Paper Chase - Innova Digital Fine Art Paper

The art series are, in the main, heavier in weight and more textured than the FibaPrint range and are more suited to the reproduction of art work or perhaps more artistic interpretations of digital art, derived from programs such as Corel Painter. For these papers, more than others, the user needs to have the paper to hand to get a true feel of its properties – descriptions and photographs of the surface are not really adequate (so go and take a look on the stand at Focus!).

Smooth Cotton High White
With an addition of OBAs, this is a very white, 100% cotton rag media of archival quality (ie acid- and lignin-free). It has a smooth surface that is a little towards cream, although only by a point or so. We built a bespoke profile using an Epson 3800 and Matte Black ink. We chose Archival Matte Paper as our media setting and 2880dpi as our resolution.

The audit delivered an average error of 7.7ΔE Lab/3.65ΔE 2000. The flesh tones were a little desaturated but very accurate in the middle of the range with the Macbeth Light Flesh swatch registering just 1.6 ΔE Lab. The blues were the weakest of the primary colours and the remarks made about landscape tones under the White Matte (above) apply equally here. Metamerism was 1.3 ΔE Lab (D65 to Tungsten at 50% grey) and the gamut volume was 512, 900. The shadows clogged at 25 RGB points and the Dmax measured 1.5. As with FibaPrint White Matte, there was a certain amount of speckling in the deeper tones of the Granger Chart, extending this time across both the greens and blues. The Granger Chart was otherwise smooth and problem free.

Smooth Cotton Natural White
This media is presumed to be the same as the Smooth Cotton High White with the OBAs left out. The difference is subtle in artificial light, very obvious in UV light and just discernable in D65 light. Purists will prefer the 'natural' product and will sacrifice little in brightness. The base tone is about 3 points towards cream. After making prints it was possible to detect the increased warmth in the prints when placed alongside the High White prints. The audit statistics, however, were almost identical, the variations being only around tenths of a point.

Soft Textured Natural White
This media has a faint texture and is made from archival-grade, acid- and lignin-free base materials. It is also OBA free. It might be chosen if you wished to get away from the smooth calendered finish of the ‘smooth’ media in the range. However, the soft finish does allow quite a lot of ink spreading and detail destruction, such as you would find with a true watercolour paper. It is therefore much more suited to the type of application where a softening of detail and addition of ‘character’ is considered desirable – eg watercolour and the more artistic interpretations of images. The colour audit data are a little better than those for Smooth Cotton Natural White and Smooth Cotton High White, but only by tiny amounts.

Cold Pressed Rough Textured
This is an OBA-free, natural white surface that is cold pressed for a characteristic random surface texture. It is archival quality. The undulating nature of the surface gives rise to a slightly mottled appearance in large blocks of solid colour and gradients. On the correct image this would be considered to add character, but perhaps not so on other images. The colour audit data was similar to the media’s companions in the range. The flesh tones were very accurate. There was none of the ink bleeding found in the soft papers so no additional character would be added to a reproduction water colour, which some might find preferable.

Soft White Cotton
This is an archival-quality media made from mixed cotton linters and (presumably) alpha cellulose. It is natural white and OBAfree. The surface texture is slightly undulating, in between Cold Press Rough Textured and Smooth Cotton. The remarks about bleeding, made for Soft Textured Natural White apply here also, although they are even more pronounced. The colour audit data were the same as the others in the range. This then is a media for more artistic interpretations of watercolours and artistic renderings of photographic images.

Summary

COSTS and AVAILABILITY
The costs of the Innova range are shown in the graph below. They are very attractive, being slighty more cost-compeitive than average for the baryta type medias from all sources. The RRPs are given, calculated on a per A3 sheet basis, purchased in boxes of 50 sheets. They are available in A4 through to A2 cut sheet sizes, along with rolls in 16", 17", 24", 36", 44" and 60" widths.

OVERALL
This is a comprehensive range of media covering all possible requirements. As might be expected from the company credited with reintroducing baryta-like papers, the FibaPrint range includes the best-in-class at the time of testing. The FibaPrint range is recommended without any caveats. Before choosing to buy any larger quantities of the Art Range you would be well advised to get hold of a sample pack and print some trials, they are so characteristic that they may not be suitable for your projects.

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Photo Quote: To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event. - Henri Cartier-Bresson