about photographic paper

[henriqs]

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Does anyone know where could I learn about type of existing photographic paper in the market. Is there any book about it or in the internet maybe.

 

Thanks and regards,

Alexandre

[christer]

There are two types of paper: baryt and RC (resin coated). The latter is much easier to handle for an amateur, but some people say it feels and looks cheap. You have to decide for yourself. Let a professional lab make two prints for you of the same negative, one baryt and one RC. Then decide yourself what you prefer considering the differences in price and the handling.

 

There are several brands of paper. Just with like cars or women, some like them one way, some like them the other. You decide.

 

Then each brand has different surfaces and paper tones.

 

And don't forget that the developer you use will have an effect too.

 

The only valid recommendation I can give if you are new to this is to get a paper (and a developer) that is readily available and that you think will be available in a few years time. (That's what I did when I selected Kodak Polymax paper 15 years ago - only to find that Kodak stopped making b+w paper some 5 years ago.)

[Xmas]

Hi

 

If we are talking about silver gelatine prints.

 

Then it is a lot simpler to use a multi grade paper, which has (effectively) two emulsion layers, one blue sensitive one more colour sensitive, one low contrast the other high contrast, you can control the contrast in small steps, by varying the light colour.

 

The multi grade reduces your paper storage/investment.

 

One can (could) get emulsions which give neutral black (grey) style or warmer emulsions which give a brown (deep serpia?) style black

 

You can vary the tone of the second type a more or less bit by loading a suitable developer with KBr, and increasing exposure, (note - it is a long time since I did this).

 

Or you can print on a neutral paper and serpia tone as a post treatment. the serpia makes the Ag gelatine more archival, a century if you are lucky.

 

But the big snag with Ag gelatine is enlarging needs burning in and dodging during exposure and retouching, after the final bath.

 

Compared with photoshop it is like the model T Ford is to a Ferrarri Dino. But the end results are really good.

 

Noel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic_paper

[henriqs]

Thank you both for the support. Xmas, thanks also for the link in wikipedia. There are some references to go further in this subject there.

 

In fact, I would like to go deeper in this subejct, that's why I am searching in the internet to find more referenteces and books to read more about it. I would like to know and understand about all types of papers that are used nowadays, like:

- metalic paper;

- fibre paper;

- resin coated papers;

- contrast control paper;

- others ...

 

I remember once that I saw a pink paper for a black and white (pink, obviously) picture. I have never ever seen again this type of paper. Where could I find it? Where could I learn more?

 

What do people use for fine art photography?

 

Thanks and regards,

Alexandre

[tgray]

Some papers you might have seen in the past might not be made anymore.

 

The metallic paper I know of is Kodak Endura Metallic. It's an RA-4 paper, which is a color process. You can print B&W pictures on it, but it is handled and exposed like color paper.

 

B&W paper comes in two types, fiber and RC. RC is quicker to process and wash and MUCH easier to dry. The RC 'paper' is what is used in most color photos from the 1 hour photo lab. Most fine art prints are/were done on fiber. It looks more like traditional paper.

 

Both RC and fiber come in variable contrast or graded. Graded has one contrast available. Variable contrast (VC) paper lets you use filters to adjust the contrast of the paper.

 

Most brands of paper are slightly different. They are offered in different finishes (matte, semi-matte, pearl, glossy, etc.). You can also get some with warm tone emulsions, which are slightly warmer in color.

 

This of course totally ignores ink jet papers...

[henriqs]

Last week I discovered that there is a photograph gallery in the city I live, just one gallery. During my search troughout the internet looking for information about passepartout and types of photograph papers I found the name of a great curator. Her name brought me to this gallery. She is the one in charge of the exposition taking place there.

 

Yesterday I went to this gallery and luckly I met the owner. One of the greatest brazilian photographer. He showed me some of his pictures and allowed me to go around in the backstage. He was very sympathic and explained me a lot about papers used nowadays, calibration of monitor, paint, 5000k lamps, and many others stuffs.

 

They are using hahnemüehle and canson papers. I became impressed with the quality of the printing of a HP Designjet. I saw it working and the colors looked like much better than the traditional photographic paper. For me it was outstanding !

 

Now the problem is to choose the paper according to the pictures I will print, but this is another challenge I will have. I am going to read about the especifications of the papers of this two marks to understand the relation between paper, subject and intended results.

 

Thanks and best regards,

Alexandre

[Xmas]

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Hi Alexandre

 

Another process...

 

Bromoil Process - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic_print_toning

 

Noel

[Jeff S]

They are using hahnemüehle and canson papers. I became impressed with the quality of the printing of a HP Designjet. I saw it working and the colors looked like much better than the traditional photographic paper.

 

Be sure to check the Digital Post Processing Section of the forum. There are dozens of threads discussing papers for ink jet printers. And, try the search function (top box at right) and try entering phrases like "favorite paper" or "best papers" to bring up relevant threads.

 

Many here, like myself, use Hahnemuhle Photo Rag papers (Baryta or Pearl, for instance) on the latest Epson printers (3800 or 3880), with great results (especially b&w). I had my own darkroom for 20+ years and I'm finally getting digital prints that don't make me miss my wonderful fibre based silver prints so much.

 

A favorite paper for color work is Ilford Gold Fibre Silk. But, new papers are coming out all the time now...a good thing for us. Most paper companies will sell sampler boxes of their papers to experiment. And the websites for these companies (Ilford, Hahnemuhle, etc) are good sources of info, as are the websites for companies that sell various paper brands (Atlex, Shades of Paper, B&H, etc.)

 

To get the best results, however, one needs to learn about drivers, profiles, color management and such.

 

For the really adventuresome b&w enthusiasts, there are also 3rd party companies like Cone that sell black ink sets (7 shades of black) to replace the Epson 3 shades of black. That will get you even closer to the silver print experience. They now also have color inks.

 

Jeff