We very much feel like food critics if we write about papers. Selecting papers is so subjective and the internet cannot show really their qualities.
In September/October 2007 we had the chance to get early or even very early samples of a new generation on fiber based fine art papers which all try to emulate the classic air dried silver papers. We have for each paper a dedicated page where we share our personal findings. This page tries to compare some of these paper's properties. The papers are all very good (and also expensive). In the end it comes down to personal choices.
All prints were made on the same Epson 3800 printer with Photo Black. Profiles were either custom made by us or the manufacturers (Epson and Ilford, we did not even have enough paper to create profiles for these papers).
The Papers
The Surfaces
- Harman: Nice soft gloss with very little texture
- Ilford: maybe a touch more like a satin paper but nice too
- Hahnemuehle: Surface looks more like satin, quite nice actually
- Epson: close to the Harman
We can live with all of these surfaces. Maybe the Hahnemuehle is not that delicate in handling.
The Detail
- Harman: Shows excellent detail
- Ilford: slightly if at all softer than the Harman paper
- Hahnemuehle: Shows less detail, can also be a result of the satin like surface
- Epson: about like Harman and Ilford
The differences are likely quite academic and can be equalized by more or less final sharpening. We actually don't want prints to look too sharp because it gives this infamous digital look.
Brightness and OBAs
We measured the spectral properties of each paper with BabelColor and also checked them out visually.
The Ilford paper is very white with likely a low level of brighteners (lets call it natural bright white). But(!) it looks quite a bit warmer than the other papers because all the three other papers are exhibiting quite a bit of OBAs. Here is our ranking (visual comparison):
- Ilford: Natural bright white
- Harman: quite a bit brighter than Ilford
- Epson: touch brighter than Harman
- Hahnemuehle: again a touch brighter than Epson
Conclusions
These a great new papers. We now wait for papers with the same quality at a more affordable price :-).
- Harman: We love this paper, could have lower levels of OBA
- Ilford: The natural white is a big plus
- Hahnemuehle: We like the robust surface but would like to see lower OBA levels
- Epson: Nice thick paper but also strong OBAs
This is a first look. We will learn more about all these papers over the next months.
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