Weber Valentine Papers

The kind folks at Weber-Valentine sent me samples of 5 different papers to test. Some very interesting papers, and some very promising results.

750-SSP Single Sided Glossy: Using the recommended Glossy Film setting, results are a bit warm. Too much ink-- it's still wet out of the printer, but shows improvement after a few minutes. The results are kind of soft, not sharp. Using the Backlit Film setting, results are even warmer than the glossy film setting. Otherwise, not much different.

Unfortunately, it also has orange shifted significantly. In fact, I think it's the worst of the WV papers I've tested.

750-DGP Dual Sided Glossy: I expected this to just be a double sided version of the SSP, but it's much different. The best of the WV papers I have. Slightly too contrasty. It also seems a bit "soft" compared to PGPP. Not in terms of contrast, but sharpness. No puddling, bronzing or reticulation on the glossy film setting. The paper's not as glossy or as white as the PGPP, but it's pretty nice. The grayscale is a bit magenta compared to PGPP, and flesh tones are a bit pinker. Might be a very nice paper for portraits.

The best news: after 4 weeks, not even a hint of orange shift! I'll put this one back in the ozone chamber and see how it fares over a longer period.

JPG-170 Glossy: On the Glossy film setting, results are a bit warm. The paper can't handle all the ink--it's still wet out of the printer, but shows improvement after a few minutes. The results are kind of soft, not sharp. Using the backlit film setting it's even warmer than on glossy film. Otherwise, not much different.

It doesn't seem to be shifting, either, after about 4 weeks!

750-DMP Matte: Using the recommended EPP setting, results are slightly too warm and a bit too contrasty. A soft overall effect, probably very nice for portraits. A bit of rippling from the quantity of ink laid down. The HWM setting looks better. Still very warm, but the colors are more vibrant, and the contrast is better. I'd like this as a portrait paper, I think. Unfortunately, after three weeks it's shifted quite badly. Not quite as much as the old PGPP, but not much less. Maybe a good paper for "warm tone" portraits.

GWCS250 Matte: This is a heavy, textured matte paper. On the EPP setting the output is very grainy, with white spots in the image. Certainly not for photo-realistic printing. On the HWM setting, the effect is even stronger. Almost pointillist. I can think of some images this would be very interesting with. Certainly not a general purpose photo paper, but it could be very useful.

And, no shifting after 4 weeks!

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