Epson has introduced Legacy Textured, the latest addition to its sophisticated Legacy Paper line that offers “the ultimate in quality and longevity for artists selling their work.” Legacy Textured is comprised of a mould-made paper base that lays cotton fibres down randomly to virtually eliminate curl, plus a heavily textured surface that simulates old-world handcrafted watercolour papers. In addition, Epson also announced that its popular Metallic Photo Paper in Luster and Glossy are now Signature Worthy papers – thus moving them into Epson’s line of media designed for photography, art illustration and fine-art prints. As mentioned, Legacy Textured offers a heavily textured surface with a matte finish, and is 100% cotton on a mould-made base. The 310 GSM textured paper is free of OBAs (Optical Brightening Agents), delivers a high Dmax for deep blacks, an expanded colour gamut volume, and can accept a high ink load.
“Realizing the need for a heavily textured fine-art paper, we collaborated with industry-leading photographers and artists to help develop a media that blends the qualities of old-world handcrafted paper with the latest digital imaging enhancements,” said Jeff Smith, Product Manager of Professional Imaging at Epson America. “Designed to produce rich blacks and vibrant colours, Legacy Textured exhibits unparalleled qualities for artists looking to create and sell exhibition-quality prints without compromising on print quality.”
The paper is currently undergoing comprehensive, eight-factor print permanence testing at Wilhelm Imaging Research (WIR), the world’s leading independent permanence-testing laboratory. Testing includes colour and black & white prints made with the current generation of improved-stability Epson UltraChrome HD, Epson UltraChrome HDX, and Epson UltraChrome PRO pigment inks featured on Epson’s SureColor P-Series printers. WIR is also testing Legacy Textured paper with high CRI (Colour Rendering Index) museum-quality LED illumination. The OEM added that, while final results are not yet available (the greater the lightfastness, the longer the test times) it’s confident that the new paper will exhibit outstanding print permanence.
