Our clients have told us that they like the idea of a large, 2:3 aspect ratio (35mm format) paper so they can make 16" x 24" prints on their Epson 3800's and 4800's.
Our customers have told us that the three most popular papers they'd like to have in this format are:
SAVE 10%: These 3 papers should be available within 2 weeks. If you pre-order now, you'll save 10%. Once these papers are available, the discount will disappear.
ALTERNATIVE PAPERS: We received many request for the 17x25 format in the Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper and the Glossy. Because this format is a niche market, we don't seeing Epson honoring our request to produce this format any time soon (the wheels of change turn slowly in large companies). However, the manufacturer of our Inkjetart Micro Ceramic Luster and Gloss papers was willing to address this niche market. We suggest you compare our paper (using our free profiles) with Epson's or Ilford's if you have a need for this format in the luster or gloss surfaces.
EPSON ULTRASMOOTH FINE ART: We also had considerable requests for the Epson Ultrasmooth paper. Again, our best alternative to address this niche need was to turn to the manufacturer of our Inkjetart Museum Digital Art paper. If you'll compare the Epson product with our paper, you find that our Museum Digital Art has the same paper specifications and performance, in every detail, except weight and thickness. Our Museum Digital Art is slightly thinner and lighter in weight. This feature allows it to feed easier in the Epson desktop printers, i.e. the 3800 and 4800. It also considerably reduces costs.
NEW 17x25 PAPERS: If your favorite paper didn't make our production list, go HERE to give us your input. The more legitimate requests we receive for a media type, the sooner we can afford the production costs to bring it to market.
REVIEW: FIBER-BASE GLOSS/LUSTER FINE ART PAPERS COMPARED
So what's the big deal about "fiber-base", anyway? To understand the importance of fiber-base, let's take a quick trip down memory lane:
PHOTO-INKJET HISTORY: Prior to the mid-1970's, virtually all photo lab papers were fiber-base. They were usually cotton papers or wood pulp papers with at least 25% cotton in them to withstand the long chemical development, fixing and washing process. In the mid-1970's photo paper manufacturers like Kodak realized they could greatly speed up the wet-lab process and conserve water by coating both sides of the paper with a water-resistant resin (later replaced with polyethylene) and then coating the image carrying emulsion on top of the resin coating (RC).
Photographers developed a love-hate relationship with RC papers -- they did greatly reduce wet-lab processing time, but many photographers hated the "haze" black & white prints seem to have when made on this paper, and the "plastic" feel of the prints. Despite this objection by the B/W purists, the RC improvement caught on universally for the wet-lab color print industry, mainly because few photographers made their own color prints and this was virtually an automated machine process.
Most B/W fine art photographers resisted this RC "improvement", and a niche industry continued to cater to and produce fiber-base B/W papers for this group. These prints continue to be made and marketed using such terms as "salon grade" or "fiber-base silver-gelatin" prints.
In the early years of photo inkjet development (1996 to 2000), most inkjet papers were fiber-base. Pioneering photographers and other artists kept complaining that they couldn't obtain the richness of their wet-lab photo prints, and whenever the user tried to increase richness and D-Max, the inkjet papers "cockled" (turned wavy) under the wet ink load. Manufacturers turned to the better micro-porous coatings onto RC papers to solve this problem, and quickly won the enthusiasm of most photographers. Epson's Premium Glossy Photo Paper was one of the first very successful RC inkjet papers in the year 2000. The RC barrier layer, coupled with the better micro-porous coating allowed for heavy ink loads, rich, deep colors, and higher D-Max's.
Despite this advancement, some photographer / artists still longed for a fiber-base inkjet paper that could reach the performance of these RC micro-porous papers. In the past 18 months, several inkjet paper coaters have been able to achieve this dream with the development of advanced micro-porous formulas that are double and even triple-coated onto a paper base, without the use of an RC barrier layer. Despite not having an RC barrier layer, the advanced coating on these papers can usually take the same ink load as the "premium" RC photo papers without cockling. These coatings usually have a luster or gloss finish to meet the needs of the fine art photo/artist.
TEST COMPARISONS. We tested three fiber-base gloss/luster fine art
papers (100% cotton) and two fiber-base, "not-so-fine"
(alpha-cellulose) papers. Our criteria for this comparison group was that the papers must have these two features:
Must have a photo gloss or photo luster finish
Must have a true fiber-base (no "RC" polyethylene barrier layer)
Comparison of base material, surface, D-Max, recommended inks, weight, thickness and price:
*In our opinion, the PremierArt Platinum Rag's printing performance was much better using the Matte Black ink, and suffers very little from scuffing or scratching when using this ink. All of the other papers, while producing a higher D-Max with the Matte black ink, will scuff, scratch and smudge without a protective coating (i.e. PremierArt's Print Shield) when using the Matte Black ink, so we recommend using the Photo Black ink with these papers. Another exception was the Innova FibaPrint (f-type) White Gloss 300. The Innova was quite scuff and scratch resistant even when using the Matte Black ink (after having a few hours to dry). It could get by without a protective coating. Using PremierArt's Print Shield in combination the Matte Black ink over top of all of the papers (except the Ink Press Fiber Gloss, which benefited little by this application) produces some incredibly rich blacks, especially on the Crane Museo Silver Rag.
OTHER COMMENTS: The Ink Press Fiber Gloss performed more like a high gloss "Premium" paper with a plastic "RC" barrier layer. It looked more like a premium "photo" paper than a fine art paper, but without the "plastic" feel of the RC type papers. (Because all of these papers have a true fiber-base, you can print on the back of the papers, albeit the quality will not be too great, since there is no inkjet receptive coating.)
Our favorite truly "fine art" cotton photo paper was the Crane Museo Silver Rag; however, for something that matched the wet darkroom look of an "F-type" air-dried "silver gelatin" double-weight glossy print, nothing could beat the Innova FibaPrint (f-type) White Gloss 300 -- it was closer to this retro look than anything we're ever seen (although some may not like its slightly uneven, bumpy surface that appears under the right reflective light). The Hahnemuhle paper also looked nice, but closer examination showed micro-pooling or clumping of the ink droplets, producing a grainy look in some tonal areas.
FIBER-BASE: A 100% cotton base with no OBAs is considered very archival. Cotton's longer fibers typically make papers more tear-resistant than wood pulp papers. Alpha cellulose, a wood pulp fiber, it is also consider archival IF it is acid-free and lignin-free. The Hahnemuhle, Innova and Ink Press papers make this archival claim for their alpha cellulose based papers.
WHITENESS: Premier Platinum Rag and Crane Museo Silver Rag are probably the most archival of the papers tested, with no OBAs, and therefore have a more "natural", and less brilliant white than the other papers. The Innova FibaPrint (f-type) White Gloss 300 was a little brighter, the Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl even brighter (claiming 105% whiteness), and the Ink Press Fiber Gloss was the brightest.
DYE INK vs. PIGMENT INK: All of the D-Max numbers were obtained using Epson UltraChrome K3 pigment inks. Most dye inks will be less archival, but will produce a D-Max that is about 0.40 to 0.75 higher than the figures listed here. The Hahnemuhle claims that a D-Max of 2.88 is achievable when using some dye inks on their Fine Art Pearl paper (and we think that it might perform better with a dye ink than a pigment ink, because of the very slight ink clumping previously mentioned).
Epson announced on January 8, 2007 at MacWorld that the new Epson Stylus Photo 1400 would replace the aging Epson Stylus Photo 1280 (which amazingly, has been around since 2001). Although the 1400 was released on Epson's Web site earlier this week, they are out of stock on replacement ink cartridges, and most dealers (including InkjetART) will not be receiving the printer until sometime between Feb. 18 and Feb. 23. Here are the major features and differences between the 1400 and the 1280:
EPSON STYLUS PHOTO 1400
EPSON STYLUS PHOTO 1280
Use new Claria dye-based ink. 6 individual "High-capacity" cartridges.
Dye-based ink. 2 cartridge system one for black, one for all 5 colors.
"5760 x 1440 optimized" dpi. As small as 1.5 picoliter droplet. DX5 small as print head delivers 5 droplet sizes.
"5760 x 720 optimized" dpi. As small as 4 picoliter droplet. Print head delivers 3 droplet sizes.
MEDIA HANDING: Up to 13" x 19" sheets Borderless sizes from 4x6 to 13x19 Direct CD / DVD Printing
Up to 13" x 44" panoramas Borderless sizes from 4x6 to 13x19 Roll Paper Holder accessory
COMMENTS: Both printers are ideal for 12" x 12" scrapbook printing and 13" x 19" prints. The new 1400 does NOT have a Roll Paper Holder accessory. The older, 1280 printer does - so if you have a need roll printing support, you may want to purchase the Epson 1280 before it goes away!
The new 1400 has slightly better resolution and smaller ink droplet delivery for finer and smoother printing -- but was barely discernible without the aid of a magnifying glass. Six individual High-capacity ink cartridges should be more efficient than the old two cartridge system on the 1280. (It better be, because to replace 6 cartridges on the 1400 costs a total of $113.94 vs. the $52.15 for the two cartridges on the 1280!)
The Epson 1400 is now available - we have them available at warehouses throughout the country.
FREE PHOTOGRAPHY SEMINAR WITH DRAKE BUSATH - MARCH 19TH
Check it out! Register for FREE, before all the spaces are gone! Drake is one of the hottest portrait and wedding photographers in the country, and you won't have to pay hundreds of dollars or travel out of state (if you live in Utah) to hear him speak:
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"Inkjet NEWS & Tips" is published by
Royce Bair, Editor royce@inkjetart.com
Inkjet Solutions for Photo-realistic & Archival Fine Art Printing
http://www.inkjetART.com/
Inkjet Art Solutions
8100 s. 1300 w., Suite A
West Jordan, UT 84088
Phone: 801-256-0360 Fax: 801-256-0369
(c) Copyright 2007 The Stock Solution, All Rights Reserved
No portion of this publication may be reproduced or re-published
without written permission from Royce Bair or his stock photography agency, The Stock Solution.
Send your comments to Royce Bair royce@inkjetart.com.
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All longevity estimates should be treated as such, Inkjet Art Solutions is not liable for pre-mature fading of prints or damage to printers through use of our products. Be sure to properly research your purchase and follow the directions given. If you need help, please contact us.
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