Digital BW, The Print

Mitch Alland wrote:

> Bruce:
>
> > My solution to this is canvas.
>
> But doesn't canvas have a texture? In other words, does canvas look 
> like "canvas"? Also, does canvas results in less resolution and 
> rougher tonal transitions?
>
> --Mitch/Bangkok

All of it has a texture, except maybe the films. My "standard" paper HPR 
has a texture. Most canvases have more texture, some much more. A tight 
weave and lots of gesso can be quite smooth. But you are talking about 
large prints, and the typical viewing distances are correspondingly 
larger as well. So the texture matters less.

As to resolution, this seems open to debate. One would think that a 
rougher texture would drop the resolution of the print somewhat. I find 
in practice that it doesn't. At least with the canvas I've been using. I 
just hung a show with two canvas prints (125 x 100 cm). At the opening 
people were walking right up to them and remarking about how sharp they 
were. So I'm thinking it's not much of an issue.

As to tonal transitions, my personal experience is that tonal 
transitions are tonal transitions. More determined by the ink than the 
substrate. IOW, prints on canvas and paper are very comparable from a 
tonal standpoint. A good profile will help of course.

The only way to find out for sure is to try it. Canvas might work for 
you, and if it does it solves a whole host of problems for you. If it 
doesn't, you're back where you started. So what have you got to loose?
--
Bruce Watson