More on the new Ilford papers

Ilford have the two new papers listed alongside their existing products on their website and there's quite a lot of information there that's very useful. To save you heading over there, here's what they say about Multigrade FB Classic (the Multigrade IV FB replacement):

• ILFORD MULTIGRADE FB CLASSIC has been designed for the creative printer wanting neutral image colour, great clarity and a good response to toners. This is a premium quality, variable contrast, black and white photographic paper, coated onto a 255g/m2 fibre base.
• MULTIGRADE FB CLASSIC has a white base tint and prints made on the paper have rich blacks, deliver excellent tonal rendition and overall print appearance. In addition to producing the superb quality you have come to expect from ILFORD photographic papers, you will find that this product is versatile, easy to work with in the darkroom and well suited to toning applications, particularly on the glossy surface.
• MULTIGRADE FB CLASSIC is a fast exposure darkroom paper. The product has a short induction time of around 20 seconds for image appearance during processing; there is a closer speed relationship between grades; more uniform grade separation; sharp images; an extended low contrast at soft filtrations (00 end); a 50% reduction in wash times to save on water; whilst retaining all the handling and filtration during processing that you have come to expect from traditional MULTIGRADE FB papers. It is also suitable for use in all types of darkroom enlargers. It is compatible with most safelights designed for black and white papers with a cut off no lower than 580nm. It is also fully compatible with the ILFORD chemistry range as well as the ILFORD optimum permanence wash sequence.
• MULTIGRADE FB CLASSIC will deliver seven full grades of contrast from grade 00 to grade 5 in half grade steps when used with ILFORD MULTIGRADE FILTERS. After washing and drying, it can be mounted using the standard methods for fibre-based papers.

FB Classic will be available in glossy and matt finishes in a full range of sizes, including roll. Here's a link to the PDF which has loads more information of a technical nature including characteristic curves, etc

And for the new Multigrade FB Cooltone, they're saying:

• Following requests for many years from creative printers, this new product has been developed to complete the choice in MULTIGRADE FB papers.
• ILFORD MULTIGRADE FB COOLTONE has been developed for the creative printer wanting cool image tones and clean whites. This is a premium quality, variable contrast, black and white photographic paper, coated onto a 255g/m2 fibre base.
• MULTIGRADE FB COOLTONE has a cool white base tint and prints made on the paper display cool rich blacks, with well separated mid tones to deliver a unique look to the final print. In addition to producing the superb quality you have come to expect from ILFORD photographic papers, you will find this new product is versatile and easy to work with in the darkroom. It responds in the same way as other fibre based papers to the usual techniques of toning, chemical reduction and retouching techniques.
• MULTIGRADE FB COOLTONE is a fast exposure darkroom paper. The product has a short induction time of around 25 seconds for image appearance during processing but retains all the handling and filtration during processing you would expect from traditional MULTIGRADE FB papers. It is suitable for use in all types of darkroom enlargers. It is compatible with most safelights designed for black and white papers with a cut off no lower than 580nm. It is also fully compatible with the ILFORD chemistry range as well as the ILFORD optimum permanence wash sequence.
• MULTIGRADE FB COOLTONE will deliver seven full grades of contrast from grade 00 to grade 5 in half grade steps when used with ILFORD MULTIGRADE FILTERS. After washing and drying, it can be mounted using the standard methods for fibre-based papers.

Cooltone will come in glossy only but with a full range of sizes in sheet and roll. Cooltone PDF