New paper from Arista ?

[Fred L]

Got an email from Freestyle's Eric Joseph about Kodak etc.. What caught my eye and I'm extremely interested in was the announcement of a new paper, Arista® Silver Artist Series.

Now this in itself is good news but the fact that it's made in France really has me curious. My fav paper, the old graded Brilliant, was made in France so if there's ANY connection to Guillemot, I'd be happy beyond belief. Chances are probably not but Id love to see samples or hear of user experiences with this paper. For the time being it's VC but hopefully graded is in the cards.

Lastly, Freestyle will be offering cheaper international shipping as well. Finally

[Randy]

I am really curious about the "Gray Matte" paper. Is this something new? I have never heard of such a thing.

[vinny]

from freestyle's site "recommended to wash no more than 20 minutes"
What the?
How's that work if you want to get all the fixer out, especially if bleaching/toning as well? Sometimes I have prints in water overnight.

[Roger Thoms]

Yes I was also curious about the grey, but not enough to order any, did order a box each of 8x10 & 11x14 in white. I've always liked BFK Rives so thought it would be fun to try.

Roger

[Keith Fleming]

My reading of the Freestyle email was that only the paper was made in France, and not the light-sensitive emulsion that coats the paper. And, yes, I too miss the old Zone VI Brilliant paper made in France.

Keith

[Michael Alpert]

BFK has been made in a grey color for many years. It's a printmaking paper, for etching or hand lithography, not a photographic paper. Putting an emulsion on it might be very nice, but handling the paper would be quite different from handling firmer photographic paper. I haven't used it for many years, but in the old days I had no trouble soaking 15"x22" half-sheets of BFK before printing etchings. So I know it can withstand some washing if treated carefully.

[Oren Grad]

from freestyle's site "recommended to wash no more than 20 minutes"
What the?
How's that work if you want to get all the fixer out, especially if bleaching/toning as well? Sometimes I have prints in water overnight.

Use the Ilford fix/wash sequence. Yes, you'll need to reengineer your workflow.

Anyway, this is reminiscent of MG Art 300. It wouldn't be a great surprise if it's being coated by Harman.