Archival inks

eschick

A couple of questions about the lifetime of inkjet prints:

• Has anyone had any experience with the Durabrite inks from Epson? I know they only work in some of their printers. But, the concept of an ink that doesn't fade because of sunlight or smudge because of water sounds like a great concept. Does the reality live up to the hype?

• I'm very interested in the Canon i960 printer because of the great reviews I've seen everywhere. I understand the prints will last something like 25 years if they are mounted behind glass. But I also love to print out pictures to hang on the refrigerator and hand out to friends (where I have no control over how they handle the prints). Anybody have any experience on how these prints will last in these environments?

• Does Canon or HP have any plans to market inks similar to Durabrite? When might these be released? Will I be able to use them in current printers or will this require a new printer?

Thanks.

patch29

Wilhelm Research does some of the most extensive print longevity testing. They have several articles one print life from different manufacturers and printers.

Find the info here.

eschick

patch29 wrote:

Wilhelm Research does some of the most extensive print longevity testing. They have several articles one print life from different manufacturers and printers.

Find the info here.

Thanks for the link.

I've seen some references to this site in the past and have done some reading on the site. Definately some great info and I hope the "standards" they speak about become a reality.

One thing that I didn't find an answer to was the longevity of "unprotected" prints. I saw from this site what could be expected when prints are behind glass. But I was looking for people's experiences with the newer inkjet printers where not all the prints were stored in this manner.

I've got an older inkjet and have found the longevity of these unprotected prints to be very short (about a month). I was wondering if the newer printers, inks and papers result in longer print life in these conditions.

Thanks.