Re: Pizza wheel problem solved, new question!

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Those are good thoughts Jim.  Having been trying out papers for a while now
I know how difficult it must be.  Sommerset is a good paper and I was
perfectly happy with it forMIS  quadtone ink printing untill a couple of
stunning papers came along. That is not a derogatory comment but it sure
has taken a step down from its early pre-eminence.  This field is in such
an incredible growth phase that I wonder how anyone can stay in business
long enough to get a product developed and on the market before the ante is
upped once more!

For color I've been using the MIS archival inks and they respond quite a
bit differently to Sommerset than the standard OEM inks.  Epson inks seem
to penetrate less --which is probably why they are less archival -but why
they also seem to hold a bit more saturated color and contrasty black.
Concorde Rag and Luminos seem to have hit the bulls-eye for both saturation
and deep blacks --lets hope they are truly archival!  Unfortunately the
expense puts them a bit on the unobtainable side for a lot of people.

One thing I've found is that with Quadtone inks, Sommerset Velvet makes a
very good test print for Concorde, much better than any other paper I've
tested.  When the quadtone inks print perfectly on Sommerset (ie when I get
exactly as much black ink down as I can without shadows cloggin up) then
the file prints perfectly on Concorde with all of its deep blacks and high
contrast. That is a remarkable coincidence, few other papers  respond
similarly and so I can't use them to proof (so to speak) a quadtone print.
Unfortunately Sommerset is itself rather expensive for using as test
prints.  However, I just tried some of the Hawk Mountain  paper you
mention.  It is ever bit as good as Sommerset Velvet and has a much nicer
smooth finish.  I've tried it as a replacement for Sommerset as a test
print and it is about the closest match I've come across.  It does not have
the depth I'm looking for in the final art print but it sure beats out
Sommerset in cost for pre-print testing.  The Red Tail paper is the one
I've tried and at the price I can afford it to  make the twenty or so tests
I need on a file before I'm satisfied enough to start printing on the high
priced spread!  (Yeah, that's a lot of tests but I do things the hard way
and I'm awfully fussy).  Also, I ran a color gamut test on the Red Tail
paper.  As near as I can tell *visually* from the test patch print (I'm
still not trusting my profile creating skills but my eyes are good!) it
matches Sommerset exactly in its color response.  Anyone who is now
printing on Sommerset Velvet ought to be perfectly happy with Red Tail!
George has matched what was until just recently the king of fine art papers
and he has done it at a very reasonable cost.  That is pretty impressive!

Dan Culbertson

Jim Davis wrote:
>Dan:
>In the art of paper making there is a very fine line between paper that
>looks good and a paper that holds a lot of ink.
>
>The inkjet printer is no different than any other kind of printing. They
>all put ink onto a piece of paper. If the paper has a closed surface
>such as a photo glossy paper the ink sets on the surface, dries and
>gives you a brilliant reproduction. On water color paper the ink sinks
>into the paper dries and gives you a dull image.
>
>When the paper maker makes his paper he has to balance how much coating
>he puts on his watercolor paper so it doesn't cause archival problems
>for the paper. Second there has to be just enough coating to allow the
>ink to sink into the paper yet not wick through the fibers. I think that
>is probably why the Concord paper has printed so well. The mfg. found
>the right combination of coating to paper to ink.
>
>I have watched George Coon from Hawk Mountain Fine Art Papers develop
>his sheet. It is not an easy task. Every printer ink combination is
>different. When you get the balance right for one combination it changes
>for another.
>He is now to the point where his present sheet works quite well with the
>Epson and HP printers. I know this because I have tested on both printer
>brands.
>
>Even with this paper I have to be real careful with blacks. If I push
>too much ink I get mottling in the shadows. If not enough I get gray
>washed out detail. There is a very fine balance between bad and
>acceptable.
>
>Just some passing thoughts.
>
>
>
>Jim Davis




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