The best result if you are serious about quality, and want a result that is equal or better than what you are use to get with your darkroom. I say "better" in the sense of smooth gradation of tones. There is no way to have a color cast, and the tonality of a bare print (I agree with you that behind glass, things change) is better than any inkjet black and white I have seen. This isn't the case with the true black and white paper that mPix (and I assume a few other labs) use, as Dave Redmann points out. The problem with most lab out there is that is hard to get a real neutral BW print, as they are printed on a RA4 type of printer and not tune correctly I am SO SICK of clogged Epson jets! Also my printer swills ink like a drunken sailor. I suppose there are Epson solutions, as Patrick suggests, but it seems there's GOT to be a better way. Perhaps it would be possible to modify a laser printer? If so, one could expose a whole series of prints with the printer in the darkroom, and then break to go and develop them all! :-) It would be really cool if someone made a laser-based scanning digital enlarger that a mere mortal could afford, but I suspect I'm just dreaming. That leaves us free to use cheaper, MUCH less problematic dye-based inks. If light fastness doesn't matter, then pigment-based inks similarly don't matter. Has anyone tried this? The appeal of this approach is that tone neutrality doesn't matter, and neither does light fastness. Maybe we could use our printers to make large digital "negatives" and then use a contact printing process to transfer to real silver halide. IMO at least.Įxpanding on what Dave said, I'm wondering whether there's any possibility of doing digital siver halide prints at home. Or at the very least, the decision what to print on and how to print are related, and should be considered together. I say that top printers can produce excellent results, at least for some subjects and some tastes, with each that they are somewhat different but that you can't really say, for all tastes, subjects, and purposes, that any one is better than the others and that you should make up your own mind after seeing well-made examples of each.Īfter you decide on how to print, you can think about what to print on. Some people will say one or another is better. * printing your digital files with a slightly alternative process ("carbon prints" and the like). * printing your digital files to paper designed for inkjets with a pigment-based inkjet printer (such as an Epson 3880), which you can do at home or get done at a lab and * printing your digital files to real resin-coated silver halide paper (at places like Mpix and sometimes Adorama), which is cheap (e.g., $3 for an 8x10) but, with the right digital darkroom work, should be able to closely duplicate what you get with film and a wet darkroom (IMO) * printing your digital files to real fiber-based silver halide paper (at places like A&I), which is expensive (e.g., $50 for an 8x10) but, with the right digital darkroom work, should be able to closely duplicate what you get with film and a wet darkroom (IMO) They have their advantages and disadvantages, and you might like one better than another for your own personal reasons. I think you first need to look into the very different alternative ways the prints can be produced. a epson inkjet printer starting from a old 2400 to anything higher with the ABW mode (2800, 2880, 3800, 3880 etc.). i cant honestly sell those print as *neutral*. so i assume that if i can, most people can also. I unfortunately can see it because i work with color print and press approval all day long. but a slight % of it IF you look at your print under a daylight lamp / outside and IF you can see it or if you are use to see those small %. The problem with most lab out there is that is hard to get a real neutral BW print, as they are printed on a RA4 type of printer and not tune correctly (or maybe it is the limitation of those printer i should say?) you will always more than never have a slight color cast of violet / bluish tint over your print. But if you are printing them to sell them, better use the best paper all around so it is exactly the same thing the buyer get frame or not of course. epson fiber exhibition is a excellent looking paper but i would use it if i sell a print unframed / unmounted only as it give some richness in the hand of the buyer, but don't bring much visually behind a glass vs a *cheaper* (talking about price) paper. you cant see if the paper worth 1$ or 8$. Agree with Peter, smooth pearl or epson luster are both excellent and not expensive paper, yet very pro looking.
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