Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: Dan Wells on November 27, 2006, 04:46:06 pm

Title: Fiber based glossy papers (which one?)
Post by: Dan Wells on November 27, 2006, 04:46:06 pm
There now seem to be at least five or six of these expensive FB glossy papers out there - the group that started with Crane Museo Silver Rag last winter. I've been able to find five, plus two variants so far

Crane Museo Silver Rag
Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl
Innova F-Type Gloss (with two variants- warmtome and satin)
Oriental Graphica FB Glossy
Lexjet Sunset

The only one I've been able to find a sample to print on is Fine Art Pearl, and they're  somewhat expensive to go out and buy a roll of all seven to test  

Michael's review of three of the seven seems to suggest that the Hahnemuhle and the Innova are more pleasing in general than the Crane. He seems to prefer the Innova, although with slight reservations about the stipple. Other online reviews often prefer the Hahnemuhle, and many agree with Michael that the Crane is the least impressive.

I've seen no reviews at all of either the Oriental or Lexjet papers (or the two Innova variants). The Oriental seems especially interesting, given Oriental's pedigree as one of the major suppliers of wet darkroom papers.

Does anyone here have comparative experience of several of these papers, especially the ones nobody's reviewed online?

I'll be using both a Canon iPF 5000 and an Epson 4800 (two different locations). Is one of these papers preferable on one printer, and a different one on the other printer?
Title: Fiber based glossy papers (which one?)
Post by: ericbullock on November 27, 2006, 05:36:00 pm
Quote
There now seem to be at least five or six of these expensive FB glossy papers out there - the group that started with Crane Museo Silver Rag last winter. I've been able to find five, plus two variants so far

Crane Museo Silver Rag
Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl
Innova F-Type Gloss (with two variants- warmtome and satin)
Oriental Graphica FB Glossy
Lexjet Sunset

The only one I've been able to find a sample to print on is Fine Art Pearl, and they're  somewhat expensive to go out and buy a roll of all seven to test  

Michael's review of three of the seven seems to suggest that the Hahnemuhle and the Innova are more pleasing in general than the Crane. He seems to prefer the Innova, although with slight reservations about the stipple. Other online reviews often prefer the Hahnemuhle, and many agree with Michael that the Crane is the least impressive.

I've seen no reviews at all of either the Oriental or Lexjet papers (or the two Innova variants). The Oriental seems especially interesting, given Oriental's pedigree as one of the major suppliers of wet darkroom papers.

Does anyone here have comparative experience of several of these papers, especially the ones nobody's reviewed online?

I'll be using both a Canon iPF 5000 and an Epson 4800 (two different locations). Is one of these papers preferable on one printer, and a different one on the other printer?
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I don't know about the blanket statement about the Crane's. I think it really depends on what the image content is when choosing a paper. I recently helped a client choose a paper for her project and we all liked the Crane's over the Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl for that particular project. It was a little warmer and softer...and worked very well for this project. The FAP, by comparison, was a bit too harsh.

The Innova Fiba Gloss seems to perform well, but I don't like the texture at all. Its very machined looking and too intrusive for my tastes. Myself, I like the Hahnemühle paper. Its too bad the B9180/Vivera combination handles it so poorly!

So who cares what Michael thinks!  Just kidding. I say make your own decision based on what your images look like. All three perform well, but all have their own personality.

-eric-
Title: Fiber based glossy papers (which one?)
Post by: haefnerphoto on November 27, 2006, 09:00:08 pm
Dan, I've used 3 of the papers you've listed, Fine Art Pearl, Innova and the Oriental.  Both the FAP and the Innova I've printed on extensively and have settled on the FAP because of the conversion problems Innova has (little bits of material on the surface that create small white spots when printed over).  Although the FAP does exhibit it's own variation of surface anomely, a scuffed look that then needs to be sprayed.  This occurs in large areas of black on the print.  The Oriental product I had high hopes for, but it is quite glossy and also has a mottled, scuffed appearance that spraying doesn't fix.  The Sunset product I've been told by the distributor is very similiar to the Innova paper (perhaps it's the same), if so, that surface texture is anything but a air-dried F surface look.  The FAP with the Canon 9000 produces rich prints with great D-max, I probably need to tweak the profile because some deep shadows are blocking up.  I would imagine that the pigmented inks would show little gloss differential because of the satin finish.  I'm still looking for that air-dired F surface fiber based paper, hopefully someone will make one soon.  Jim Haefner
Title: Fiber based glossy papers (which one?)
Post by: thompsonkirk on November 27, 2006, 09:02:06 pm
Opinions certainly differ.  I've found the Hahnemuehle FAP too obviously brightened & the Innova unpleasant in its stippled texture.  That leaves the Crane, which doesn't really have the feel of an air-dried paper, but has a nice tone in its paper base.  I got out some vintage gelatin-silver prints (Portriga, Brovira, & Polycontrast), & it seemed to me to come closest.

Having tried these 3, however, I'm waiting for the '2d generation' before switching from HPR.  They all seemed like works-in-progress to me.  

Kirk
Title: Fiber based glossy papers (which one?)
Post by: Pete JF on November 27, 2006, 11:13:37 pm
The Lexjet Sunset air dried gloss is the exact same paper as the Innova Fibre Gloss F. I've used both and even have some of the same batch numbers from company to company...same thing.

The Satin version (or matte for PK ink) of the Innova F (also sold by lexjet under the Sunset family of papers) is supposed to be nice as it subdues some of those surface bugs that people are negatively responding to in the Fibre Gloss F surface.

I've recently tried Hanne Pearl and Im not to sure about this paper. It has a lot of texture and doesn't resemble any of the papers I used to print on...maybe portriga-rapid but nowhere near an air dried smooth surface...too much texture for me and very white. I don't like it very much.

I HOPE these papers are works in progress. It's obviously a challenge to make this type of surface, lots of surface bugs to work out. I suspect that the companies that made the decision to impart a noticeable texture into the surface, realized that hitting a consistant quality standard on an actual "smooth" surface was tough and risky and opted for a heavy hit of texture to keep things more consistant. I'd bet it's easier to produce a texture than it is to churn out a smooth surface batch after batch.
Title: Fiber based glossy papers (which one?)
Post by: Let Biogons be Biogons on December 08, 2006, 12:54:51 pm
What about the new Innova FibaPrint White "Semi-Matte"[/b]?  Has anyone seen of used this paper?  How does it compare to the FibaPrint While Gloss, and to the Crane Silver Rag , which tro my eye is more of a semi-matte/semi-gloss/luster paper.
Title: Fiber based glossy papers (which one?)
Post by: jjlphoto on December 08, 2006, 02:17:21 pm
Let Biogons be Biogons-

Great screen name! What is it in Planar simple english? Not to be Tessar, but sometimes unique screen names can make one seem a bit Distagon! Hoepfully you're not too Sonnar of a chap.
Title: Fiber based glossy papers (which one?)
Post by: dbell on December 08, 2006, 06:37:10 pm
Honestly, you're probably going to have to try them for yourself to find out what works for YOUR images.

 I have not used FAP. I struggled to make good prints on Innova F-Type on an Epson 2400. I had lots of issues with pizza-wheel marks and other hardware artifacts, despite using lots of variations on printer settings. I also didn't care for the surface texture, which made me unwilling to invest a ton of time in sorting out the other issues. I have made prints that I am very happy with on Silver Rag. The slightly warm tone is fine for what I do, and the paper is a good compromise between ease of handling,  DMAX (the Innova paper is a little better here) and a surface texture that I find appealing.

For what it's worth, Pictorico Hi-Gloss White Film remains one of my favorites. It's weird and essentially unlike anything else, but it's a good example of how subjective all of this can be.


--
Daniel Bell
Title: Fiber based glossy papers (which one?)
Post by: BillK on December 08, 2006, 09:58:34 pm
I was just at the Shades of Paper site and they have a sample pack of

"2 Sheets EACH of: Crane Museo Silver Rag 300gsm 100%cotton Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl 300gsm Alphacelulose Innova F-Type Gloss 300gsm Alphacelulose Innova F-Type Warmtone 300gsm Alphacelulose Innova Semi-Matte 300gsm Alphacelulose"

For $20, might pay to take a look first hand.  

http://www.shadesofpaper.com/productinfo.php?&id=329 (http://www.shadesofpaper.com/productinfo.php?&id=329)


Bill
Title: Fiber based glossy papers (which one?)
Post by: picnic on December 08, 2006, 11:08:49 pm
Quote
I was just at the Shades of Paper site and they have a sample pack of

"2 Sheets EACH of: Crane Museo Silver Rag 300gsm 100%cotton Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl 300gsm Alphacelulose Innova F-Type Gloss 300gsm Alphacelulose Innova F-Type Warmtone 300gsm Alphacelulose Innova Semi-Matte 300gsm Alphacelulose"

For $20, might pay to take a look first hand.  

http://www.shadesofpaper.com/productinfo.php?&id=329 (http://www.shadesofpaper.com/productinfo.php?&id=329)
Bill
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Thanks Bill.  I was just looking at the Innova site because they are discussing the Invova F-type Gloss---and what media setting to use--on another thread here.  I'm not a 'glossy' person but these papers have intrigued me since they came out---so a sample pack of those 5 papers is worth the $20 to find out if I have any desire to do anything more with them.

Diane
Title: Fiber based glossy papers (which one?)
Post by: NikosR on December 09, 2006, 03:07:16 am
Quote
Thanks Bill.  I was just looking at the Innova site because they are discussing the Invova F-type Gloss---and what media setting to use--on another thread here.  I'm not a 'glossy' person but these papers have intrigued me since they came out---so a sample pack of those 5 papers is worth the $20 to find out if I have any desire to do anything more with them.

Diane
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I tested both the Fine Art Pearl and the Crane on the Epson 3800. Did not like the tooth or the colour of the Crane. Loved the FAP. It suits the Epson perfectly. BW is very nice, I'm now testing colour.

Only caveat IQ wise for me: A bit cold. Does not suit all images and seems to dislike Epson Advanced BW Printing toning defaults producing a somewhat greenish appearance. I'm still testing the latter though so take this statement with a grain of salt.

Just to add to the confusion Hahn. are introducing another paper called Photo Rag Pearl supposedly with the FAP coating but the Photo Rag base and surface. Also no OBA's.