Ilford warmotone resin v fibre

I've been printing on Multigrade warmtone resin for the last 6 months and love the stuff ;-) My fiber experience is limited but my only trouble has been flattening the prints. I am not concerned about being truly archival but like the 'feel' and texture of some of the fiber prints I have seen.

I am interested in the different to the actual feel between Ilford's warmtone resin and fiber. Do they feel similar? If the only advantage is archival-ability then I think I'll stick with resin but if the paper itself is more 'interesting' then I think I'll try fiber.

Thanks.

I'll be curious to hear other replies as I have used almost 100% warm tone fiber until now and love it. I had to go resin coated for 20x24 because of potential paper expansion issues in my Jobo 3063 drum. If I like it I will order a 20" wide 250 foot roll of it and do all my larger print work with that.

I got a 10 sheet box of the 20x24 to try out, should be fun...

There's a difference when you hold a dry print in your hand. To me, the RC looks like plastic. The fiber looks like paper.

I have lots of experience with both. I love the warmtone RC paper. I use the pearl finish. It's a very nice paper and tones wonderfully. I use it for alot of work 8x10 or smaller. The warmtone FB version is an absolutely beautiful paper. Much different feel than the RC physically speaking. I honestly feel the warmtone RC offers greater flexibility with thio sepia toning, but the FB version is more flexible in selenium. Wonderful split selenium toning can be done on the FB version. Both are great papers and I will continue to use both. I think larger prints, 11x14 and up look better on a FB paper. Smaller prints, 8x10 and 5x7 are nice and quick on RC paper.

As for flattening FB prints, I have a bunch of acid free matboards about 16x20 inches that I will inter-leaf the prints after they dry and stack heavy books on top of the stack. Give it a few days or a week and the prints will be flat.

Thanks for all the replies. I think I will just have to try the fiber - I like the sound of it! ;-)

I have always felt that fiber papers give a deeper print. The deep shadows separate better. The above advice on flattening prints should do the trick. If the print seems less warm, go to a warm tone paper developer if you're not yet using one. Glycin formulas can be very nice. A quick dip in a very dilute selenium toner will chase the olive green away a bit and give even more shadow separation.