Ilford Gloss or satin Multigrade

[ChrisBrookes]

Hello all

I am currently doing an As level photography course at college, and have been using 7 by 5 gloss ilford multigrade rc paper, I went into jessops for larger paper but they only had satin larger stuff, so I am asking would it be ok to use my 7 by 5 gloss for test prints and just go straight to a piece of satin 12 by 16 ? Or should I "waste" a large piece of paper to create test strips on the satin paper ?

Thanks for any help/ replies !

[zx9]

In theory you would be ok test printing on the different surface, I tend to cut large sheets of paper in to thirds to get three test strips from one sheet and they still get held on two sides by the masking frame.

[NorthernMonkey]

You could just order online. Ive used www.silverprint.co.uk and www.thedarkroom.co.uk , both of which will deliver next day, and have stock in a huge range of sizes and surfaces, especially for something as common as MGIV

However, in answer to your question. Ilfords coatings are remarkably consitant between batches, so the same timeings will work for both surfaces.

[Lounge Lizard]

I firmly believe that the paper texture and base colour should suit the subject matter so if your material needs gloss, go and find gloss. Just don't cramp your style by what your local branch of Jessops stocks.

[ChrisBrookes]

Thank for all your replies !! Cheers !!

[AntSmith]

You should ideally use the same paper, from the same batch, to test on as you will print on. Early test strips perhaps you get away with it.

The test strips themselves can vary a lot - some don't need clamping by the base board because you don't need to keep checking the precise focus - don't worry if they curl... You should do at least one large-ish test print though.

More generally, the first thing is to really understand a small number of materials. If you always use the same material you won't appreciate the degrees of freedom available through material choice.

Too many different materials and you will never feel the full flexibility of each.

Standardise on two for starters.

Regards finish - it's largely personal choice. I like to scan my hand-printed photos so I use a gloss finish to avoid adding texture to scanned images.

[Woolliscroft]

I'd agree that if you don't really want the satin finish, you can get the gloss easily enoug on line (probably cheaper). There is no need to use a whole big sheet as a test strip. I tend to cut 8 x 10 sheets into four 8 x 2.5 strips for that use.