A
Arthur Entlich
This is a link to a short article with Henry Wilhelm. The tests were
obviously sponsored by Epson, so you can take them at whatever value you
wish. I would tend to think they are accurate within the context of the
inks which were selected.
The comparison was with Epson Durabrite Ultra inks. Those are pigment
inks and have been unfortunately very problematic for many people in
terms of head clogging. There is no doubt that they have very good
light and ozone stability, however.
The other ink brands are mainly not identified in terms of their
colorant base. I suspect the majority are not pigment, but dye instead.
However, one brand is identified as pigment and it fares worse than
some which are dye.
IMHO, this answers half of the question... most of those 3rd party dye
inks are not very stable, and even one claiming to be pigment is not
either, but the other part of this question is what about better quality
3rd party pigment inks?
If you are using some of the less costly "standard" inks, this article
will be revealing, and you can then decide if this lack of light
stability is significant to you or not.
Lastly, keep in mind that the type of testing Henry Wilhelm does
involves subjecting the prints to quite bright light. It may not
accurately represent long term lower light fading, and if you have
display areas which use lower lux rating, or if you use lighting with a
low UV component (like incandescent) your results will be quite different.
The article by Wayne Cosshall can be found via this link:
http://www.dimagemaker.com/specials/dimw.php
Art
Art
obviously sponsored by Epson, so you can take them at whatever value you
wish. I would tend to think they are accurate within the context of the
inks which were selected.
The comparison was with Epson Durabrite Ultra inks. Those are pigment
inks and have been unfortunately very problematic for many people in
terms of head clogging. There is no doubt that they have very good
light and ozone stability, however.
The other ink brands are mainly not identified in terms of their
colorant base. I suspect the majority are not pigment, but dye instead.
However, one brand is identified as pigment and it fares worse than
some which are dye.
IMHO, this answers half of the question... most of those 3rd party dye
inks are not very stable, and even one claiming to be pigment is not
either, but the other part of this question is what about better quality
3rd party pigment inks?
If you are using some of the less costly "standard" inks, this article
will be revealing, and you can then decide if this lack of light
stability is significant to you or not.
Lastly, keep in mind that the type of testing Henry Wilhelm does
involves subjecting the prints to quite bright light. It may not
accurately represent long term lower light fading, and if you have
display areas which use lower lux rating, or if you use lighting with a
low UV component (like incandescent) your results will be quite different.
The article by Wayne Cosshall can be found via this link:
http://www.dimagemaker.com/specials/dimw.php
Art
Art