State of Inkjet Faux Cibachrome

[deanwork]

Does anyone know what the state of perfection is currently in regard to ultra high gloss pigment inkjet gloss prints, via the new Canon printers ( or Hp Z) ?

I love the zero bronzing of the Harmon Baryta with the 8300, but it is a long way from ciba brilliance, for what that is worth.

Is Pictorico High Gloss ( Mitsubishi ) still where it is a present? And, how is the surface appearance with the Lucia pigments? Or the Vivera pigments as far as that goes. I have both. Is it worth testing?

Any links would be appreciated.

John

[Gemmtech]

Pigment inks can't match the dye inks for gloss and that's why I still keep a 1280 running.

[Deepsouth]

Does anyone know what the state of perfection is currently in regard to ultra high gloss pigment inkjet gloss prints, via the new Canon printers ( or Hp Z) ?

I love the zero bronzing of the Harmon Baryta with the 8300, but it is a long way from ciba brilliance, for what that is worth.

Is Pictorico High Gloss ( Mitsubishi ) still where it is a present? And, how is the surface appearance with the Lucia pigments? Or the Vivera pigments as far as that goes. I have both. Is it worth testing?

Any links would be appreciated.

John

I have used Pictorico for years in both Canon dye and pigment prints with excellent results. If I have a high-key, very detailed, high-res photo, it's my first choice. I have also used Harmon Bartya when I want less gloss. I encourage you to custom profile the Pictorico. Last time I checked they offered few profiles. I got a custom profile and it worked even better. The Harmon profiles seem to work fine in my Canon 9500. Pictorico also has some interesting art paper; I encourage you to try a sample pack.

I can't make a direct comparison between Ciba and inkjet, since I have no Ciba around to compare. I am wary of making direct comparisons between silver-based photo prints and  high-end inkjet prints. I will say that, in gloss and feel, the Harmon Bartya is very close to the old good quality RC paper for the silver-based processes.

[Wayne Fox]

Closest thing to Ciba I think is Fujiflex (extremely glossy and smooth), with Fuji Pearl and Kodak Metallic pretty close (both very glossy but have a very subtle orange peel.  You don't realize it until you compare it to the absolute glass like surface of fujiflex). Of course those are all RA-4, not inkjet which you asked about.  Pictorico looks pretty good, until you compare it side by side to a ciba or fujiflex print, then you realize just how far away it is.

Dye Inkjet can certainly get closer to the look, but  not many good large options to print that.  The only other thing to try is some finishing techniques (face mounting to glass) with the inkjet, if done well (hard to do), it gets much closer to the high gloss of ciba.