ABSTRACT
Surface finish can be used to distinguish papers, with a range being available from full glossy resin-coated types to semi-gloss and matt fibre-based papers. The whites in an image come from the whiteness of the paper. The density of black – and this may come as a surprise – comes from the glossy quality of the paper finish. Glossy black-and-white prints are good for handing round, to be looked at directly and for reproduction. Very matt finish papers have odd velvety blacks that do not show the same density as those on glossy paper. Photographers refer to rich brown blacks as being ‘warm’ and to blue blacks as being ‘cold’. While many photographic products give completely neutral greys, paper and developers can be bought that give ‘warm’ or ‘cold’ results. As a rule of thumb, organic images, body forms and darker landscapes work well with warmtone papers; mechanical objects, blacks and chromes, and hard modernistic portraits work well with cooltone.
