Black and White Paper Guide
 
 
KODAK EKTAMAX RA 
P R O F E S S I O N A L  PA P E R 

KODAK EKTAMAX RA Professional Paper is a fast resin coated paper for making intermediate-use black-and-white prints from color or black-and-white negatives. It is designed for processing in KODAK EKTACOLOR RA Chemicals for Process RA-4. 
Suggested uses include intermediate applications for graphics reproduction, displays, real-estate brochures, publications, press releases, and portrait proofs. The paper may be acceptable for other applications as well, where long-term display or keeping are not required. For uses where images require archival or long-term keeping, a traditional black-and-white paper is a better choice. 

The paper is available in two contrast grades: 
L for low-contrast applications such as portraiture and school-picture finishing; and M for applications where higher contrast is preferred, such as in photojournalism and commercial photography. 
Both M- and L-grade papers are available in F (glossy) surface. The M-grade paper is also available in N (semi-matt) surface in some sizes. 
EKTAMAX RA Professional Paper is designed for printing with automatic printers or enlargers. 

 
FEATURES BENEFITS
  • Each layer produces a neutral image
  • EKTAMAX RA Professional Paper / L-spectral sensitivity, gray-tone rendering, and D-max similar to those of KODAK EKTACOLOR PORTRA II Paper
  • EKTAMAX RA Professional

  • Paper / M-spectral sensi- 
    tivity, gray-tone rendering, 
    and D-max similar to those 
    of KODAK EKTACOLOR 
    SUPRA II Paper 
  • Designed for processing in KODAK EKTACOLOR RA Chemicals for Process RA-4 
  • EKTAMAX RA Professional Paper / L-tri-color sensi- tivity with the same red, green, and blue speeds as EKTACOLOR PORTRA II Paper 
  • EKTAMAX RA Professional Paper / M-tri-color sensitivity with the same red, green, and blue speeds as EKTACOLOR SUPRA II Paper
 
  • Excellent image-tone reproduction from color negatives

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  • Eliminates the need for a dedicated black-and-white process 
  • Can be printed with the same equipment as EKTACOLOR PORTRA II and SUPRA II Papers; no need to rebalance equipment to produce black- and-white prints 

  •  
     
     

STORAGE AND HANDLING 
Store unexposed paper at 55F (13C) or lower in the original sealed package. High temperatures or high humidity may produce undesirable photographic changes. Avoid moisture condensation by removing the package from cold storage the day before printing. 
Handle paper carefully by the edges. The paper is packaged with the emulsion side of all sheets facing in the same direction. For complete light, moisture, and photo-activity protection, use the inner bag and the two-part cardboard box to store the paper. 

DARKROOM RECOMMENDATIONS 

Handle the paper in total darkness. Be sure that your darkroom is lighttight. Eliminate stray light from enlarger heads, timers, LEDs, etc. 
Note: Using a safelight .uill affect your results. If abso lutely necessary, you can use a safelight equipped with a KODAK 13 Safelight Filter (amber) and a 71/2-watt bulb. Keep the safelight at least 4 feet (1.2 metres) from the paper. Run tests to determine that safelight use gives acceptable results for your application. 

EXPOSURE 
You can expose this paper in automatic printers such as the KODAK Digital Print Controller. Set up and balance the printer according to the manufacturer's instructions. 
You can also expose the paper with enlargers equipped with tungsten or tungsten-halogen light sources or photo enlarger lamps (e.g., No. 212 or 302). 
Do not use fluorescent lamps to expose the paper. Use a heat-absorbing glass to remove infrared radiation. Because voltage changes affect the output and the color quality of the light source, use a voltage regulator. 
Keep negatives and the equipment optical system clean. For optimum contrast and gray-tone rendering of colors, use a color filter pack that consists of dichroic filters, KODAK Color Printing Filters (OP), or KODAK Color Compensating Filters (CC). You can use CP or CC filters between the lamp and the negative. You can also use CC filters between the negative and the paper; however, use as few CC filters between the negative and the paper as possible. If you use cyan filtration, use filters with the suffix "-2" (e.g., "CPlOC-2"). 
The printing conditions for EKTACOLOR PORTRA II Paper are a good starting point for printing color negatives onto EKTAMAX RA Professional Paper / L; the conditions for EKTACOLOR SUPRA II Paper are a good starting point for printing negatives onto EKTAMAX RA Professional Paper / M. If you do not use EKTACOLOR PORTRA II or ' SUPRA II Paper, use 45M + 45Y as a starting point for filtration. Adjust the exposure as required to control print density. The color of the exposing light can influence the 
contrast of prints made on these papers. You can remove approximately 20M and 20Y to lower print contrast, or add magenta and yellow filtration to increase contrast slightly. Do not add more than 20 units of magenta and yellow filtration to increase contrast, as this can impact red color lightness reproduction. 
You can also print black-and-white negatives onto this paper. Use 80M + 110Y filtration as a starting point for maximum contrast. Or you can combine a piece of D-min of the appropriate color-negative film with your black-and white negative, and use the filtration that you use to print color negatives. Adjust the exposure as required to control print density. 

LATENT IMAGE KEEPING 
You should not notice shifts in the latent image with keep ing times from 1 minute to 24 hours. Therefore, you do not need to change your printing procedures to compensate for latent-image shifts under normal temperature and handling conditions. (If shifts do occur, you can minimize their effect by keeping the time between exposure and processing the same for all paper.) 

PROCESSING 
Use KODAK EKTACOLOR RA Chemicals for Process RA-4 to process these papers. 
Use a drying temperature below 205F (96C). Do not ferrotype these papers. 

 
CHARACTERISTIC CURVES 
KODAK EKTAMAX RA Professional Paper / L 
KODAK EKTAMAX RA Professional Paper / M 
 NOTICE: The sensitometric curves and data in this publication represent product tested under the conditions of exposure and processing specified. They are representative of production coatings, and therefore do not apply directly to a particular box or roll of photographic material. They do not represent standards or specifications that must be met by Eastman Kodak Company. The company reserves the right to change and improve product characteristics at any time. 

Using Rolls in High-Speed Printers: EKTAMAX RA Professional Paper has an anti-static coating on the back (non-emulsion) side. This coating has been optimized for use in professional applications. When using this paper in a high-speed, heat-impulse-splice printer, the special coating may make splices which are weaker than normal. These weaker splices can break during operations after the paper has been exposed. Therefore, we do not recommend using this paper in this type of printer. If you use the paper in a printer of this type, be sure to set your splicing equipment to give as much paper overlap as possible, with paper edges properly aligned. Then make a few test splices to determine if you are achieving a strong enough bond. 

RETOUCHING 
If possible, do any required retouching on color negatives before you make prints-especially if you plan to make more than one print from each negative. For information on retouching negatives, see KODAK Publication No. E-71, Retouching Color Negatiues. 
If the negative image is small, you can make corrections much more easily by applying dry or liquid dyes to small or large areas of the enlarged print. For information on retouching prints, see KODAK Publication No. E-70, Retouching Prints on KODAK EKTACOLOR and EKTACHROME Papers. 
Note: Do not use oil-base paints, resins, or other materials frequently used to retouch silver-gelatin black-and-white prints. These materials can harm the dye structure of EKTAMAX RA Professional Paper. 
VIEWING CONDITIONS 
Because EKTAMAX RA Professional Paper uses dyes instead of silver to form the image, the neutrality of the image is affected by the viewing illumination. Use a light source such as daylight, pulse xenon flash, tungsten, or tungsten-halogen/quartz-halogen. These sources provide continuous frequency distribution of energy in the visible spectrum and will result in a neutral rendering of the image. 
Non-continuous sources, such as mercury vapor and some fluorescent tubes, can give the image a slightly pink appearance. If a neutral-tone image is important when viewing prints, avoid these types of light sources, especially low-energy/high-efficiency fluorescent tubes. 
For consistency, labs should always evaluate print quality under the same type of lighting conditions that will be used for print viewing. For an average condition, use a light source with a color temperature of 4000 K 1000 K and a color-rendering index of 85 to 100 (an index of 90 or higher is desirable). General Electric Deluxe Cool White fluorescent tubes, or similar tubes made by several manu facturers, meet these specifications. You can also use warmer tubes such as the Phillips 5000 K Ultralume tube. 
You may also obtain satisfactory results using a mixture of incandescent and fluorescent light. For each pair of 40-watt Deluxe Cool White fluorescent tubes, use a 75-watt frosted tungsten bulb. 
MORE INFORMATION 
Kodak has many publications to assist you with informa tion on Kodak products, equipment, and methods. The following publications are available from dealers who sell Kodak products, or you can order them directly from Kodak through the order form in KODAK Publication No. L-1, KODAK Index to Photographic Information. To obtain a copy of L-1, send your request with $1 to Eastman Kodak Company, Department 412-L, Rochester, New York 14650-0532. 
E-70 Retouching Prints on KODAK EKTACOLOR and EKTACHROME Papers 
E-71 Retouching Color Negatiues 
E-140 KODAK EKTACOLOR PORTRA II Paper 
E-141 KODAK EKTACOLOR SUPRA II Papers 
G-27 KODAK PANALURE SELECT RC Paper 
NOTICE: KODAK EKTAMAX RA Professional Paper is an alternative, not a replacement, for traditional black and-white papers. EKTAMAX RA Professional Papers yield a neutral tone "dye" image. For long-term keeping applications, conventional black-and-white (silver) papers will provide the best performance. 
 
 

Kodak, Ektamax, Panalure, Ektacolor, Portra, Supra, and Ektachrome are trademarks.
 
 
Artzone Index We express our gratitude to * Kodak (Near East) Inc. for giving to us the permission to present the above material. 


Concept and Design by Elias Eliadis 
Copyright © 1998 Black & White Art Zone. All Rights Reserved.  
First published date 15 July 1998  

 

Paperzone Index
 
* Kodak (Near East) Inc.   
P.O.Box 8253, Athens 100 10 Greece    
Tel: +301 6898620 Fax: +301 6898635