Monochrome - Which surface, matt or gloss?

Matt papers have been used in both art and photography for centuries but have remained a slightly specialist product in the bulk consumer market, probably due to rather subtle charms. The pros and cons of matt versus gloss can be summarised as follows:

Advantages Disadvantages
An ‘art’ feel Less vibrant colour
May be signed Smaller gamut volume
No distracting reflections Lower Dmax
Often less expensive Easily marked

Despite all these disadvantages matt papers have a strong and loyal following and the paper makers have responded by providing a massive range of surfaces, weights, tones and qualities for us to choose from.

While the matt paper can never match the gloss papers (and we always include the lustres in this category) for tone depth, they retain an artistic feel when the print is in the hand, important if the client is able to hold the print before the purchase decision. It should also be said that the right image can look quite stunning in spite of any lack of statistics from under the measuring instruments!

What is the ‘right’ image? Well, for starters it should not depend upon rich blacks that the eye can fall into, along with brilliant whites – the type of image typified by the Ansel Adams school (or should that be f64 school?). The Dmax of matt papers rarely gets above 1.6 compared with 2.2 as a ballpark for lustres and 2.3 to 2.4 for the newer baryta-like papers. While this may irritate some of the ‘zone freaks’ who seem to have an unhealthy attitude towards Dmax (‘look at the print for goodness sake!’), the eye accommodates a lack of final Dmax so well that it does not really matter after a few seconds of viewing, providing there is differentiation in the shadow areas. In the main the ‘flat’, calendared media reproduce photographic-style detail better than the more undulating art surfaces with their heavier textures. Many of the matt surfaces are slightly cream (warm-toned) in base colour that can be particularly attractive in toned landscapes or portraiture. Look on the websites listed for papers described as 'smooth' or 'ultrasmooth'; papers described as 'textured' are not likely to fall into the category we are discussing. Papers carrying the moniker 'soft' are likely to be quite absorbent and will hold detail poorly for 'photographic' images.

Matt surfaces are easily marked and should be handled with great care. A finishing coat of varnish or 'fixative spray’ (as the artists tend to call it) will assist in protecting the surface with little change in the surface texture. To service this requirement many of the paper suppliers also offer fixatives and varnishes of various types. Putting a matt print behind glass or giving it a gloss giclée varnish seems a waste to this writer, you might as well go right to a gloss material or a lustre.

Mat, Matte or Matt?

We need to take the opportunity to repeat our words from some time back in regard to the use of the word matt. Matte is traditionally reserved for ‘a waste sulphide crust in copper smelting’ or ‘a type of mask used in cinematography to hide parts of an image’. The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors defines matt as, “dull without lustre” and matte as a “mask used in film making”. Longmans’ Dictionary lists both spellings as “dull without lustre”. The Cambridge Dictionary lists matt for UK and matte for the USA, both as ‘a non-shiny surface’. Encyclopaedia Britannica lists only a sulphide slag. Mat is always wrong, that is what a cat sits upon, in spite of some words on the web to the contrary. We have decided to go (as usual) with Oxford and shall henceforth be using matt unless the makers have chosen matte as part of their product name.

Most manufacturers provide a range of surfaces and base media. The graph shows the Innova range and the colour of the base white on the Lab scale. The arrows indicate the tone, warm and creamier towards the top and cool and blue down to the lower right. The further down and to the right the base colour is situated usually means a higher level of optical brighteners. The cluster of papers above the yellow arrow are the naturally cream papers. The coolest of the Innova range is the Ultra Smooth Gloss. The 'effect' of the base tone is also influenced by the choice of printer setting with, for example, the Epson ABW. A warm printing tone on a warm paper creates a very good mimic of a traditional warm-toned silver halide print.

The enthusiast can sometimes be a little obsessive over the Dmax they are achieving. Generally the matt surfaces are around the 1.5 to 1.6 value and the gloss/lustres/barytas above 2.0. ABOVE: The loss of Dmax and its effect on a greyscale is plotted. The matt paper levels out at a little below 20% luminance value whereas the Ultra Smooth Gloss (a baryta) keeps going all the way to about 5%. This is seen as a loss of 'depth' in a print that relies on shadow detail for its impact. Note that the differences up the tone scale are almost nonexistent.

The Makers

The listing shows makers, mills or suppliers who deal with all types of papers. There are many cross-over, re-packed products, as the number of paper mills is limited. Base paper-making and coating may be carried out at different makers or locations. The market is in a continuous state of flux, with products being refined, changed, introduced or dropped almost on a monthly basis – at various times, all but a few have passed over the desk of Paper Chase. This list is not even complete, there are more that we are aware of and probably many we are not aware of!

Breathing Color www.breathingcoloruk.com
Canon www.canon.co.uk
Canson International www.cansoninfinity.com
Museo www.museofineart.com
Epson www.epson.co.uk
Fotospeed www.fotospeed.com
FujiFilm www.fujifilm.co.uk
Hewlett Packard www.hp.com/ukstore
Hahnemühle www.hahnemuehle.com
Harman www.harman-inkjet.com
Ilford www.ilford.com
Innova www.innovaart.com
Kentmere www.kentmere.co.uk
Kodak www.kodak.com
Lana Edition d' Art www.lanapapier.fr
Legion www.legionpaper.com
Lumijet www.patersonphotographic.com
Lyson www.marrutt.com
Magiclee www.magicleeinkjet.com
Olmec www.innovaart.com/olmec
Paper Mill Direct www.papermilldirect.com
Permajet www.permajet.com
Pictorico www.pictorico.com
Red River www.redriverpaper.com
PremierArt www.premierart.info
Somerset/Bockingford www.inveresk.co.uk
Tecco www.colourconfidence.com
Tetenal www.tetenal.com

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