Paper Chase - Fotospeed Product

Fotospeed provide a number of specialist products for the silver halide and inkjet imaging markets. We look in this Paper Chase at their tough canvases and their “Extended Gamut” fine art papers.

The Canvases

There are two canvases in the FT range. They are formulated to be tough so they can withstand the rigours of being stretcher mounted by conventional framing methods – this can crack the surface of weaker materials. The actual weave structure for both products is the same, an Oxford twill, that is with twin warp fibres if slightly smaller diameter than the weft which is a weaker and softer strand. It is a relatively soft canvas and cuts easily with a scalpel. There are two coating options a Matt and a Matt Lustre both at 360gsm. The matt finish is enhanced slightly with an optical brightener, causing a lift of about 6% at 440nm. Both finishes are on the cream side of neutral and their position on the Lab plot is compared, in the graph, with other canvases we have reviewed. The picture on the next page shows the surface finish. Paper Chase

Both media were bespoke profiled, then colour audited. The summary data are tabled,below right. Both materials are slightly behind others we have tested (the price of toughness perhaps?). The Matt finish has the lowest Dmax we have measured. All the colour data will be improved by the application of a varnish. The Lustre Matt image was ruined by the application of the aqueous, DCP Giclée varnish; the Matt was reasonably water resistant and a single coat raised its Dmax to 1.27. Both materials are better suited to the solventbased Frog Juice available from Fotospeed. We also applied a test coat of Bohle Satin Varnish to the Matt Lustre. This lifted the Dmax up to 1.68, quite a significant improvement.

Both surfaces were undamaged by tight stretching over a sharp edge and seem to live up to their tough image. The preferred method of working would thus seem to be conventional stretcher mounting followed by a coat or two of Frog Juice, to both protect the surface and improve the depth of the colour.

Paper Chase The EG – Extended Gamut Series

These papers are billed as having an alpha cellulose ink-receiving layer which extends the gamut. They are made by the Fourdrinier process for competitive pricing, whilst maintaining the acid-free, 100% cotton rag “museum grade” tag for the fine art fraternity. They are all greater than the 250gsm demanded by the Fine Art Trade Guild. The High White Smooth and DW Photo contain optical brighteners, which might disqualify them for some fine art printers.

The surfaces are shown in glancing light in the macro image. As with all papers it pays to obtain a swatch set or sample pack before deciding on a preference. The DW Photo is the smoothest, followed by the High White Smooth. The Natural Textured has a distinctive pattern quite like a mould-made paper. The two “Natural” papers are pleasantly creamy, the other two are progressively cooler – see the graph plot. Paper Chase

Colour Performance and gamut Each of the papers was bespoke profiled using the X-Rite DTP 41 and the latest version of Monaco Profiler (4.7.1) with the profile being built to map the greys to the base colour of the paper, at D50 lighting conditions. These data are tabled above. Our software allows us to calculate the actual gamut volume for each paper/ink combination (Epson 4000 using Matte Black Ink). For comparison we include data from Hahnemühle photo rag, an industry standard, available in a number of guises. There is nothing in the data to suggest an “extended gamut”. The average for 18 art paper combinations recently tested had a gamut volume of 515,000 Lab units. Despite this bitch about the advertising hype these papers are excellent, it is just a problem to see where the gamut is extended (see 2-D graph).

The colour error data are also tabled below. They show the characteristics of papers in each of their classes. The “naturals” are really good on flesh tones with their warm cream under layer; the DW photo has the lowest metamerism making it a good candidate for monochrome reproduction. The average values for the Macbeth colours are on or below the average for the hundreds of printers we have tested – we quite rarely see values below 3.0 for De2000.

The Dmax, the maximum black printed are between 1.53 and 1.57 – typical for high-quality matte and art papers. All the papers blocked out below 25RGB points – typical for profile build with our equipment. The High White Smooth held on to just a little more highlight detail above the 245 RGB mark. This was confirmed by the grey linearity plot but the difference would barely show in magazine reproduction.

While there is nothing to mark these papers from others in their class; they will stand comfortably alongside the best that is around. You may safely choose on cost and your own like or dislike of the surface – we preferred the natural textured for it sumptuous creamy feels and “big” texture.

Paper Chase

FOTOSPEED - COMPANY PROFILE

Since the company first started trading we have supported the darkroom worker in the quest for printing perfection. Our range includes high-quality chemicals to produce good-quality prints and these are supplemented with a range of toners for post production toning and tinting techniques. Fotospeed is committed to the darkroom worker and will continue to do so as long as there is a requirement.

As the digital age developed and more and more photographers have moved in that direction, Fotospeed has endeavoured to provide the complete printing solution. In that respect we now have a wide range of high quality art papers in the Extended Gamut (EG) range which are designed to overcome the limited gamut capabilities of pigment inks. This range of papers is supplemented with other papers that are particularly suited to pigment inks, the preferred choice of many professional as well as amateur photographers. In particular, is our recently introduced Ft Canvas available in lustre or matt finish, which is stretch- and crack-proof, ideally suited to use on stretcher frames. This is proving to be a popular product with all who try it. Additionally, Fotospeed is the prime Hahnemuhle distributor to the photographic market in the UK.

As well as providing a wide range of high quality papers, we can provide bulk inkflow systems for a range of Canon and Epson printers, including wide format, which will save photographers a large amount of money whilst providing a high quality ink.

One of the main difficulties of inkjet printing is the ability to reproduce on printers what is seen on screen. The only viable solution is colour management and Fotospeed can provide the colour management service the photographer needs by providing bespoke printer/paper/ink profiles. This personal service is provided free of charge for all photographers who 51 are using Fotospeed papers. For all other options a small charge is made, but this still represents value for money in that accurate colour on a consistent basis is the end result.

Fotospeed is always on the lookout for new products of interest to photographers. A recent addition to our range is a selfadhesive matt paper. This new product has a smooth, flat matt surface with a peelable backing that is removed once printed on making the product suitable for a number of applications.

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