof-Line appears to give the best dmax, but the difference is subtle on both counts. As I don't have a densitometer I can't verify subtle Dmax differences, and I'm not sure I would even bother with the Universal K ink. With the coating it becomes almost acceptable, but I expect either Epson or MIS Photo K to be much better. The Proof-Line papers are part of some sample-packs from Adventure Cam Photo that I'm testing. At first blush they seem to be a very respectable group of papers, though I need to do more comparisons to really decide if any of them will replace what I'm currently using. If I can find a way to apply GLOP to a wide-format print with-out buying a third large printer, the PL semi-matte may become my medium of choice for the large display prints I need for my clients. Coated, and properly profiled, the overall look of the paper would be indistinguishable from the Fuji Lustre RA paper I used until 6 months ago. So, to summarize: yes, despite speculation to the contrary, it works as an overcoat for glossy and particularly lustre papers, and it is well worth doing if you have a way to do it. Even spraying it on was relatively easy-it doesn't stink (though I would still avoid breathing it) and it is fairly easy to get a fine, even coat, at least with the model-maker's airbrush I used. Now I'm looking for a large format GLOP solution Steven Karafyllakis http://www.stevekphoto.com