What photo paper grade means?

[JayY]

Wish to understand and read more on photo paper grade means? Like grade 3 or grade 4 paper and effect on printing process.. Thanks.

[koraks]

You might have to elaborate a bit more what you mean/want to achieve. Based on what you've offered so far I couldn't return more than "printing on grade 4 will give higher contrast than at a lower grade and consequently will generally require a less contrasty negative". But that's kind of obvious, so I assume not really what you're looking for.

[Kevin Crisp]

The paper grades refer to how much contrast the graded paper will give you. Traditionally, Grade 2 meant normal contrast, and a well exposed and properly developed negative should look pretty good on it. Grade 3 is more contrasty, grade 1 is less.

Variable contrast paper can be controlled in a similar manner with filters. Filter the light with a Grade 2 filter, and you have a version of normal contrast.

As a basic idea of how this is used...if you underexposed something and the negative is too thin, try using Grade 3 paper to compensate. If you overdid exposure or developing time, try a lower grade.

[JayY]

Thanks.. now I have some idea about paper grade means.. Thanks.

[ic-racer]

The logarithm of the exposure range required to give a full tonal range, expressed to two significant figures, with the decimal point removed is ISO(R). Typical figures might be Grade 5 = ISO(R) 40 to 45; Grade 4 = ISO(R) 60 to 70; Grade 3 = ISO(R) 80 to 90; Grade 2 = ISO(R) 100 to 110; Grade 1 = ISO(R) 120 to 130; Grade 0 = ISO(R) 140 to 150; Grade 00 = ISO(R) 160 to 180

[xkaes]

As mentioned, you can use different grades of paper to make adjustments to exposures that are either under- or over- exposed or developed. But that only can go so far, of course.

Likewise, you can use different grades of paper to make artistic adjustments to exposures to "add more punch" or "soften the blow".

You can also adjust processing to increase or decrease contrast for the same reasons -- alone or with changes in paper and/or exposure.

In short, making the exposure in the camera is only the first step! You can be just as creative in the darkroom. Just ask Jerry Uelsmann.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Uelsmann

[jnantz]

Wish to understand and read more on photo paper grade means? Like grade 3 or grade 4 paper and effect on printing process.. Thanks.

except for some specialty papers (lodima, azo, luxpex ) can you even get fresh graded paper anymore? seems we're living in a golden age, modern variable contrast papers are pretty fantastic. if you ever wander upon it, blue box seagull paper was great too.

[JayY]

It all started the question within me when I read Adox Lupex contact paper that grade at 2.. As I am exploring contact print. After all the replies to my original question, I slowly understand what it means and usage… Thanks for pointing me to the right direction…

[xkaes]

except for some specialty papers (lodima, azo, luxpex ) can you even get fresh graded paper anymore? seems we're living in a golden age, modern variable contrast papers are pretty fantastic. if you ever wander upon it, blue box seagull paper was great too.

Good point. Many photographers, like me, use the terms "graded paper" and "variable contrast paper" interchangeably. They do the same thing -- but who wants to have six boxes of every size of paper when one will do? I have neither the space nor the money for that!!!

[Doremus Scudder]

It all started the question within me when I read Adox Lupex contact paper that grade at 2.. As I am exploring contact print. After all the replies to my original question, I slowly understand what it means and usage… Thanks for pointing me to the right direction…

Jay,
If you end up using a fixed-grade paper like Lupex, then you end up with very little contrast adjustment possible at the printing stage. In the past, graded papers were made in several different contrast grades. Even contact-printing papers like AZO came in two or three different grades so you could opt for more or less contrast if needed.

With just one grade available, you need to carefully control the contrast range of the negative so that it fits well with the contrast available from the paper. This means metering carefully to determine the contrast range of your scene, deciding when metering what kind of rendering you want, e.d., how dark you want shadows in relation to highlights and midtones, etc., and then developing that negative to the proper contrast gradient by adjusting development time so that it will make a satisfying print.

All this takes some calibration and some kind of method. One of the classic, and most used methods for doing this is the Zone System. If you're not familiar with it, then I'd recommend learning about it.

Best,

Doremus

[Michael R]

Jay,

Just to add to some of the comments Doremus made, note just because you are contact printing doesn't mean you have to use a "contact" paper. Chloride papers (like Lupex) are usually referred to as "contact" papers because they are too slow for enlarging, but enlarging papers are as well suited to contact printing as they are to enlarging. Just wanted to get that out there.

Following on that point, I would generally advise against using contact papers (or fixed grade enlarging papers) because at this point there are usually only one (or maybe two?) grades available, which restricts flexibility. There was a time when fixed grade papers were offered in four, five or even six grades, but those days are long gone, and variable contrast papers are now really the way to go.

Michael

[Drew Wiley]

It was never cut and dried like Ice-Racer makes it seem. There were variances per alleged grade brand to brand, and they were not always of evenly spaced increments, especially in the "harder" (more contrasty) Grades like 4 and 5. Any many people like myself thought of Grade 3 as more the mid-point standard rather than Grade 2. But true graded papers, especially of the high quality of former decades, are now almost totally extinct. And now, in the era of high-quality VC papers instead, it can be unnecessarily confusing to assign grade jargon to hypothetical VC equivalents which actually involve a contrast continuum instead; but old habits die hard.

I certainly miss the great graded papers of days of yore, like Seagull G, Brilliant Bromide, and Agfa Portriga, each with their own special look. But printing is much easier given today's excellent VC paper selection.

When only a single grade of something remains, then your degree of negative development itself has to be more carefully tailored to those limited parameters, unless you default to current VC papers instead. I personally use the same high-quality VC papers for contact printing as I do for enlarging, and the results are wonderful.

[Bernice Loui]

Back in them days, the better papers were graded glossy fiber.. Sill have some from those decades past.. Paper grades DO vary by brand and to a lesser degree by batch. Knowing you're going to be "pegged" into using a specific paper grade and how the print image should be drives how any given negative will be made. If the negative is not made as needed, there will be significant "suffering" during the print making process. Doing this cycle after a few decades tends to enforce some degree of discipline when images are made, from loading film to processing the film then into the print making process.

IMO, variable contrast paper is a GOOD thing as it is easier to deal with in many ways and it offers the possibility of print contrast control not possible with single grade papers.. Insignificant between using graded or variable contrast paper for contact prints. Unless the contact prints are made on a silver-chloride paper like the old Kodak AZO, which a different print paper in many ways.

There was a time when enlarged contact prints were made by laying out strips of roll film into the glass Durst 138 carrier, then projected to produce a larger image of the "contact print".


It still comes down to what image goals are..

Bernice




I certainly miss the great graded papers of days of yore, like Seagull G, Brilliant Bromide, and Agfa Portriga, each with their own special look. But printing is much easier given today's excellent VC paper selection.

When only a single grade of something remains, then your degree of negative development itself has to be more carefully tailored to those limited parameters, unless you default to current VC papers instead. I personally use the same high-quality VC papers for contact printing as I do for enlarging, and the results are wonderful.

[Alan Klein]

Are these papers used for laser printing of scanned photos or do they use another paper type?

[Drew Wiley]

Bob Carnie would know about that, though it seems he doesn't use a laser printer anymore. It's certainly feasible, though premium fiber-based papers are on the pricey side of possibilities, and don't lie ideally flat. An RC paper roll option would make more sense, commercially. Laser printers are now mostly used for RA4 color papers.

[Corran]

Alan, check out Digital Silver Imaging. They print digitally to Ilford Fiber paper. If I remember correctly, they used a custom formulation from Ilford for their prints.

Personally I love(d) Ilford Galerie graded papers.

[Drew Wiley]

Perhaps it would have been wiser to grade papers just like report cards : A,B,C,D,E,F. That way we'd know right from the start which category applies to ourself!