[Leica] My paper experience

[chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com (Chris Crawford)]

Richard,

Have you tried Epson Velvet Fine art? Of all the cotton rag art papers I
have tried, this one had the deepest blacks. I'm using Epson printers with
Ultrachrome ink (2200 and R2400). I have lately been using the Ilford Gold
Fiber a lot as well.


-- 
Chris Crawford
Fine Art Photography
Fort Wayne, Indiana
260-424-0897

http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio

http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My latest work!



On 3/11/10 1:45 AM, "Richard Man" <richard at imagecraft.com> wrote:

> In printing for my next portfolio review, here are some comments on inkjet
> paper that I tried this time.
> 
> Firstly, at the last portfolio review, I did ~12 darkroom prints on Adox
> MCC. There really is nothing that beats the silver gelatin print look...
> 
> Second, my monitor is a calibrated ColorEdge CE240W - a reasonably
> "middle-end" color correctable monitor. The next step up would be something
> 3x-4x more expensive at $5000+.
> 
> My printer is a Z3100 and I make all my ICC profiles.
> 
> - Best value: Epson Ultra Presentation Matte / Enhanced Matte / Archival
> Matte etc. They change the names a few times, but it's their "low end"
> stuff, over the cheap "photo paper." It's quite good. The best matte paper
> is probably no more than 10-15% better, by any measure. If you like matte,
> this can be your work print paper, or even for exhibit and sales.
> 
> - Hahnemuhle Fine Arts Pearl. A few years ago, I quite like it. Semi-gloss
> luster look. Now it's totally out classed by the new paper. Not 
> recommended.
> 
> - Hahnemuhle photo rag, photo rag bright white etc. There are at least 2-3
> variations. One of the best fine arts matte paper. My biggest complaint is
> that it's very fragile. You look at it funny and then there's a scratch on
> the print!
> 
> Now a general commentary on matte paper. They look like... fine arts paper,
> like watercolor. I found the dark is not quite dark enough, and in fact, if
> you have a very dark print (e.g. night time), it can look downright muddy.
> My wife, coming from a traditional artist background, like matte paper more
> than the ones below. I think they work best for art work reproduction.
> 
> - Ilford Gold Fibre. This is one of the first and still more expensive
> Baryta paper. It has the best dynamic range that I can see. It prints more
> contrasty than my screen, this would be the one I'd use if I want that
> slight gloss look.
> 
> - Harman FB Fiber Matte, Warmtone and normal. This is currently my favorite
> paper. It's matte but less flat than the photo rag matte. The prints match
> my screen more than other paper. Only thing it does not do well on is the
> night shots. Again it just looks muddy.
> 
> While the above two have baryta and suppose to look like darkroom prints,
> they don't. OTOH, they look more like darkroom prints than the older paper.
> 
> ****
> YMMV etc. etc.