articles/Paper/paperchasepjb320-page1
by Mike McNamee Published 01/04/2017
This new paper from PermaJet has been formulated to tick all the boxes for the fine art monochrome worker. Traditionally they have been a fussy lot, so making them a paper all of their own is bound to be a challenge!
The rise of digital has all but killed off the traditional silver halide print as a common means of expression. Despite this, those in the know talk longingly about the very tangible and tactile properties of fibre-based air-dried silver halide papers of yore! Now being a hoarder I still have some of these papers and got them out to do some comparative measurements. While they are nice enough, I would not go back to them; the modern digital coating and inkjet printers outperform silver halide on all but metamerism properties. The older prints look quite grainy even from well-developed, medium-format film of modest ISO rating. They also last longer, have higher Dmax and don’t smell the house out while you make them!
This, then, is the background to PermaJet’s latest addition to their family. The key parameters are:
1. High gloss with just a hint of air-dried fibre-base texture to keep the surface interesting.
2. Moderate brightness while remaining close to neutral (despite the purists spurning OBAs, Ilford Galerie and MultiGrade Fibre Base contained them).
3. High Dmax for great shadow depth.
4. Good solid print weight and feel of the media.
We found all these boxes ticked and then some! It is the glossiest of the barytas we have seen, a deliberate choice made by PermaJet after consultation with users. It does not, however, stray into the mirror-like, plastic look that was typical of CibaChrome and so vulnerable to every mark and scratch. As a bonus the paper delivers first-rate colour as well – a good ink receptor surface is indifferent to the actual colour of the ink droplets being fired at it!
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