Digital BW, The Print

Hi -- this may be a strange question, but I was wondering if anyone had tried, or had tips 
for, getting a look similar to some of the recent high quality photo books?  I'm thinking of 
some of the Phaidon editions such as Magnum Degrees and Elliott Erwitt's Snaps (also the 
latest printing of Szarkowski's Looking At Photographs and his Atget book I find impressive).

I guess I'm going for a high-end repro look (sort of like gravure), which the R220 I use (w/ 
MIS UT R2 inks) seems like a natural for.  Paper I'm not even sure what to try.  The papers in 
these books seem to be a super smooth low gloss, showing just the slightest texture in the 
blacks when viewed on angle (and actually a small amount of gloss differential too :).  
Wondering what folks might recommend for this type of application, ideally with matte black 
(Eboni) ink (though I imagine many papers will need photo black).  Any ideas?

Best,
--Geoff

"The papers in
these books seem to be a super smooth low gloss, showing just the 
slightest
texture in the
blacks when viewed on angle (and actually a small amount of gloss 
differential
too :)."

That's probably because they have a coating of varnish applied to the 
surface.

Scott


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "vmixer42" 
<geoffsm@g...> wrote:
>
> Hi -- this may be a strange question, but I was wondering if anyone 
had tried, or had tips 
> for, getting a look similar to some of the recent high quality 
photo books?  I'm thinking of 
> some of the Phaidon editions such as Magnum Degrees and Elliott 
Erwitt's Snaps (also the 
> latest printing of Szarkowski's Looking At Photographs and his 
Atget book I find impressive).
> 
> I guess I'm going for a high-end repro look (sort of like gravure), 
which the R220 I use (w/ 
> MIS UT R2 inks) seems like a natural for.  Paper I'm not even sure 
what to try.  The papers in 
> these books seem to be a super smooth low gloss, showing just the 
slightest texture in the 
> blacks when viewed on angle (and actually a small amount of gloss 
differential too :).  
> Wondering what folks might recommend for this type of application, 
ideally with matte black 
> (Eboni) ink (though I imagine many papers will need photo black).  
Any ideas?

> 
> Best,
> --Geoff
>

I was afraid someone was going to say that :).  So, then, to help get
this type of look I should spray, e.g. PremierArt print shield
afterwards?  I was hoping to avoid this, but I guess there's no free
lunch.

What are some papers that have this ultra-low gloss characteristic? 
I've been wanting to try a couple Epson papers that don't seem to come
in letter size (I'm using an R220) -- premium semimatte and
UltraSmooth fine art (which I know is matte, so would need some type
of varnish); would either of these (with or without spraying) get me
closer to this look?

I've tried a couple sheets of HPR Satin, with matte black ink, and
while the slight sheen is nice, the texture is too intrusive, esp. at
smaller print sizes/closer viewing distances.  Is there anything else
like HPR Satin, but smoother (and ideally using matte black ink)?


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com,
"scott_now_coming" <scott_now_coming@y...> wrote:

>
> "The papers in
> these books seem to be a super smooth low gloss, showing just the 
> slightest
> texture in the
> blacks when viewed on angle (and actually a small amount of gloss 
> differential
> too :)."
> 
> That's probably because they have a coating of varnish applied to the 
> surface.
> 
> Scott