Which silver gel b&w papers for digital negs?

[menglert]

Hello,

For all of you making digital negatives for B&W silver gelatin papers, what are you using? Have you found any paticular paper that works better, or does it come down to personal preferences like tradition printing?

Right now I'm working with Arista EDU Ultra (Foma) FB, and don't really see the need to change papers, unless I wanted something warmtoned perhaps. This paper is fairly cheap, and I haven't seen a negative side to using it yet.

Regards,
Martin

[dwross]

Hi Martin,

I'm deep in the process of trying to make digital negatives that are good for handmade silver gelatin paper. I've found it useful to (contact) print them on my standard Ilford Multigrade IV VC FB glossy paper. I've been printing VC since it came out and I can't help "micromanaging" the contrasts locally across a print, even when contact printing. I take notes as I go and then go back to Photoshop to tweek the digital negative file. I'm sure there are more direct methods, but this seems to be working for me.

And, btw, the Multigrade seems to work just fine with the digital negatives. My homemade paper has more tooth than commercial glossy, and that does serve to mask any of the digital qualities that I haven't yet eliminated entirely (if "entirely" is possible), so maybe a commercial paper with a slight texture is worth considering (what's the surface on your Aristo? I'm not familiar with that paper.)

good luck,
denise