Digital BW, The Print

Greetings,

Well I am moving into more inkjet B&W printing and away from the 
traditional darkroom. My darkroom prints are always trimmed right to 
the edge of the image, drymounted and overmatted with a reveal of 
the bottom mat board all the way around. Signature on the lower mat 
board just below the print and showing in the window reveal. Thus 
the top window mat board and the small reveal of the lower mat board 
match in color.

Now with inkjet printing on papers that have a much "bluer" paper 
stock, if I don't trim these prints and do the same as above, the 
reveal of the bluer paper stock under the mat window really clashes 
with the color of the mat boards. I have two traded prints from 
board members that are beautiful that I want to frame, but if I 
don't trim the prints, the reveal clashes terribly with the warmer 
boards. I am using Light Impressions whitest boards. One of the 
prints is signed on the white paper surround and so I don't want to 
cut up his print for drymounting.

Hmmmmm, what are board members doing for matting and this 
board/paper color mismatch. Thanks for any help; I am going to delay 
matting until I get some feedback from the group.

Scott

IF you want to reveal the edge of your paper and even sign on it, and
are unconfortable with its coolness, then I would suggest using a
paper without optical brighteners, or at least one with a minimal
amount of them.



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Scott Jones"
<peanutdogs@h...> wrote:

> Greetings,
> 
> Well I am moving into more inkjet B&W printing and away from the 
> traditional darkroom. My darkroom prints are always trimmed right to 
> the edge of the image, drymounted and overmatted with a reveal of 
> the bottom mat board all the way around. Signature on the lower mat 
> board just below the print and showing in the window reveal. Thus 
> the top window mat board and the small reveal of the lower mat board 
> match in color.
> 
> Now with inkjet printing on papers that have a much "bluer" paper 
> stock, if I don't trim these prints and do the same as above, the 
> reveal of the bluer paper stock under the mat window really clashes 
> with the color of the mat boards. I have two traded prints from 
> board members that are beautiful that I want to frame, but if I 
> don't trim the prints, the reveal clashes terribly with the warmer 
> boards. I am using Light Impressions whitest boards. One of the 
> prints is signed on the white paper surround and so I don't want to 
> cut up his print for drymounting.
> 
> Hmmmmm, what are board members doing for matting and this 
> board/paper color mismatch. Thanks for any help; I am going to delay 
> matting until I get some feedback from the group.
> 
> Scott

Hello Scott,

>Hmmmmm, what are board members doing for matting 

I no longer trim and dry mount.  I keep a lot of paper around the
image, sign just under the image, and still have the recessed window
mat.


>and this board/paper color mismatch. 

Redimat has a good selection of museum rag board, including one that's
whiter than anything LI has, and good prices too.  

  http://www.redimat.com/

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm

> ... My darkroom prints are always trimmed right to
> the edge of the image, drymounted and overmatted with a reveal of
> the bottom mat board all the way around. Signature on the lower mat
> board just below the print and showing in the window reveal. Thus
> the top window mat board and the small reveal of the lower mat board
> match in color.

Yes, I did the same thing.

> Now with inkjet printing on papers that have a much "bluer" paper
> ... really clashes with the color of the mat boards.

Yep, it looks bad.

I have some prints where I put the top matte board slightly over the image,
but I don't like that because the mat touching the image might mark it, if
there is any image change from light like the carbon warming, it'll show if
the window mat is removed, and the signature that shows is on the window mat
-- not on the print where it belongs.

So, I now favor using un-brightened paper.  My favorite is PermaJet Alpha,
but with the demise of Jobo, I'm not sure who the U.S. source will be.  PJ
Alpha matches my Light Impressions Exeter Gallery White board almost
perfectly.  It also has an excellent dmax, is very smooth, and just a nice
cotton paper to print with.  (While Permajet papers are similar to Innova,
there is no Innova brand paper that matches PJ Alpha.)  The other paper in
this category that I like is PremierArt Fine Art Hot press.  It's
essentially the same as Epson UltraSmooth, which I also use.  These papers
are not quite as creamy as the Alpha, but they are not blue and very good
papers.  These are the only natural, non-OBA papers that I've found that
have almost no flaking, very good (Alpha) or at least acceptable (PA Hot
Press) dmax, and print smoothly.

I now leave about 3/4 inch of paper showing around the image.  This makes it
much easier to align when framing.  I just tape hang the prints from the
backing of the hinged board.  This is easy, looks good, and avoids the
problems I've had with the other methods I've used. 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

Thanks Clayton and Paul. This all was very helpful. Looks like for MY 
prints, I will change papers or if I continue to use EPSG, I will 
continue to use my traditional trim/drymount/bare board reveal scheme.

The question now for me is what to do about the prints I have acquired 
from members that HAVE printed on this bluer type paper AND signed the 
white paper surround. Unless I trim up their prints (EeeeK) I guess I 
should go to my local framer and look for colder color board or check 
out the other resources you have mentioned.

Thanks, it is "fun" making a transition from a totally grooved system 
to something new with new materials. Got to make all those choices all 
over again.

I have another presentation question that I will post separately.

Scott,

>Thanks Clayton and Paul. This all was very helpful. Looks like for
MY 
>prints, I will change papers or if I continue to use EPSG, I will 
>continue to use my traditional trim/drymount/bare board reveal
scheme.
>...go to my local framer and look for colder color board or check 
>out the other resources you have mentioned.

You could also use a colored mat and do an end run around the issue. 
I've seen BW prints very effectively displayed with gray and burgundy
mats.


Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm