articles/Paper/fujibarytecanvas-page3
by Mike McNamee Published 01/02/2007
Coating
As with all previous tests, the Dmax, gamut and print 'vibrancy' were improved with a couple of coats of DCP Giclee varnish. The print was warmed from its cool white to spectrally neutral (within 0.6 Lab points) and much of the lift produced by the OBAs had been lopped off. The error on the skin tone was reduced threefold by the coating. The overall error across the Macbeth Chart was reduced from 5.83 to 3.26 ΔE2000 by coating. This begs the question about using a 'bright' media and then eliminating the effect by using a varnish. You can pay your money and take your choice. You can have high Dmax and vibrancy or a brighter base.
At one stage we were conned into thinking that HD stood for high definition and embarked on a chase to test if this were so. In terms of detail retention we found the Artist Canvas to be slightly better. The macro shot of the two surfaces shows up the different morphologies which are a reflection of the underlying weave structure.
The coarser, single weft, runs left to right and the twin warp threads run top to bottom. The gaps are more heavily filled in the Artist Canvas' coating. In practical terms this means that when detail corresponds to a whole thread, (eg the eye of a person in a group shot), it can be quite distorted. In a real print this means that a head about 15mm tall in a print could have 'sunken' eyes. In our tests our model had whites in her eyes on the Artist Canvas but none on the HD. To some extent this is a comment on the suitability of canvas for group shots in which the figures are small - canvas does not do detail!
There are 24 days to get ready for The Society of Photographers Convention and Trade Show at The Novotel London West, Hammersmith ...
which starts on Wednesday 15th January 2025