I use the gloss fiber papers all the time on my 8300, for years. I used to use the Harmon Baryta exclusively and still use it for smaller prints from sheets. It has the best gloss characteristics of them all and that is even for black and white. I also spray them with the Hahnemuhle spray but that is optional. Today I saw one of the 8x10 neutral prints I did on it over at a clients house and even I was trying figure out whether it was a silver print or one of my prints.
However, I recently reluctantly abandoned it for big prints with rolls. It was a sad decision but I had no choice. The terrible curling and more delicate surface was killing me in wasted prints once the roll was halfway down - scratching in the printer from head strikes.
I have switched to the Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl ( brighter white) and Hahnemuhle Photorag Pearl (rag gloss with no brighteners). These are working great too without the scratching. The Fine Art Pearl has slightly less texture than the Photorag Pearl but not as smooth as the Harmon. But I will often use the Harmon for bw work in sizes 16x20 and smaller. I wish they could make this stuff curl less.....
john
Thanks for all the replies on this thread!
Hahnemuehle Photorag Pearl and Fine Art Pearl - I guess I'll get a test package from them.
And I will definitely take a look at the Ilford Galerie Pearl that was mentioned on be someone else.
I know it'll be a lot of experimenting until I find my perfect expression on paper (maybe this means buying a different printer as well at some time).
For now, I have to print quickly, so I'll stick to Ilford Galerie... testing glossy, and keeping my options open for Pearl.
Glad to hear that glossy doesn't seem to pose a problem for pigment ink.
I just wonder why B&H notes "wide gamut for dye inks" on Ilford Galerie Papers. Does this mean the gamut on pigment printers is much narrower?