Review Ilford smooth Lustre Duo and Epson 4900
with the Epson 4900 as test printerIlford Smooth Lustre Duo is a double sided printable photo paper. There are very few brands of paper that deliver such a thing, and unique is the deliverable size of 30 x 30 cm. If you make a photo book yourself and you use a binder, two-sided printing can be very beautiful. This Ilford paper belongs to the Ilford Galerie series. The printer used for this test is the Epson 4900. This is a professional A2 printer using pigmented inks. Specifications Ilford Smooth Lustre Duoweight: 280 grams
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What is different compared to the other Ilford Galerie papers? |
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What are the differences with other double sided papers? |
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ICC profile and color space |
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| The test machine, an Epson 4900, is known for its very large color space and uses pigmented inks. Because the display of colors is strongly determined by the used ICC color profile, we use a special ICC color profile. It is made for this paper and the Epson 4900, and comes 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 945,705. It is big, and bigger than what you get with the Canon PIXMA PRO-1 on this Ilford paper. |
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Test result color on Ilford Smooth Lustre Duo 280 grams photo paper |
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| Displaying the different colors on this paper with the Epson 4900 printer is pretty good. The accuracy of the colors displayed on the Ilford Gold Fibre Silk using the aforementioned Epson is not met however. Yet the colors displayed by the Epson 4900 are better than those by the Canon Pro-1 printer using a special Ilford ICC color profile. Most blues are well displayed and the dark brown has not become too light. In the red, I come across a little more color variations, but the cover of the grays is good. Just as important, even for a color photo, the black is powerful. |
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Test result black and white on Ilford Lustre Duo 280 grams photo paper |
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| The different shades of gray appear almost neutral in the default setting of the Epson 4900. This also applies to the black, which is very deep. If you want a cool black and white photo or a slightly warm one, this is possible with the Advanced Black and White Mode of Epson. |
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Gloss and surface of Ilford Lustre Duo 280 grams photo paper |
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| The Ilford Lustre Duo paper is white and has the surface that is characteristic to a luster paper. This means that the surface is 'speckled.' Prints of greasy fingers are not seen quickly, but the surface is fragile. There is little gloss differential and bronzing, similar to the Ilford Gold Fibre Silk. The paper is thick enough for double-sided photo paper and lies completely flat in the printer. | |
Conclusion |
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| Ilford Smooth Lustre Duo
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Pro
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Con
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The Ilford Smooth Lustre Duo photo paper has the special property that it is usable double sided. A homemade photo book looks very nice because of this. The color reproduction is pretty good with the Ilford ICC color profile and an Epson 4900 printer. Striking is the large color range. The maximum blackening is high and black is neutral in tone. The grays too are displayed almost neutral in tone. As with so many luster papers, the surface is fragile. The Ilford Lustre Duo is hardly more expensive than single-sided photo paper.
Website importer: www.Ilford.com
