Funny - I have the opposite problem. I haven't been able to get ANY of the Hahnemuhle rag papers (Photo rag bartya or the older photo rag) through my 3800 without head strikes, corner inking, curls, and so forth - to the point of much frustration (and I've tried everything - grand canyon sized platen gaps, attempts at decurling, the whole bit
FWIW, I fed a box of 17x22 Photo Rag Baryta through my 3800 without any problems. Most of these were 11x17 or smaller however. I currently cut sheets of Silver Rag from a 17" role (mostly 11x17 or 13x17, but also some panos), decurl and print. I get the odd corner with black ink on it, but not an issue since I typically print 8x10 or 8x12 on these.
I'm extremely interested in the Canson - particularly the baryta and now the platine rag after Mile's review. I've got the Canson bartya on order but it's on a long backorder and both papers seem rather difficult to find. Maybe by the summer I'll have a new paper, lol. I gotta say, the samples I saw in the Canson booth were impressive, so I await actually getting some to try (and of course will hope the paper is flat and isn't going to be a pain to deal with).
I have a sample pack of Canson's Photographique Baryta on the way, and I'm very curious to see how it performs. It will be used for printing black and white using Cones Piezography K7 inks and K3 colour. It does not look OBA free, which concerns me. I also wish it was based on a Cotton Rag paper. However, it may make a nice contrast to Silver Rag, which is what I'm looking for. Based on Michael's comments, it sounds like it has great dimensionality and is very sharp. I've noticed this with other Baryta papers, and I quite like that look.
I've been using Canson's Rag Photographique and BFK Rives, and I'm very happy with these papers. They look great for both colour and b/w work.
The Platine review is timely. I was very interested in it last year, but the introduction was delayed and I went with Silver Rag. If I could get a sample of it I would evaluate it alongside Photographique Baryta. Platine is OBA free and Cotton Rag, and I assume somewhat warmer in tone than Photographique Baryta. Perhaps a nice complement to Photographique Baryta, and a contender to replace my Silver Rag.
I will watch the discussion with interest.
Thank you Miles, for documenting your findings. It was all of interest, but I found the spectral curves especially fascinating.
BTW, are you printing K3 and ABW. Are you spraying the prints, or is the gloss differential / bronzing acceptible?
Terry.