Help - which prints from WCI?

[Don Hutton]

I am going to have West Coast Imaging do some color exhibition prints for me. They offer a variety of different substrates - any recommendations?

[Eric Leppanen]

If you are going to use the Chromira, my preference would be the Fuji Super Gloss. It has excellent dmax and color saturation, and looks quite dramatic for color landscape shots. Some folks apparently feel it looks a bit plasticky (sic), but I don't get that sensation, particularly when mounted behind glass.

The wild card in my mind, though, is the new K3 inkjet papers (Museo Photo Rag, Hahnemuhle Pearl, and Innova F-Type Gloss). If the inkjet papers can achieve comparable highlight brilliance and dmax as the Fuji Super Gloss, then I would go that way in a heartbeat as inkjet prints appear sharper to the eye. I personally don't mind the use of optical brighteners, and am particularly interested in the Hahnemuhle Pearl, which seems to be a nice combination of texture, brightness and dmax. However, when I last spoke to WCI a couple weeks ago, they said that Hahnemuhle Pearl was on backorder and they had not yet been able to get some for testing.

Maybe WCI can get you some small print samples (as they occasionally have done in the past when new papers came out) for comparison?

[Brian Vuillemenot]

I've always gotten Chromira prints on Fuji crystal archive glossy paper and been very pleased with them. WCI will send you some samples of the different paper/printer combinations for free if you request them. That should help in making your decision.

[Don Hutton]

Thanks - I hadn't actually contacted them yet, so I will ask about samples before sending this lot off. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Doug Dolde]

IF you are going to dry mount Fuji Super Gloss is VERY difficult to mount and shows any imperfections glaringly.

[Don Hutton]

IF you are going to dry mount Fuji Super Gloss is VERY difficult to mount and shows any imperfections glaringly.

Drymounting is what I had in mind - how do people get around this ?

[roteague]

I am going to have West Coast Imaging do some color exhibition prints for me. They offer a variety of different substrates - any recommendations?

I've used WCI for several years now, and always found them a pleasure to work with. If you have any specific questions about them, feel free to ask. As for paper, I've only printed on the standard Fuji Crystal Archive glossy paper, not the super gloss. I tried an inkjet once, as a trial, and found they didn't measure up to the Crystal Archive IMO.

[Brian Vuillemenot]

For what it's worth, I've had their Chromira prints on Fuji Crystal archive dry mounted and had no problems.

[Eric James]

Samples are available for the asking:

http://www.westcoastimaging.com/wci/...s/samples.html

I've only used the Chromira/Fuji Crystal Archive service but I'm anxious to see some of my photos on the Super Gloss. I have inkjet phobia - maybe the current technology will stand the test of time, but maybe not.

WCI is a first-rate company.

[chris_4622]

Don,

Hance Partners offers scanning and lightjet printing on Ilfochrome paper if your so inclined.

chris