WHAT DO THE ABBREVIATIONS ON THE BOXES MEAN, SUCH AS FB MP?

Please find below the abbreviations and their meanings:

FB (Fibre Base Baryta)

Real photo imaging baryta layer helps create a smooth glossy surface and increases paper whiteness.

Gel (Cellulose Gel)

Cellulose blend to minimize fading and maximise the longevity of prints.

Mp (Microporous)

Microporous ink-absorption layer with special additives to minimise fading and maximise the longevity of prints.

Al (Alumina)

Alumina improves paper brightness, reflectivity, opacity, smoothness and printability.

METAMERISM

METAMERISM: The tendency for colour in a print to shift in hue when it is viewed under different lighting conditions. For example, two prints that match exactly when compared in daylight may look quite different when observed under fluorescent lighting. This is due to the latter's irregular or peaky spectral output which is a characteristic of most forms of fluorescent lamps. The term colour constancy, or lack thereof, is also used to describe a print that looks different in one type of light than in another.

DIFFERENTIAL GLOSS

DIFFERENTIAL GLOSS: A visible gloss or shine difference in areas of the surface of a print, when viewed from an oblique angle. It is most apparent on glossy, and semi gloss/high lustre papers, and with pigment inks, where the ink tends to sit on top of the ink receiving layers, and not be fully absorbed. Because the ink is less glossy than the paper base, this will be most noticeable between highlight, where the least amount of ink is present, and shadow areas where most is. To minimize this effect some pigment ink printers such as the Epson R1800, and HP Z3100 have a gloss optimiser included as part of their ink-sets.

BRONZING

BRONZING: A metallic looking sheen in areas of high ink load, and often most apparent on black and white images. The causes are similar to differential gloss, with high concentrations of the inks changing the reflectivity of the print surface, and becoming most visible when prints are viewed from an oblique angle. The cyan and black inks of earlier generations of pigment-based inkjet printers, including the Epson 2000P and first generation of Epson Ultrachrome printers are the most affected. The effect can be lessened by reducing the amount of the relevant ink used either from the printer driver or via other imaging software or RIPs.

OPTICAL BRIGHTENING AGENTS

OPTICAL BRIGHTENING AGENTS: Often known as OBAs, these are chemicals added to photographic and printing papers to achieve brighter whites and stronger colours. For the same reasons they are also widely used in many common household applications, ranging from detergents to toothpaste. They work by converting UV light at the edge of the visible spectrum into visible light, resulting in the whites appearing cooler and brighter, and the colours more saturated. They do fade over time, so that papers with high levels of OBA will gradually become warmer or more yellow with age. For this reason many fine art papers do not contain them at all, or have them in only minimal amounts. Arguably, over time, papers with OBAs will only revert to what they would have been without them in the first place, and although a source of conjecture, there is no hard evidence to suggest that the chemicals that make up OBAs will have any long-term consequences for the life of prints made on them.