Digital BW, The Print

Hello All;


I've spent the last month trying out a paper called Sunset Photo 
eSatin Paper 300g
sold by Lexjet. It is reasonably priced, available in all sizes and 
rolls, and I'm told its OBA-free (I'm not sure I belive this, but 
having no UV light I can't verify) but not acid-free. It is the 
heaviest, stiffest RC paper I've seen or handled. It should be quite 
easy to use in large sheets without creasing. Here are my 
impressions:

I'm getting an uncoated dmax of 2.37 after dry-down, over 2.5 with a 
coating. This with MIS K4 inks on an R1800.
Surface color is a bit yellow out of the box, in fact it looks and 
measures just 
like a satin version of the Costco paper might. There's a glossy 
version I haven't yet tried, and probably won't.
Surface texture has been the major dissapointment. It looks very 'RC 
papery' with a mechanical stipple similar to Epson semi-gloss or any 
other RC luster or semi-gloss paper. If you don't mind that, this 
paper is a winner.

The first week of fade-testing it appeared to be getting bluer, but 
now it seems to have stabilized at a bit yellower than it started. 
The difference is so slight I sometimes see it & sometimes don't 
depending on the light. The spectro puts the B value at a starting 
average of -3.5 and a 3-week average value at -3.45

Three weeks of south window exposure with sunlight 4-5 hours a day 
has 
produced no visible or measurable change in the dmax, but a slight 
change in 
all other densities. From 95% through 70% it has lost .02, and from 
65% to 05% it has lost .01. I don't know if this small a change is 
statistically 
significant, but the change and trend were very consistent, so even 
though it is not visible yet, I expect sooner or later it will 
become so. Still, this seems 
to be a relatively stable paper that would do fairly well under 
glass in 
normal display conditions.

The weight and heft of this paper are by far its greatest appeal-at 
300gsm it feels good in the hand, and doesn't flex as easily as most 
RC papers. 

And it does print well, with good presence for an RC paper, good 
shadow separation, great dmax. It 
produces a really nice snappy print that in most ways is better than 
any halide RC print I've ever seen.
 
Not bad, but I'm still looking.  

Steve

Steve,

Thanks for the info on the paper.  I'm curious as to how you are using MIS
K4 inks with an R1800?  Could you elaborate on this?

Thanks,
Scott

-----Original Message-----
From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Steven
Karafyllakis
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2006 10:12 PM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Digital BW] Lexjet Sunset eSatin paper

Hello All;


I've spent the last month trying out a paper called Sunset Photo eSatin
Paper 300g sold by Lexjet. It is reasonably priced, available in all sizes
and rolls, and I'm told its OBA-free (I'm not sure I belive this, but having
no UV light I can't verify) but not acid-free. It is the heaviest, stiffest
RC paper I've seen or handled. It should be quite easy to use in large
sheets without creasing. Here are my
impressions:

I'm getting an uncoated dmax of 2.37 after dry-down, over 2.5 with a
coating. This with MIS K4 inks on an R1800.
Surface color is a bit yellow out of the box, in fact it looks and measures
just like a satin version of the Costco paper might. There's a glossy
version I haven't yet tried, and probably won't.
Surface texture has been the major dissapointment. It looks very 'RC papery'
with a mechanical stipple similar to Epson semi-gloss or any other RC luster
or semi-gloss paper. If you don't mind that, this paper is a winner.

The first week of fade-testing it appeared to be getting bluer, but now it
seems to have stabilized at a bit yellower than it started. 
The difference is so slight I sometimes see it & sometimes don't depending
on the light. The spectro puts the B value at a starting average of -3.5 and
a 3-week average value at -3.45

Three weeks of south window exposure with sunlight 4-5 hours a day has
produced no visible or measurable change in the dmax, but a slight change in
all other densities. From 95% through 70% it has lost .02, and from 65% to
05% it has lost .01. I don't know if this small a change is statistically
significant, but the change and trend were very consistent, so even though
it is not visible yet, I expect sooner or later it will become so. Still,
this seems to be a relatively stable paper that would do fairly well under
glass in normal display conditions.

The weight and heft of this paper are by far its greatest appeal-at 300gsm
it feels good in the hand, and doesn't flex as easily as most RC papers. 

And it does print well, with good presence for an RC paper, good shadow
separation, great dmax. It produces a really nice snappy print that in most
ways is better than any halide RC print I've ever seen.
 
Not bad, but I'm still looking.  

Steve

Hi Scott, be glad to. Several people on this list are using some 
variation on the theme: I have K4 PK in the normal PK slot, K4 LK in 
the gloss slot, and K4 LLK in the red slot. I'm of course using QTR 
to drive the arrangement, and getting great results. The only down 
side obviously is printing color means swapping the R cart ( I don't 
swap the gloss) and printing enough to get the LLK out of the head. 
I've found it to be more difficult to get the red out when I go back 
to B&W, so I do a quick Windex injection into the R head, a cleaning 
cycle, and I'm good to go.

The other alternative is a 2K solution, with LK in the gloss slot. 
This works very well also, and leaves you ready to do color anytime. 
I've found the MIS Pro and K4 inks don't need the gloss as much as 
Epson inks because they simply aren't as glossy. If I do need a 
gloss coat, I spray it on with a modeler's airbrush-easy, effective 
and not as stinky as Premier or other varnishes.

If you're using QTR on a PC and would like to try this, email me of 
list & I'll send you a couple curves to get you started if you need.

Steve Karafyllakis

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Scott West" 
<westsdad@...> wrote:
>
> Steve,
> 
> Thanks for the info on the paper.  I'm curious as to how you are 
using MIS

> K4 inks with an R1800?  Could you elaborate on this?
> 
> Thanks,
> Scott