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Ilford have been involved with B/W photography since 1879, which gives them a head start over the competition. Ilford was acquired by Oji Paper in 2005 and are now focused on the digital market by producing a wide selection of media including a consumer level range -Premium Photo, Premium Plus and Photo. The Galerie range of professional papers is for the more demanding photographer and includes; Gloss, Pearl, Smooth Gloss, Smooth Pearl, Smooth Fine Art etc. Ilford have also introduced a new media called GALERIE GOLD Fibre Silk, a 310gsm inkjet media. This media features a traditional barium sulphate (baryta) base. The baryta enhances the media surface which gives the creamy whites and velvety blacks that form part of the unique look and feel of a true fibre print;. The media also produces real high definition images with an extended tonal range, making it ideal for dramatic black and whites.
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Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl |
Ilford Galerie Gold Fibrre Silk |
Galerie Smooth Pearl paper, is a 290 g/m2 weight media. An Ilford custom profile was downloaded from www.ilford.com for use with the HP B9180 printer. Ilford has profiles for a wide range of printers for Canon, HP, Epson, Lexmark, dye and pigment.
Using Ilfords custom profile “IGSPP9_HPB9180APPamc_1206.icc” produced a warm toned print which may suit a portrait, but for my architecture sample shot it was too warm. The 290 g/m2 weight feels good in the hand and doesn’t have any curl when laid down. I also like the fact that the rear of the media is not covered with a manufacturer’s logo. The 25 sheets of media are packaged in a sturdy card box, but the design and photography on the packaging could do with a major overhaul, it is looking very dated.
The Galerie Gold Fibre Silk media doesn't have the same feel as a watercolour paper, I had expected this. However, the finish is silky smooth which in turn will produce prints with a higher degree of sharpness over watercolour papers. My test print displays a slight shift towards green in the grey tones. The blacks are excellent with tones maintained in all areas, and subtle detail has been kept in the highlights. I used the recommended profile IGGFS13_HPB9180_APpamc.icc for my printer (HPB918)) which is available from the Iford web site. I think this profile needs a bit of tweaking.
Tetenal is another company with its roots in the wet chemistry film sector. It produces a good selection of media types which include; Semi Matte, Photo Glossy, Premium Fine Art Glossy, Photo Archival Matte, Photo Fine Art Carton.
The www.tetenal.com web site doesn’t offer any custom profiles, but each media packet does include a “Recommended printer driver settings guide”. This is very basic, but does include most popular printers from HP, Canon and Epson.
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Tetenal Premium Fine Art Glossy |
For my test print I have used the HP B9180 with the Tetenal recommended settings for 290 g/m2 Premium Fine Art Glossy paper, the resulting test print displays a noticeable magenta colour cast. I used a second sheet and this time I set the printer to use “Grey inks only” The resulting print doesn’t display any colour cast, but is darker than the original image. This will require adjustments to the image files tonal range. This serves to highlight the importance of a good profile, without one you will more than likely get a colour cast.
The media gloss is good but nothing spectacular, it works well with the HP pigment inks. The media is supplied in a 20 sheet cardboard envelope pack, as with Ilford media, the rear of the paper is unmarked. The competition is tough for media manufacturers, and if Tetenal wants to position itself at a higher level, then it must set up custom profiles on its web site.
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