GO vs Spray Protection

1

I conducted a little test to see the effects of GO Vs Spray protector from Premier And Hahnemuhle. My goal is to add a little protection to my matte prints. The papers I used were Canson Infinity Rag Photographique 310 and Epson Hot Press Bright as I only print matte. Canson Infinity Arches 88 will be here soon to also test but from what I’m seeing that might not be necessary. The prints were made on an Epson 4880 using the Pro ink set. GO was applied in a single pass as is done for Glossy papers using the Pro ink set. I modified the matte curves to use GO in the LLB channel. Prints were allowed to dry 24 hours and sprayed and let dry for 24 more hours so all the inks should have settled into there respective densities.

Findings:

  1. I noticed when I used the Hahnemuhle Spray that areas like the clouds that had gradations had a if I can describe. They had a dithered look, no longer smooth gradation. This did not happen with the Premier spray.

  2. On both papers the GO provided deeper blacks than when sprayed with either of the spray protectors. Not sure if you able to see this in the attached pictures but in real life there is what I consider a significant difference. A deep black reduction almost half way back to the non HD black ink when using the spray.

  3. The arrow on the right of the prints is where I rubbed to see how they did. Both Go and Spray are about the same. I rubbed hard and could see the effect. I think the print would be protected from light touching.

  4. I also noticed that with either paper that the more deep dark areas I had the bigger the platen gap needed to be.

  • For prints with a minimum amount of big areas with deep black I use a standard platen gap. No matter the size of the paper. All paper paths work fine.
  • For prints with a medium amount of big areas with deep black I use a wide platen gap. No matter the size of the paper. I use the front manual feed.
  • For prints with a large amount of big areas with deep black I use a wider platen gap. This was a must if printing on 17 X 22 in paper. I use the front manual feed.

Conclusion:
I will now start using the GO on all my matte prints in a single pass using the modified matte curves.

You might have noticed the ends on my clamps. I used 3/4 in chair leg felt on the clamp arm heads. This allows me to put my prints on a foam board to dry overnight without leaving marks on the print margins.

Thanks
John

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