Digital BW, The Print

On Nov 27, 2006, at 3:30 PM, l33ry wrote:

> If you don't mind me shouting from the novice gallery, Sam,

Not at all, Bob.


> I think
> you're cheating yourself if you're not taking Epson's Epson-only paper
> recommendations with a large grain of salt. All of those papers
> predate Claria by a long shot, so their "optimized for Claria" claim
> is pure hooey.

Yes, but I thought the handful they singled out probably the best  
they thought they had for the new Claria ink.


> Not only are there other papers out there with the same
> characteristics, and better, many papers are available coated for dye
> printing on both sides, from Hahnehmuhle, Bergger, Inkpress, etc. (and
> also btw Epson's own double-sided matte @9.7mil).

Maybe I should start with those instead.


> To get an idea of what's available, try www.bhphotovideo.com, click
> "Printers and Scanners" on the home page, choose "standard" or "fine
> art" papers, and then filter for double-sided. B&H also stocks sample
> packs from several brands.

Thanks for this tip.


> For cardstock, I've only compared the Inkpress Matte 80 (12mil) with
> Epson Matte Heavyweight (9mil and "optimized for use with Claria
> ink"). The Inkpress was cheaper, seemed to me better on brightness
> (actually brighter than I wanted), smoothness and yellowing, but it
> flaked more than the Epson matte. Inkpress claims acid- and
> lignin-free. I saw no difference in output on the 220 w/ OEM color
> inks--very fine resolution, same colors.
>
> I also tried Inkpress' Semigloss d-s and didn't care for it, but
> that's probably a matter of taste.
>
> Cheers,
> Bob L

Thanks again, Bob, for this report.
--
Sam

> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Sam McCandless
> <samcc@...> wrote:
>> [snip]