Digital BW, The Print

For those of you who might be interested in Silver Rag with MIS'
Ultratone inkset, I have had the opportunity to test this paper over
the past several weeks. I waited to post my impressions until I had
had enough time to thoroughly use the samples I was given.

The following is a summary of my experiences with Crane Silver Rag
using the MIS Ultratone inkset, PKN (not PK or Eboni), and an Epson 4000:

1) You will want to use photo black, not matte black with this paper.
Whether it's PK or PKN won't matter. With PKN you can expect a dmax of
2.4. I assume PK will be similar.

2) Other than the now discontinued (and completely non-archival) Epson
Professional Glossy Paper (aka Glossy Paper Photo Weight in rolls),
this paper's surface is the closest approximation to a glossy
fiber-based black and white darkroom paper that I have seen. (I really
like it for this reason). 

3) The surface is very durable and highly scratch resistant.

4) The base white is slightly on the yellow side, though not
excessively so. To give a comparison that may or may not be helpful,
the base white is essentially identical to the "bright white" version
of Westminster matboard that is sold by Light Impressions and that
many people seem to use. Also for comparison, it is not as white as
the Forte darkroom paper I formerly used. (The Forte paper, on the
other hand, is nowhere near as cool white as Epson Premium Semimatte
or Premium Luster, for example).

5) With the MIS Ultratones, there is effectively no bronzing or gloss
differential. Spraying with Print Shield (or equivalent) has no visual
effect. (Not requiring a spray alone makes me love this paper).

6) Some will be interested in how this paper compares to Hahnemuhle's
Photo Rag Satin and PremierArt's Luster Rag, as these all represent a
new class of printing paper. I found Silver Rag to be superior to
these other two papers. Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Satin suffers
tremendously from an inability to achieve a high enough dmax (it
topped out at 1.56 in my tests). There is no comparison in an image
printed on the Hahnemuhle paper and Silver Rag, especially if the
image has any significant area of deeper tones (such as shadow areas).
PremierArt's Luster Rag performed quite well, but the paper surface
was too rough for my tastes (it reminded me of canvas, though that's
certainly an exaggeration). In addition, the Luster Rag has an
exceedingly warm yellow base that I find disagreeable, but that is
personal preference. Some may like that.

7) Dry mounting is not a problem with Silver Rag.

8) Silver Rag handles ink in a way that I personally really like. One
aspect of digital printing that I've never seen mentioned anywhere is
that sharpening of an image is not only image size dependent but also
paper dependent. I've found in general that the typical semigloss
paper such as Epson Premium Semimatte or Premium Luster tends to
produce sharper images for a given level of sharpening in Photoshop
than when printed on a matte paper. This has to do with the dispersion
of the ink droplets upon hitting the paper. With a paper like Epson
Premium Semimatte, you can achieve very sharp images, but it can
sometimes come at the expense of overall smoothness. Silver Rag, on
the other hand, responds more like a matte paper than a typical
semigloss paper in how it holds the ink. While a given image may not
be quite as sharp on Silver Rag when compared to the same image on
Epson Premium Semimatte, it will be noticeably smoother (and plenty
sharp enough!). Personally, I much prefer the response of Silver Rag
to ink in this respect than Epson Premium Semimatte. To give an
example to help you imagine this effect (and where I saw it in real
life), look at the image on my home page at www.dirkhobman.com (also
image 2-4 in the image set section). When I print that image on Epson
Premium Semimatte (8.5x11 paper), there is a small but noticeable
amount of grain visible throughout the whole sky area. Without
changing anything, the same image printed on Silver Rag results in a
completely smooth sky with absolutely no visible grain.

9) Now, alas, the potentially bad news. Silver Rag will work
wonderfully with any image using the MIS Ultratones that is either
warm-toned or dead neutral. However, going anywhere in the cool
direction could be problematic, depending on your tastes. I print just
slightly cooler than neutral. Unfortunately, the slightly yellow base
of the paper responds with the cooler (blue) inks to create a slightly
green cast. It is not extreme, but it is noticeable nonetheless. I
expect it would become more noticeable with more cool toner. For
example, in printing the exact same image with curves designed to
create a slightly cool grayscale on both Epson Premium Semimatte and
Crane Silver Rag, you will find two very different resulting tones,
all due to differences in the paper base color. For me, this proves to
be too big of a problem to overcome. For you, it may not. As I said,
this will not be a problem with a warm-toned to neutral print. I also
expect that this won't be a problem with the new Epson full color
printers. I have never seen their black and white output, but if
reality matches theory, you could adjust for the tone using the full
color inks available (i.e. add more magenta, for example - something
you cannot do with the MIS Ultratones). To put this all in context, I
prefer Epson Premium Semimatte paper, but I would never print a
warm-toned or even neutral image on that paper. The base white is so
cool that you will always have a split toning effect in the highlights
with a warm-toned or neutral image, no matter how hard you try to
avoid it.

Take home message: A fantastic paper that will likely have very broad
appeal. The only ones who need be concerned are those shooting for a
cooler tone using the MIS Ultratone inkset, and even then you may not
find the results disagreeable.


Dirk Hobman
www.dirkhobman.com




--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Eleanor Brown"
<elliebrown@a...> wrote:
>
> Over this past weekend I have been working with beta samples of Crane's
> new paper Museo Silver Rag. I formerly printed black and white and
color in
> my darkroom but five years ago went completely digital. I have been
looking
> for a paper to mimic my old silver darkroom papers but no no avail.
Now my
> searching is over. I am thrilled at the prints I'm making on this new
> Silver Rag paper, both in black and white and color. The paper could
pass
> for a silver gelatin paper, is a nice weight, and a soft white base
color
> and lays flat. The surface--smooth-- has a slight subtle elegant texture
> that shows through the coating--this texture looks  like air dried
glossy silver gelatin paper
> textures (not like epson luster paper).  When you hold the paper in
your hand, it also feels 
> like a silver gelatin paper.
> 
> I've printed on my 7800 printer using Imageprint in both standard three
> black mode and Phatte black mode. Have also printed on my 2400 using the
> epson driver, advanced black and white mode. All prints are superb
with deep deep blacks 
> with good separation in dark shadow areas. The
> paper surface is tough--resistant to scratching and highly water
resistant
> after the inks have had a chance to completely dry. (I soaked a print in
> water until saturated, with no ink run off, even when rubbed with a
paper
> towel). I look forward to using this new paper for most of my
printing in
> the future. Eleanor
>