Review Ilford Gold Fibre Silk met Canon PRO-1

with the Canon PIXMA PRO-1 as testprinter

Ilford Gold Fibre Silk is a so-called digital baryta paper and is strongly similar to the classic paper in the darkroom. If you smell well, you can even observe the characteristic baryta smell! This Ilford paper belongs to the Ilford Galerie series. The printer used for the test of this Ilford Gold Fibre Silk is the Canon PIXMA PRO-1, a semi professional A3+ printer using pigmented inks. 

Specifications Ilford Gold Fibre Silk

Weight: 310 gsm
Available sizes: A4, A3+, A2 and 2 sizes role
Used ICC color profile: of Ilford's website
Test printer: Canon PIXMA PRO-1
Test mode: see FAQ
Recommended retail price, 01-01-2012: NL € 20.90 per 10 sheets A4 size

What is different compared to other Ilford Galerie papers?

• Smooth Gloss is whiter and shines stronger
• Ilford Smooth Pearl is whiter and has a surface strongly resembling the known Luster photo paper
• Ilford Smooth Lustre Duo is whiter and is printable on both sides

 What are the differences compared to other digital baryta papers? 

• Epson offers the Epson Traditional Photo Paper. This paper is very white and has avisible structure
• Harman has the Gloss FB AI Warmtone photo paper. This digital photopaper shines stronger than the Ilford paper and the color tilts more towards crème
• Innova offers a number of papers, from nearly white to crème. The surface of these papers has more structure than Ilford's.

ICC profile and colorspace

The test machine, a Canon PIXMA PRO-1, is known for its large color space. A special ICC color profile, designed for this Canon printer and this Ilford paper, is used for the test and is taken from the website of Ilford. ICC profiles for many printers can be downloaded from this site. When downloading, you must be careful that you put the ICC profile in the correct folder. If you do not, the printer program cannot find it. The color space is 766,490. This is smaller than what you can get from the Epson 4900 on this Ilford paper.

Test result color on Ilford Gold Fibre Silk 

The colors are displayed pretty well when you use a Canon PIXMA PRO-1 printer. But some colors are displayed just a bit to light. Look for that at the brown, green and blue patches. Some gray patches are to light too and black tends to be a bit cool. The color display is better with the Epson 4900 than with this Canon PIXMA PRO-1.

Test result black and white on Ilford Gold Fibre Silk 310 gsm photo paper

A part of the gray patches are displayd too light. All of them are a bit warm but black is a bit cool. The dmax of this Ilford paper is just a bit higher when you use a Epson 4900 printer. But, black and white prints looks very nice when you use this paper on a Canon PIXMA PRO-1.

 Shine and surface of Ilford Gold Fibre Silk 310 gsm photo paper

The Ilford Gold Fibre Silk has a very soft gloss with little structure. Canon uses the gloss optimizer and because of that gloss differential and bronzing is even just a bit lower than if you use a Epson 4900 printer. This Ilford photo paper is thick, feels strong and is completely flat in the printer. Prints of greasy fingers are not quickly seen but the surface is very fragile. The color of the paper can be described as "warm white". Black and white prints get a classic look.

Altough the gloss optimizer is used, we see some traces of bronzing and gloss differential.

Bronzing and gloss differential are just a bit lower wnh you use a Epson 4900 printer.

Conclusion

Pro

• Black and white pints look very 'classy'
• Good flatness in printer

 Con   

• Color display could be just a bit better
• Black tends to be cool
• Vulnerable surface
• More expensive than standard photo paper