OBA or FWA good or bad? UV-cut or not?

[Paul Verizzo]

Yes, OBA's skew color perceptions with different lights. But are these "skews" outside of the auto-correction of the human eye? I doubt it.

Like Fuji's Velvia that catered to the human brain by using increased saturation, OBA's do the same. We just sorta automatically love that very white paper.

Whatever the downsides are, theoretical or practical, pale compared to having that psychologically beautiful print. Kinda like breast implants......... So what?

 

[Smile]

Like I said in other thread don't forget the acid in the paper is as much important as the OBA's.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Actually, Smile, very rarely.

The only papers where inherent paper pH would play a role are ones not PE/resin coated. Yes, there are a lot of "art" papers out there, but I would like to believe that the Inkjet Press, Hannemuhls, Red Rivers have vetted the basic paper stocks.

Non PE coated papers, just to avoid confusion, the paper trade calls "coated," meaning clay and other materials impressed into the surface to give sharper images. Nothing to do with resin coating.

I have original silver halide on baryta prints over 100 years old. Hundreds of them. No one then concerned themselves with "archival" or paper acidity. Yet, here they are, just fine. The only situation where a paper obviously fell apart due to pH was the mounting, not the photo!

When RC papers came out in the 1970's every argument against them was made, mostly ignoring facts. The anti-RC papers made comments like "the image was hazier because it had to go through the polyethylene coating. Hello, the image is on top of the RC, that's HOW THE FLIPPING DEVELOPER, FIXER ETC gets to the silver halide!

All color chemistry prints are on RC papers. There has never, ever, been one shred of evidence that RC papers are inferior in any way, including life span. Polyethylene is forever. Museums and galleries that insist - sniff! - on traditional baryta for B&W have NO issue with color images printed on RC papers!

RC papers, which include the majority of inkjet photo papers, are just fine. For everyone, forever. In the wet darkroom, they have saved billions of gallons of rinse water.

 

[Roy Sletcher]

Like I said in other thread don't forget the acid in the paper is as much important as the OBA's.

The pH content has become less of an issue over the past 20 years or so. Concerns about pollution, recycling and recyclable, plus the need to appear GREEN for marketing purposes have led the market to mainly acid free papers for most commodity grades.

RS

 

[Paul Verizzo]

@Roy, I've suspected just what you say, but without actual proof or reading about it. I come across old bond and note paper because I live in The Verizzo Family Ancestral Estate, as I jokingly call this house of 55 years. And not one piece even very cheap paper is yellowed or falling apart.