This technique uses pure carbon pigments on high quality, high grammage paper, allowing us to produce black and white prints with a vast range of tones and deep blacks, and with a precision of detailing in the shading and highlights which rivals prints obtained by sophisticated manual techniques, like platinum printing. We use pure carbon inks on 100% cotton, with an absolutely neutral pH and no optical bleaching, to guarantee archive quality prints. (http://www.inksupply.com/utfadedata.cfm).
Giclée printing is particularly suitable for prestige portfolios, limited edition art prints or images for exhibition. This process is ideal for images of small original antique paintings which are difficult to reproduce accurately or to display, or for images where only the original copy survives. In addition, carbon printing makes it possible, for the first time, to make art prints from digital photos, modifying the image to obtain the effects desired through skilled post-production work. To maintain total control over the printing process, Studio Fahrenheit uses inks from American producer MIS in seven tones of grey. Unlike equivalent high range products, these inks allow us to personalize the prints, because they offer the choice of every possible tone, from the warmest to the coldest, as well as extraordinary resolution on new glossy fine-art Barytha paper.
Studio Fahrenheit has developed a special technique for selectively differentiating tones in a single image: the variation resulting from the choice of substrate is thus enhanced and exploited to obtain effects that recall partial and multiple toning in analogical printing. The main advantage of printing with pure carbon pigments is that it allows us to use a wide variety of different papers: from photographic to graphic art papers. Out of the potentially limitless range of substrates, Studio Farenheit has chosen papers which give archival quality prints with guaranteed longevity (100 years under optimal storage conditions):
• Matte papers (Hahnemuhle Photo Rag, Moab Entrada, Sedona Natural White 315): optimum tactile feel, resulting in velvety blacks and a feeling of texture given by the weft.
• Semi-glossy papers(Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Pearl, Hahnemuhle Fine-art Baryta, Harman Gloss FB AL, Innova Fiba Print, Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Silk): very deep blacks with D-max similar to that of the best barytha papers. A fine layer of gloss-optimizer delivered through a printer channel eliminates the bronzing effect. For maximum gloss effect, we can also use lamination.
Other papers can be utilized for custom printing to create the exact effects requested by our customers. The choice between matte or glossy paper depends largely on the lighting of the place where the photo will be displayed. In general, matte papers are more suitable for interior shots where there is medium intensity lighting and light direction cannot be controlled with any precision. Semi-glossy and glossy papers need more controlled lighting: to get the best out of these papers light intensity and direction must be perfectly accurate. A powerful light source will enhance the dynamic range of these prints, resulting in excellent rendering of shadows. It is, however, absolutely essential to control reflections; if not, a glossy print image will be spoilt by glare, which could cancel out the benefits of the deeper blacks obtained on glossy paper as opposed to matte.
|
