Hahnemuhle Fine Art Bright White Issue

[George Collier]

I have been working with a printer locally to get large prints made from PShop files, Black and White, but from RGB files with a tiny (1 - 2%) amount of Red and Yellow added to the top and bottom of the curve, just to ensure no blue or green.
Working with Hahnemuhle's expert in Chicago, and the printer, we've developed settings and profile, etc so that my iMac 27" display looks very close to the results. He is using a Canon 12color press (4000 series). The results are beautiful, and the slight warm cast is something like my silver prints toned in selenium.
In beginning to run some prints, we see very small white "marks" randomly appearing in prints. They look like dust but I think are really where ink is missing. You see them in dark areas and they can be lost in image detail.
We are working with Hahnemuhle's suggestions, mostly about media settings with the printer, but I thought I would pitch the question in case anyone has had experience with this. It is mid winter, cold and dry, even in Richmond, VA, so static could be a factor.
I've attached an image, but note that the iPhone shot tends to exaggerate these marks considerably, but you can see the general look of them here. They are most evident in dark areas, like the bottom of this one.
They are very hard to see in most of the prints but some have one or two, in a dark plain area that would have to be spotted.
Any experiences or thoughts about this?

 

[_T_]

I’m not familiar with the paper but it kinda looks like the texture of the paper is blocking the ink from being transferred to some areas where the fibers sit slightly more proud of the rest. They could be sort of masking the underlying paper and casting a sort of shadow of blank paper where the print head can’t reach.

You can see the shape of individual fibers in the white marks you are trying to eliminate.

If the paper you are using is somewhat textured I would try switching to a slightly smoother paper like the hahnemule photo rag or even the ultra smooth depending on the current amount of texture your paper has.

Edit: sorry I didn’t realize how little traffic this subforum gets and didn’t see how old the post was. Hope you got your printing issue resolved

 

[fgorga]

Acknowledging that this may well be too late, I suspect that the problem @George Collier saw was dust on the paper.

Dust clinging to the paper gets inked when printed and at a later time falls off leaving white spots.

The solution is to carefully brush off the paper with a drafting brush before placing it in the printer.

 

[jtk]

Acknowledging that this may well be too late, I suspect that the problem @George Collier saw was dust on the paper.

Dust clinging to the paper gets inked when printed and at a later time falls off leaving white spots.

The solution is to carefully brush off the paper with a draftisYng brush before placing it in the printer.

Yes, and even better you mmay want simply to blow on the paper to eliminate dust.