Extra! Extra! Read all about it: At the beginning of Covid-19, we noticed worrisome material fulfillment trends, which began our quest to prepare for the possibility of paper-type shortages. A couple of months ago, our fears became our reality when Kodak announced a plan to discontinue their popular Metallic Photographic Paper. Kodak based its decision on the high material cost of the unique elements used to manufacture the paper.
In September 2022, Nations Photo Lab will introduce Fuji Crystal Archive Pearl in addition to our Lustre and Glossy surfaces. After a year of extensive research and testing, we will offer Fuji Crystal Archive Pearl because it is a silver halide paper type that will live up to our quality standard.
Let’s break things down a bit further and learn everything we need to know about Fuji Pearl Paper:
Fuji Pearl is a glossy paper featuring a wide tonal range, sharper text quality, and a distinctive pearl-like appearance. It is a specialty paper best used with landscapes and showcases the mist in water movement or truly funky/vibrant images.
The Pearl-like crystals give silver halide color prints a specific luster, creating a distinctive pearl-like appearance that captures everyone’s attention! Pearl paper was designed to meet the growing, diverse demands for commercial prints and enables photographers to expand their customer print options. Pearl paper contains an extraordinary component: pearly mica crystals. Based on the natural mica, they are covered with a thin layer of metal oxides, for example, titanium dioxide. One can discern silver-white and metallic reflection effects through an interplay of transparency, refraction, coating, and multiple reflections. These lend pictures such an intense warmth and depth; they become a true sensation for the eye.
We anticipate having enough Metallic Paper inventory until October 2022 depending on the print size. Projections can vary based on print size and order volume. We encourage you to test out our Pearl Prints, which will be available for purchase on the website in the coming weeks. Click HERE to access color-accurate ICC profiles for the Fuji Pearl paper.
We generated a profile for both Metallic and Pearl to understand better the difference in gamut achieved for both papers. Take a look:
. 
Kodak Metallic in blue Fuji Pearl in Red
The Metallic Paper has a 10% wider color gamut over the Fuji Paper.
The Blacks on the Pearl are noticeably warmer than the Metallic.
. 
a: at 1.53 is Red a: at -.92 is skewing Green
The b on both are very similar. -b indicates the color is skewing blue.
Here are a few photos that can show you the details of Fuji Pearl Paper:
We hope this guide helped inform you of our upcoming paper change. If you have further questions, get in touch with our snap-tastic Photo Experts.