articles/Paper/inovathreecanvas-page2
by Mike McNamee Published
The gamut volume measured at 875,754 after we had tweaked the profile (it was 853,398 before) and we show a comparative graph with our data from our canvas tests of 2004/2005. Some of the improvement, of course, is due to the improved ink set in the Epson 4800 but even so Ultra Glossy Canvas stands way above the crowd.
The media also performed well using ABW on the Epson 4800. We chose a 'Light' setting for the tone, which, on reviewing the print, might have been better with 'Normal'. However, we created a clean neutral print, which fully exploited the Dmax of 2.4 and a metamerism of just 1.7 (ΔE Lab D65 to Tungsten A at 50% grey).
Ultra Glossy is billed as 'water resistant'. Although we do not have a scientific test for this feature, we were unable to smudge the print with a wet finger (and we did rub quite hard). The coating is very fast drying. We checked the 'drydown' time but saw no significant changes (<0.1 ΔE Lab) after the first two minutes. The surface is also very scratch resistant and was unmarked by dragging fingernails across it. Claims have been made for improved cracking resistance during stretch mounting. We were unable to crack the coating by tugging on it, but did crack it by folding it right back on itself (in the way you might if you were mitreing a corner).
Overall then this media is now crowned as the king of the gloss canvasses, nothing we have tested to date gets even close in almost all of our measurements. It is a significant milestone in media development which will be welcomed by all canvas users and will also create a few converts to the cause!
Fine Art Matte Canvas 340gsm
This is the second of the new media. The backing canvas appears to be the same as the Ultra Gloss, a polycotton, Oxford Twill with the same diameter warp and weft threads. The surface coating is radically different and is a natural cream colour. It is also quite absorbent with a high ink spread, running to between 0.3mm and 0.4mm alongside black-to-solid-colour interfaces. The media does not hold detail well (as found with the 'soft art papers' reviewed in this feature). This makes Fine Art Matte more suited to artistic interpretations and the reproduction of paintings but not well-suited to photographic work, in which detail is important.
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