That is also what I was told very recently, that Canson Platine and Epson Platine were both coated in the same location by Felix Schoeller and apparently other brands are selling it as well now. I've been buying both for six months as well as the Rag Photographique and Legacy Fiber and as I described months ago I see no differience in my daily use of either surfaces.
Your comment just now touches on the question I have had for some time. Is the presence of Titanium white pigments in these premium formulations actually an advantage for long term image stability over the minimal use of oba within the paper core of Hahnemühle Photorag 308 and Photorag Ultra Smooth. My memory was that the titanium had a slight edge in the Aardenburg tests, but that tyey were very close. I have a black light exposure unit that I use to view them under and the Canson surfaces mentioned above show no glowing while the Canson rc media glow as does Photorag a little.
It seems what you just said suggests that Titanium White brighteners as is used in some of these premium papers I've been using ( and championing ) might have their own issues overtime as well? Very few media have them that I'm aware of. Breathing Color Canvas and one or two of their papers seem to be the other use of it besides Canson.
The more I talk to people from these companies and their distributors the more I realize how complex these ink receptor coating "formulas" can be. In many, if not all of these coatings there are various components to them and changes can occur depending on secondary suppliers of additives that go into them and Who is doing the coating and where the papers are made and the coating process is taking place ( almost always in different countries )- Germany, France, Switzerland, England, China, Korea, Japan, USA etc.
Not to complicate things, just trying to learn. I'm the kind of guy who likes to stick with the same media for as long as possible, but in a global marketplace where companies are being bought and sold fairly regularly, you do the best you can. It seems to me that Hahnemühle has remained the most predictable and consistent over the last 18 years that I have been at this for their cotton fine art papers. I don't know that much about Legion, but they seem to have a good reputation also. All of this coating stuff is so secretive that it is like trying to put a jigsaw puzzle together to see the overall picture of how they differ from one another over time.
Palo Duro SoftGloss Rag is indeed a very nice paper, and widely regarded as another "dead ringer" if not simply rebranded version of Canon Platine Fiber Rag, as is Epson legacy Platine Fiber. Although the base sheet may be sourced form different paper mills, albeit with nearly identical thickness and fiber texture, all of these brands appear to be coated with exact same coating chemistry by Felix Schoeller in Germany.
Palo Duro SoftGloss has a "glossy/luster" coating appearance. Considered to be a plush fine art paper but not matte fine art. Higher price point than RR Aurora Natural as well. It so happens this is also one of the three media now in test at Aardenburg Imaging and printed with the Canon OEM Pro-11/12 ink set which is the ink set used in Judy's Canon Pro-2000 printer. This paper as well as Canon's own Photo Paper Pro luster RC photo media are the other two media in test using the Pro11/12 ink set along with the Moab Entrada Natural. The Canon Pro 11 ink/ RR Palo Duro SoftGloss combination may provide enough lightfastness for many endusers, but both the RRPDSG and Canon PPPL luster type papers are testing now at approximately half the light fade resistance as the matte finish Entrada Natural. Again, this situation speaks plainly to the media coating formulation sensitivity of the latest Canon OEM ink set.
kind regards,
Mark
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com