Surface "sharpness" of matte papers

[bellimages]

If you have been following my posts, you will see that I am switching from Epson Premium Luster to Epson's Ultrasmooth Fine Art Matte paper. This is a costly move, but I'm doing it to avoid "bronzing" and to make the move away from stark white paper.

I strive to create prints that are as good as anyone working in fine art photography. My prints must be sharp as a tack, or I'm not happy. Premium luster gave me a very sharp image. Will matte papers give that same sharpness?

Jan Bell

[bill t.]

Smooth surface matte paper is probably the sharpest print media.  I regard Luster as only moderately sharp.

[madmanchan]

You will not get the same level of resolution, though you can get similar levels of apparent visual sharpness by applying some additional output sharpening. (e.g., if you print from Lightroom, use the Matte setting for Output Sharpening, not Glossy). Ink droplets tend to bleed a bit more on matte papers, unlike on papers like Premium Luster which hold a pretty tight dot pattern.

[Guigui]

Of all the matte papers I have tried, Epson Ultrasmooth gave me the best sharpness, at least more than all the textured ones. My advice would be that if you're looking for sharpness, go for the smoothest papers you can find.

[jjlphoto]

I thought I read here that Harman Gloss Baryta was capable of producing the highest l/mm?

[Brian Gilkes]

Sharpness depends on lots of things but IMHO the coating is the most significant factor. I also thought gloss would be sharper than matte and smooth would be sharper than rough, but it ain't necessarily so. I have just finished printing cartoon art with fine type on Arches Aquarelle. This is a mould made paper with a strong surface texture. It appears very sharp.
Cheers,
Brian
www.pharoseditions.com.au

[JeffKohn]

I thought I read here that Harman Gloss Baryta was capable of producing the highest l/mm?

That paper reproduces substantially more detail than any other inkjet paper I've tried, and I have to think the extremely smooth high-gloss surface plays a part in that.

[jasonrandolph]

I haven't used Epson's matte papers, but Hahnemuhle Photo Rag and Bamboo have given me outstanding sharpness.  As was said above, I think it's the surface coating that makes them so sharp.

[Ernst Dinkla]

There has been a thread on that subject on the Digital B&W list:
http://helgaas.com/photo/DigitalBlackandWh...8/09/36290.html



If you check ink limitation the best matte inkjet coatings can handle higher ink loads.
There is always that perceptual problem where higher contrast is seen as better resolution, gloss has the advantage there.
Microscopic images of inkjet ink droplets show perfect round dots on gloss papers and not on matte coatings but a perfect round dot bleeding on gloss paper will still be round.

It would be nice to see some good MTF measurements done on printed targets, I'm not so sure that gloss paper has the better resolution and there's way more variety in coating quality per category than between the best matte and gloss papers.


met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst Dinkla

Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/

[madmanchan]

Surface texture can also add to perceived image sharpness.

[bellimages]

Surface texture can also add to perceived image sharpness.

BUT ....... Epson's Ultrasmooth Fine Art Matte paper is "ultrasmooth." So surface texture doesn't play into this equation. Personally I'd never print on surfaces that remind me of a watercolor. Watercolor paper was made for watercolors. Putting a good quality photo on it negates everything that you strive for in print quality.

[madmanchan]

bellimages, I mentioned the surface texture because of Brian's description of a paper with "strong surface texture."  I agree that USFA is pretty smooth.