Digital BW, The Print

I used to use EEM with my Epson 2200 but last time I came to the shop,
it was not available (stupid shortage) and the seller gave me
Heavyweight Matte instead telling me it's nearly the same. Comparing
side to side, I don't really see the difference with the eye. Someone
could tell what are the differences between both of them?
Thanks to all
Stephane

At 04:40 PM Friday 4/13/2007, you wrote:
>Someone could tell what are the differences between both of them?

Last time I saw documentation on this it was stated that HWM was optimised for all Epson printers but EEM was specially optimised for UltraChromes.

In my experience the HWM yellows *marginally* less than EEM - perhaps it has less brighteners in it.

I've found them interchangeable for BW printing.

But why not get a cheap acid-free paper like Hawkmountain Sparrowhawk or PremierArt Fine Art Matte? Comparable price, better in the long term and double sided, too.

Good luck,
Richard  
--
http://smallfield.vze.com
http://photos.smallfield.vze.com (Photos web site)
http://warkworth.vze.com/ (Warkworth photo essay)
http://picasaweb.google.com/rsmallfield/ (Recent work) 

   "How poor are they that ha' not patience!
   What wound did ever heal but by degrees?
   Thou know'st we work by wit and not by witchcraft,
   And wit depends on dilatory time."
   --Shakespeare, Othello, II:3

oh! thanks Richard for the recommandations for the SparrowHawk and the
Premier FineArt Paper :)
Stephane

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Richard
Smallfield <r.smallfield@...> wrote:
>
> At 04:40 PM Friday 4/13/2007, you wrote:
> >Someone could tell what are the differences between both of them?
> 
> Last time I saw documentation on this it was stated that HWM was
optimised for all Epson printers but EEM was specially optimised for
UltraChromes.
> 
> In my experience the HWM yellows *marginally* less than EEM -
perhaps it has less brighteners in it.
> 
> I've found them interchangeable for BW printing.
> 
> But why not get a cheap acid-free paper like Hawkmountain
Sparrowhawk or PremierArt Fine Art Matte? Comparable price, better in
the long term and double sided, too.

> 
> Good luck,
> Richard  
> --
> http://smallfield.vze.com
> http://photos.smallfield.vze.com (Photos web site)
> http://warkworth.vze.com/ (Warkworth photo essay)
> http://picasaweb.google.com/rsmallfield/ (Recent work) 
> 
>    "How poor are they that ha' not patience!
>    What wound did ever heal but by degrees?
>    Thou know'st we work by wit and not by witchcraft,
>    And wit depends on dilatory time."
>    --Shakespeare, Othello, II:3
>

At 02:24 AM Saturday 4/14/2007, you wrote:
>oh! thanks Richard for the recommandations for the SparrowHawk and the
>Premier FineArt Paper :)

 From what I've heard, the PremierArt Fine Art Matte is the better paper. Paul Roark reported very good dmax with it. The Sparrowhawk can produce a slightly speckled or uneven appearance in large areas of black - but this is seldom a problem. Just with a low-key portrait with a black background did I have the problem.

Good luck,
Richard

--
http://smallfield.vze.com
http://photos.smallfield.vze.com (Photos web site)
http://warkworth.vze.com/ (Warkworth photo essay)
http://picasaweb.google.com/rsmallfield/ (Recent work) 

   "Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed."
   --Michael Pritchard

>  From what I've heard, the PremierArt Fine Art Matte is the better
paper. Paul Roark reported very good dmax with it. The Sparrowhawk can
produce a slightly speckled or uneven appearance in large areas of
black - but this is seldom a problem. Just with a low-key portrait
with a black background did I have the problem.


I just got a box of the Premier Art Matte BW paper and am not quite so
impressed with it. The paper is bright white and 2 sided, but it has
some curl, and isn't packaged all that well so the ends and corners
aren't flat. Curled paper is definitely an issue with the 3800.

The paper has a decent dmax of about 1.66 on my PFP spectro, but its
main problem is what appears to be excessive dot gain. I've been
fooling around with paper settings and ink density modifications and
finally settled on Ultrasmooth Fine Art as the media setting.
Unfortunately this is not what I wanted to do because the Epson print
driver is so freakin' lame that it forces you to use the rear manual
feeder on this setting.

I was also going to give sparrowhawk paper a try, but after hearing
about speckling I'm not so sure if I will. The others to consider are
Moab Kayenta and Red River Polar Matte. I tried Kayenta a few years
ago and it had poor quality control characteristics (flaking and shiny
speckles). I hear that it is a better paper now so may try it. I've
heard that Polar Matte is good, but only being single sided makes its
cost around $0.50 per full sheet print, whereas with the 2 sided
papers you get to flip the sheet for testing and proofs.

At 05:37 AM Sunday 4/15/2007, you wrote:
>I just got a box of the Premier Art Matte BW paper and am not quite so
>impressed with it. The paper is bright white and 2 sided, but it has
>some curl, and isn't packaged all that well so the ends and corners
>aren't flat. Curled paper is definitely an issue with the 3800.

I cut some off a roll and it flattened out surprisingly well.

>I was also going to give sparrowhawk paper a try, but after hearing
>about speckling I'm not so sure if I will. The others to consider are
>Moab Kayenta and Red River Polar Matte.

I've had the Kayenta lose its brightness very quickly in a shaded room, unframed.

(BTW, is it possible to feed long pieces of paper cut from a roll into the 3800? I do this with my 2100 and the lack of a roll feeder puts me off the 3800.)

Richard 
--
http://smallfield.vze.com
http://photos.smallfield.vze.com (Photos web site)
http://warkworth.vze.com/ (Warkworth photo essay)
http://picasaweb.google.com/rsmallfield/ (Recent work) 

   "The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye. The more light 
    you shine on it, the more it will contract."
   --Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr