Re: Interview with Henry Wilhelm on print permanence

Kennedy McEwen wrote:
> In article <463f8304@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>, Bill Tuthill <ccreekin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> writes
>> In rec.photo.digital Kennedy McEwen <rkm@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>>
>>>>  What's your experience?
>>>>
>>> My experience of the issue is well documented in the archives of
>>> this and other forums where the subject was discussed at the time. I
was 
>>> also the first point of contact Epson made within their
>>> European customer base when they finally decided to act in
>>> resolving the problem instead of ignoring it.  Again, all
>>> verifiable in the open archives should you require evidence.
>>
>> My experience is that I've never had an Epson inkjet print (dye-based
>> OEM ink on various papers) that lasted longer than a year without
>> fading when posted in our kitchen, even in spots not receiving
>> direct sunlight. Epson inkjet prints do last a long time under 
>> fluorescent light, even
>> so-called full-spectrum fluorescent, but sunlight seems to be a
>> killer. Has anybody had success with some paper or other (with
dye-based
>> ink)?
>
> They all last when displayed under glass, as is now recommended by
> Epson for dye based inks.  However, I have several dye prints on Matte
> Heavyweight and Archival Matte (although Epson suggest this is for
> pigment only) which have been open to the elements in my kitchen
> (quite a severe environment given cooking by-products) for several
> years. Whilst they look OK, they are only in direct sunlight during
> late afternoon and early evening and not at all in winter.
>
> If you are really after long print life though, don't use dye inks -
> Epson or otherwise.

That's the bottom line - dye inks fade.

My old Canon S9000 produces prints that still look great, but man, they
fade 
like mad just pinned to the wall - even well out of direct sunlight. 
However, early on, before I was really aware of the fading issue, I did a 
series of about 30 A3 prints for a client - almost all were printed on the

S9000, but a couple were output by labs on two different photographic 
machines (a Pegasus and an Agfa machine) - they're all framed under glass
in 
an office, and remarkably, 4 years down the track, the Canon prints still 
look just as good as the photographic process prints, so it seems 
restricting the airflow over the prints slows the fading considerably.

Naturally I've told the client I'll replace the prints with pigment-based
or 
photographic-process prints once fading becomes an issue.