Ilford recently issued the following press release
"Harman Technology, the British-based company that manufactures Ilford Photo products, will launch a hybrid inkjet paper at Photokina next week, which is claimed to deliver black-and-white output on a par with its traditional silver halide monochrome papers.
The Professional Photo papers are the first inkjet materials to be produced under the Harman banner since the company took over Ilford Photo's operations in a management buyout two years ago, and they are unique in incorporating Baryta, a material used in traditional photography for decades which no-one has hitherto harnessed for digital output.
'Since the rise of digital photography, professional photographers have struggled to create inkjet prints that are worthy of sale,' says Howard Hopwood of Harman. 'With our new Baryta range, we believe we have found a solution, providing media that will reflect the quality of the image and create a robust print that is of museum quality.'
Baryta coatings were originally introduced to the Ilfobrom Galerie FB and Multigrade IV FB papers and then more recently adapted for its Galerie FB Digital fibre-base paper for use with digital laser printers (See next week's BJP for a detailed report on this). The Baryta coating sits above the fibre base of the new inkjet papers but underneath the active and protective coating layers. It prevents the emulsions soaking into the fibre base, which the manufacturer says enhances the detail of images. 'Added to this,' says Harman, 'the Baryta improves the depth and quality of printed blacks, whilst also enhancing the whiteness of the fibre base; allowing a much broader tonal range with greater detail in shadows and highlights.'
'Photographic inkjet media have traditionally been born from a paper manufacturing heritage, but we believe our products are the first inkjet media to be born from technology, science and expertise founded in traditional photographic products,' says Hopwood. 'We believe there is no real comparison available in the inkjet market today. By using the same plant, the same equipment and the same development experts for our inkjet products as we use for our traditional monochrome photographic products, we have helped to bridge the gap in quality, essence and archival properties that has existed between traditional photographic prints and inkjet prints since the dawn of digital photography.'
Harman Professional Photo Inkjet paper will be available in both gloss and matt versions, both of which come in A3, A3+ and A4 sizes, and are 300gsm. Harman adds that the matt paper is compatible with both pigment-based inks and dye-based inks, while the gloss version is only compatible with dye-based inks.
Prices and availability have not been announced yet. Visit
www.harmantechnology.com for further details."