Digital BW, The Print

Just some follow up on my matting question recently posted. I took the 
two prints made one on EHM and another by a board member on a paper 
oversprayed that also clearly has optical brighteners.

There was not a white mat in sight at this very good framing store that 
looked acceptable against the incredibly blue by comparison "white" of 
the OB papers. So leaving a paper base reveal around the image looked 
really bad to my eyes. Clashing whites (warm vs cold). So on one, where 
I did not want to trim off the signature, I ended up using a colored 
mat. On the other, that is not signed, I will trim to the image and dry 
mount with the usual traditional technique and get back to a reveal 
with a "reasonable" tone white.

Just thought I would post my experience in that OB papers appear to 
present some matting problems IF one wants a paper reveal.

Cheers, Scott

Two ways to deal with OB whiteners & reveal-trype mats:

1.  Some folks print a slightly grayed border around their prints, so that the OB glow isn't 
as obvious in the area revealed by the larger overmat.  I wouldn't do this, but I've seen 
prints made that way.    

2.  Alternately/initially, choose papers to produce harmony with the revealing mat.  For 
example, both Entrada Natural and Epson Ultrasmooth have almost exactly the same 
paper-base color as Westminster Bright White mat board - which isn't really that bright & 
has a slightly warmish tone.  The EN & USFA paper base looks slightly yellow, almost like a 
color cast, in color prints, but it doesn't appear that way in BW.  Photo Rag is sort of on the 
borderline - its moderate brighteners begin to show up in the 'revealed' area.  

In fact, the 'classic' gelatin-silver BW papers--for example Portriga Rapid & 'early' Brovira 
(before OBs were added)--had a warmer & grayer paper base than we're used to in inkjet 
papers.  I suspect we've been conditioned by looking at so many prints with OBs to want a 
forced sort of brightness in our whites.  It helps to remember that in the Zone System, you 
were exposing & (usually) printing for Zone VII highlights, not something brighter, & were 
letting only a few bright objects & specular highlights go above VII.  Zone VII is  w a y  
down from 0% / 256/ paper white on the grayscale.  

Kirk