Perma Jet Instant Dry 271 Gloss: This is another micro-pore paper, offered for sale in Britain. But the manufacturer makes some interesting claims, like: UV Supercoat, Ink Fixing Layer. A reader reported to me getting no orange shift on this paper, so we'll try it and see what happens. It's got an RC base, and a very white surface, whiter than PGPP, and just as smooth. It's actually very similar to Tetenal Spectrajet, but not quite as white.
Printed with the recommended Photo Quality Glossy Film, output is slightly cooler than PGPP, but still pretty neutral. (Actually, I think the PGPP is slightly on the warm side of neutral.) The gray scale has just a hint of magenta in it. Otherwise, output is very close to PGPP--maybe a tiny bit less saturated. Unfortunately, the output is kind of spotted, mostly in the mid to darker blues. It kind of looks like dried water spots. There's also quite a bit of reticulation in the dark colors, especially the dark blues.
Using the BLF setting, the "water spotting" effect seems to be mostly gone, but the output is even warmer than PGPP. Other than that, however, the image is very, very nice. A bit less saturated than PGPP, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There's still a slight bit of reticulation visible in the dark blues.
After drying for 24 hours, the 'water spotting' is pretty much gone. On the PQGF settings, the reticulation in the blue is still pretty noticeable. On the BLF print, the reticulation in the dark blue is still there if you look very, very closely, but otherwise it's unnoticeable. With a bit of adjustment to the ink levels, or some custom profiling to get rid of the reticulation, this might be very nice.
I tried the PGPP setting just for grins--too much ink. The print comes out mottled, and the spotting is even worse than with the PQGF setting.
Unfortunately, after only 5 days it's beginning to show some orange shift in the gray scale, and the lightest blues are fading, too. It's not as bad as Epson PGPP, but it is noticeable.
Perma Jet Instant Dry 271 Oyster: This is an interesting paper. It's got a texture similar to the Epson Premium Semi-Gloss, but it's less glossy than that paper. Best overall results with the recommended Photo Quality Glossy Film setting, I think. Using the backlit film setting, the results are much too warm. Prints better overall than the glossy paper, above. Reticulation doesn't seem to be an issue.
Oh, yes. Even though these papers are called "instant dry," they aren't. Touch the ink right away and it doesn't come off on your finger, but it does smear, especially on the glossy.
The sample pack I got from Perma Jet also includes some very interesting art papers. Right now my focus is on gloss and semi-gloss papers for photo printing, but I'm intrigued by some of these, so I'll get around to testing them one of these days.
Just like the glossy, above, this is showing noticeable shift after only 5 days. Again, it's primarily in the gray scale, but the lightest blues show a little fade, too.
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