Darkroom Prints: Moody Tints and Surface Brilliance. The black and white printmaker can suggest warmth or coolness not only by his choice of black and white printing emulsion but also through the variety of colors, textures and sheens in which the black and white paper itself is manufactured. The range of colors, or tints, extends from the purest white to the richest off white, encompassing shades that are usually referred to as "white," "cream" and "ivory". White is most widely used, but is perhaps best suited to outdoor black and white photography - such as winter scenes or seascapes - or for such inherently cold subjects as machines. Cream is an excellent general purpose tint, and is especially popular for portraits. Ivory lends great warmth that can enhance a black and white picture of a sunset, or one of people sitting around a fire, or a portrait. Since tints - and many of the other properties of black and white papers - vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, most black and white photographers experiment with several brands of black and white paper until a suitable one is found, and then stick with it. The surface qualities of a black and white paper are no less important than tint in creating a black and white print that does justice to its subject. The term "surface" actually refers to two properties - texture and finish. Both influence the amount of light that is reflected from a black and white print. Textures are generally categorized as "smooth," "fine-grained" or "rough" (there are also specialized surfaces that resemble such fabrics as silk, tweed and suede). Finish (or "brilliance," as it is sometimes called) refers to shininess and is distinct from texture (smooth black and white papers, for example, are made in several degrees of shininess). Some commonly available finishes are "glossy", high luster, luster and "matte". Extra glossiness (needed for black and white pictures to be reproduced in a newspaper or magazine) is obtained by pressing a wet black and white print onto a chromed metal sheet. A very smooth surface (in terms of both texture and finish) looks bright because it reflects most of the light falling on it. In addition, it reveals maximum detail. The rougher surfaces scatter the light and obscure detail; the scattering effect not only dims the highlights, but also makes the black parts of the black and white picture look grayish. However, such surfaces are less harsh than smooth ones, and often add atmosphere to black and white pictures in which precise detail is not important. The difference between matte and glossy surfaces is revealed in two black and white prints of the interior of a modern building in Germany, black and white photographed by Dmitri Kessel. The black and white picture at right, above, reproduced to show a matte effect, scatters reflected light and produces less-dense blacks in the stair steps than the glossy black and white print next to it.