Recently I converted my Epson 4800 from using Matte Black ink to Photo Black ink for the sole purpose of being able to try some of the new Baryta papers on the market. OK, not so new by now – they have been emerging the past couple of years. But I was sitting on the fence for the longest time because changing inks is such an expensive endeavor for my printer – about $45 per swap – as well as time consuming with levers changing up and down, cartridges in and out – just ridiculous. After receiving some prints from other photographers on this type of paper, I couldn’t sit on that fence any longer and converted my printer over to Photo Black.
Profile Comparison
Although there is certainly enough data on the internet about the improved gamut, dense blacks, and larger gamuts possible with these papers, I wanted to compare the old profile I made for Hahnemuhle’s Fine Art Satin paper, with a new profile I made on Hahnemuhle’s Photo Rag Baryta. Apple’s ColorSync utility allows you to compare profiles quite easily with graphical color plots, and I believe a similar one exists now on Windows systems. The plot here shows the 1728 patch profile I created for the Fine Art Satin paper as the colored section, and the extra gamut I get from the Photo Rag Baryta in the white grid areas.
I am not much of a color technoguru, but it doesn’t take much to see my prints will show a greater range of colors with the new profile and paper. In comparison to some other matte profiles, the one I was using for my Satin paper was actually pretty darn good – just the Baryta is better. Another noticeable change is in my soft proofing. Before I print anything, I will use Photoshop’s Soft Proofing tools to view the image through the intended printer/paper profile. Quite often with matte papers, I needed to readjust contrast and saturation to get the image to look like the original again. When soft proofing with the Baryta profile, there is actually very little change to the image on the monitor – so less tweaking.
After now making more than 50 prints so far on Baryta paper, I am quite satisfied with my decision. Some of the images actually take on a depth to them I had not seen before. With Baryta being a fiber based paper, it does not have the plastic feel that many luster and gloss papers can have. As with matte papers, I always enjoyed the in-hand feel to a print, and Baryta takes care of that aspect quite well. Overall I am a happy camper.
Read MoreYes, of course, the apologetic blogger post about not keeping up – seems we all have a few of them around eh? I have been terribly busy with some new work on the photography front, was out of town for a few days photographing wolves, and now back into some client work.
Presets Heaven
So it is a short post – I am still around. As a token of appreciation for your visit and so this isn’t totally a lame waste of your time coming here…I am going to share this gem of a site for you Lightroom users…. It is called PresetsHeaven – but I also refer to it as Presets GOLDMINE! If you don’t use Lightroom, well – take it as a tip from me and try the Trial Version. Enjoy, and don’t blame me for the hours you are going to lose from visiting this link:
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http://t.co/1xjuh7fT - posted on 22 hours ago
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