When that HP Pro Satin first came out I used it for an exhibition of 40x60 color work and several large black and white works. It was so easy to work with, inexpensive, thick, it didn’t curl, beautiful natural looking texture,and the image quality all around was superb. I had people calling me asking what that beautiful media was I was using. People thought it was a new kind of high end cotton fine art media with a terrific texture.
I knew it had some oba and the price point was a fraction of the cotton papers I was using so I didn’t charge premium prices for the prints. Wilhelm's tests with the hp Vivera inks was like 200 years at 450 lux. I thought I had found the ultimate low cost high-end media.
I was, along with Ernst and others, horrified when I saw the results of Mark McCormicks fade test results
on Aardenburg Imaging website. It turned out to be one of the worst performing papers he had tested. It was loaded with extremely poor performing dye brighteners. Whites were turning gray in no time In these tests.
This was the last straw with my belief in Wilhelm’s data. It was like white values and paper base didn’t even come into consideration. I switched to Canson Photo Satin Premium for my lower cost work. The prints look great. I like the minimal texture much better than say Epson Premium Luster and the fade rate is about the same as the Epson.
As to Platine, I have never had noticeable bronzing or gloss differential with HPVivera or Canon Lucia pigments.
However with the Canon black and white prints I usually spray them with Premiere Art, though almost all of my gloss monochrome is on a Z printer with Vivera inks. Vivera is a gloss enhancer that actually works. I also think the texture is perfect in my opinion. If I add a very light coat of Premiere Art spray people can’t tell it from gelatin silver. It’s great for portfolios where the print is held in your hand. I also like Hahnemuehle Photorag Pearl a lot for larger prints.
Still waiting for an rc media with good whiteness and no oba. But that may never happen.
John
I still use the HP Premium Instant Dry Satin and Gloss 260 gr/m² papers which are a bit heavier than the Everyday versions. However the coating etc is much alike.
The Pro Satin has more OBA at the print side compared to the Everyday and Premium. Which may be responsible for the paper white shifting.
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst
www.pigment-print.com/SpectralPlots/SpectrumViz_1.htm
March 2017 update, 750+ inkjet media white spectral plots
