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The Great Paper Chase - The St Cuthbert'sMill Paper Range - part 4 of 1 2 3 4

by Mike McNamee Published 02/02/2015

Enhanced Radiant White 255gsm
Although this has the full texture of Velvet 225, the surface coating is much better at holding detail. The subjective impression is one of great clarity of tone, the yellows, forexample, are cleaner - the Macbeth yellow patch delivered azero error on lightness and good values on the other metrics.

Comparing the Lab plots shows the Enhanced Radiant White 255 and Enhanced Velvet Textured 225 are similar except that the saturation of the Textured paper is lower. This is confirmed by the chroma errors which indicate -1.67 ΔC/w for Enhanced Radiant White and -2.17 ΔC/w for Textured media. The ΔC/w metric is a measure of chroma error weighted for human perception.

This media would be a good all-rounder for fine art photography and the reproduction of fine art.

Somerset Photo Satin 300gsm
In our view this was the nicest of the papers reviewed here. The smooth finish retained detail well and delivered a gamut in excess of 640,000. The Dmax was the highest of the group at 1.57 units which is up with the best of peer groups we have measured. Overall this was a good clean test target and the weight of the paper would also make it suitable for limited edition printing.

Bockingford Inkjet 190gsm
This paper stands alone in its peer group in that there is an absence of OBA activity in the UV booth and the Fluorescence value measured zero. The media is a bit light for some applications although its base material is stiffe than the rag-based media.

During printing the media was unusual in that the ink was glistening on the surface of deep shadowed areas and took a couple of minutes to dry. After drying the shadows revealed detail down to 10 RGB points which is unusual. There was a moderate amount of edge bleed but the media could be used for direct digital art or the reproduction of watercolour art.

OVERALL
Providing that you stay within the capabilities of these media they will get the job done for you. The constraints are that for the art surfaces they are suited best to softer, more pastel tones and those cases where detailed rendering is not paramount. It is probable best to steer clear of monochrome subject which rely on deep, rich blacks and exquisite detail for their charms. Alongside all of this there is the ever-present advantage of the old, very English name.

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1st Published 02/02/2015
last update 09/12/2022 14:59:20

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