Marketing hype for cotton.
2007-04-06 by djon43
HP makes a point about marketing hype that neglects lignin factor, and here's Breathingcolor.com on hype that pushes cotton Vs alpha-cellulose. Should especially concern people who use Wilhelm lore to market their prints: ----------- A recent debate among the digital printmaking community is whether the prevailing use of expensive, 100% cotton-rag base-material (hereinafter referred to as "R" for "Rag") is good strategy now that far less-expensive, "quality-equivalent" alternatives exist. The debatable question is this: If quality-equivalent alternatives to R exist and are implemented, will they or will they not retain the same sales numbers? The only way to answer this question objectively is to find a quality-equivalent alternative to R, and then compare the measurable product-attributes that contribute to each particular product's sale-ability. A good example of a "quality-equivalent alternative" is an archival alpha cellulose paper. Alpha cellulose is a high grade wood pulp that is acid and lignin free (hereinafter referred to as "AC"). It can typically be purchased at half the cost of R and in some cases even less than that. Because digital printmakers are recognizing the opportunity to cut their costs in half by using a quality-equivalent alternative to R, AC is rapidly gaining popularity. A specific AC paper may be considered a quality-equivalent to R, when its inkjet receptive coating can reproduce equal or better color-gamut, detail (dot precision/gain), and longevity by comparison. It is a measurable fact that industry-leading AC papers can reproduce color and detail as well as industry-leading R papers. The explanation for this is simple; color gamut and detail are not determined by the base material, R or AC. Rather, these properties are solely determined by the inkjet receptive coating which can be applied to any base material/substrate. In fact, a number AC papers with equal or superior color-gamut and detail to R are already widely available. The issue of longevity is also measurable and has been documented by well-known testing facilities namely the Wilhelm Research Institute. (http://www.wilhelm-research.com/pdf/WIR_Ep9600_2003_07_26.pdf) This page on Wilhelm's website suggests that base paper materials alone, are not a clear indicator of a paper's potential lifespan. For example, Epson's alpha cellulose, which is acid free, lignin free, buffered wood-pulp fine art paper called "Epson Watercolor Paper - Radiant White (Non-R)" has permanence results of greater than 98 years under glass, where as "Epson Velvet Fine Art Paper (R)" has permanence results of only 61 years under glass, and "Epson Somerset Velvet Fine Art Paper (R)" has permanence results of 62 years under glass.