rafe b said:
I take some exception to that.
The matching of ink to paper is extremely
important for *dye* inks, but less so, I think
for pigment inks.
The "Duck's Nuts" when it comes to this kind of thing is the work being done
by Wilhelm Imaging Research, headed by chief scientist Henry Wilhelm.
I'll copy any paste what he has to say on the matter, based on an interview
.... To cut a long story short, traditionally dye based inks are cause for
more concern, but unfortunately pigment-based inks aren't immune.
Chris and Larry: Your work as a pioneer in the field of image permanence has
shown you both the good and bad about ink jet printers. How can a
photographer pick an ink jet printer that they can trust to make prints that
will be around for decades?
Henry Wilhelm: The simple answer is to pick a printer for which print
permanence data is available for the ink and media combinations used for
that printer.
....
Chris and Larry: That is an excellent point. It is not just the type of ink
that will affect the image stability, but the combination of the ink and
paper used. When a manufacturer says that their printers produce prints that
will last a certain length of time, one should carefully look at the exact
paper and ink combination they used. Is it safe to assume that they always
use their own papers with their inks in testing?
Henry Wilhelm: Yes, although manufacturers themselves often will publish
data just for their paper that does the best, even though they have
additional papers available.
Chris and Larry: So if one reads that a given printer will make a print that
will last for a hundred years or more when displayed, one should immediately
ask exactly what paper the test was done on. Often that is not stated very
clearly. Would it be safe then to believe that, using the exact ink and
paper, one can probably achieve the same kind of archival image stability?
Henry Wilhelm: Yes. Most of the quoted numbers have been for exposure to
light on long term display. In general, the data have been for prints framed
under glass. I think we also need to talk about susceptibility to ozone for
prints that may be exposed to ambient atmosphere for long periods of time.
Prints that are not framed under glass, for example the classic refrigerator
display conditions or prints tacked to the wall in your office, things like
that. Especially smaller prints which will never be framed under glass.
There is a special concern about porous or microporous papers with dye based
inks and greater susceptibility of these papers to ozone. I think from the
reader's standpoint, the simple way to distinguish between porous and
microporous and swellable papers is that if the paper package says instant
dry. That's pretty good assurance that it is a microporous type. And if the
printer is using dye based inks, which the majority of current desktop photo
printers are using, then you can probably assume that your prints on
microporous paper probably has a high susceptibility to ozone. You have to
be careful there.
