Archived from groups: comp.periphs.printers (More info?)
The truth of the matter appears to be that the dye ink prints from ALL dye
based inkjet printers will fade if they are abused,,, PERIOD.
The problem seems to be that they dont get treated properly after printing.
I have an on-going experiment at my house (average home, 1 smoker, 1 non
smoker, normal appliances generating normal levels of Ozome, Co and Co2, with
forced hot air heat.)
Results after 1 full year:
Prints left laying on a shelf, out of sunlight, top sheet covered with acid
free matting, cupboard kept closed 99% (or more) of the time. No noticable
fading or color shift, on Canon prints from i960, i950, (and 6 months storage
of prints from ip4000). Epson prints under same conditions as above from
Epson 785 EPX, same length of time (1 year except for prints from R200 which
are at 6 months)Gave identical results.
Prints left on an OPEN (no cupboard door) shelf NOT covered with anything but
NOT in sunlight.. Noticable shift toward Magenta in the Canon prints,
Noticable shift toward cyan in Epson prints.
Prints placed in an acid free photo envelope (clasp closure) One envelope
kept in closed cupboard, one kept on open shelf Neither were in sunlight:
No change whatever that I can discern with naked eye in Epson or Canon
prints, when compared side by side with new prints of the same photos.
Photos left in a "Photo Album" with clear plastic overlay on every page:
Some fading on prints with the book that was left out on coffee table in
living room, which alows sunlight to fall on pages about 2 hours a day.
Same for Epson & Canon prints.
Album that was stored in closet and taken out once monthly and paged through
(mimicking family perusal) No easily noticeable fading of either Canon or
Epson prints.
6 photos from Epson 6 photos from Canon and 6 photos from Olympus Dye-sub
printer all properly matted, framed, Under UV glass and hung on Den wall,
recieving 20 to 25 minutes Reflected sunlight per day. No noticeable change
on Epson or Canon prints. HOWEVER, the dye sub prints seem to have some color
shift along the EDGES of the prints. (none of the prints have glass touching
the prints. Matting is cut to fit VERY tight to seal out airflow.
All of my test prints were printed on Illford Premium Glossy and printed
with OEM ink @ 8x10". (except of course the dye-subs which are proprietary
Olympus Paper).
All the "stacked/shelved" prints had seperator sheets of non acid tissue
between them (both the "closed cupboard" and "open shelf" tests.
My "Control" prints were 5x7 and 8x10 prints done on Fuji machines at the
local Wal-Mart and stored/displayed under identical conditions. One of the
framed, matted, uv glass covered prints faded HORRIBLY, for reasons I cant
discern as yet. The rest are still good except the ones on an open shelf..
They ALL faded at the edge nearest the light.
Though this is not a scientific test, it IS a real world test that showed (to
my satisfaction at least) that "Instant Fading" usually is caused by poor
treatment or poor storage methods. I have a dozen or so photos just "stuck-
up" on the walls of my computer/photography room (used to be a darkroom) and
I notice that they start fading after about 3 months, and the ones nearest to
where I sit for hours on end editing and sorting ect turn yellow (the paper)
very shortly after being hung (cigarette smoke will do that) The Ionic ar
cleaner in this room is 4 times larger than the square footage requires, and
gets cleaned every 2 days, but only seems to protect the photos at the far
end of the room from me <G>.
As an aside, I accidently left a black leather briefcase containing 80 8x10s
from both Canon and Epson in my truck for 18 months (I thought it had been
lost), where temperature ranged from over 130 deg F (summer parked in the
sun) to minus 10 deg F (coldest weather this winter). The prints still
looked pristene, though a plastic ruler, and several other plastic items in
the case were warped and distorted by the summer heat.
All of these test prints will remain where they are until March 20, 2006.
Sorry about the time lag, but the only way to do a "Real World" test, is in
"Real World" time.
I almost forgot to mention that each room in my house has an ION type air
cleaner running 24/7/365 (similar too (but not as costly as)the ones
advertized ad nauseum on American TV). I dont know if they have ANY bearing
on the test results.
I did this test because I had told some of my customers that I would replace
their prints if they had any fading problems with properly stored photos, and
I wanted to know what I could expect.
--
Larry Lynch
Mystic, Ct.
The truth of the matter appears to be that the dye ink prints from ALL dye
based inkjet printers will fade if they are abused,,, PERIOD.
The problem seems to be that they dont get treated properly after printing.
I have an on-going experiment at my house (average home, 1 smoker, 1 non
smoker, normal appliances generating normal levels of Ozome, Co and Co2, with
forced hot air heat.)
Results after 1 full year:
Prints left laying on a shelf, out of sunlight, top sheet covered with acid
free matting, cupboard kept closed 99% (or more) of the time. No noticable
fading or color shift, on Canon prints from i960, i950, (and 6 months storage
of prints from ip4000). Epson prints under same conditions as above from
Epson 785 EPX, same length of time (1 year except for prints from R200 which
are at 6 months)Gave identical results.
Prints left on an OPEN (no cupboard door) shelf NOT covered with anything but
NOT in sunlight.. Noticable shift toward Magenta in the Canon prints,
Noticable shift toward cyan in Epson prints.
Prints placed in an acid free photo envelope (clasp closure) One envelope
kept in closed cupboard, one kept on open shelf Neither were in sunlight:
No change whatever that I can discern with naked eye in Epson or Canon
prints, when compared side by side with new prints of the same photos.
Photos left in a "Photo Album" with clear plastic overlay on every page:
Some fading on prints with the book that was left out on coffee table in
living room, which alows sunlight to fall on pages about 2 hours a day.
Same for Epson & Canon prints.
Album that was stored in closet and taken out once monthly and paged through
(mimicking family perusal) No easily noticeable fading of either Canon or
Epson prints.
6 photos from Epson 6 photos from Canon and 6 photos from Olympus Dye-sub
printer all properly matted, framed, Under UV glass and hung on Den wall,
recieving 20 to 25 minutes Reflected sunlight per day. No noticeable change
on Epson or Canon prints. HOWEVER, the dye sub prints seem to have some color
shift along the EDGES of the prints. (none of the prints have glass touching
the prints. Matting is cut to fit VERY tight to seal out airflow.
All of my test prints were printed on Illford Premium Glossy and printed
with OEM ink @ 8x10". (except of course the dye-subs which are proprietary
Olympus Paper).
All the "stacked/shelved" prints had seperator sheets of non acid tissue
between them (both the "closed cupboard" and "open shelf" tests.
My "Control" prints were 5x7 and 8x10 prints done on Fuji machines at the
local Wal-Mart and stored/displayed under identical conditions. One of the
framed, matted, uv glass covered prints faded HORRIBLY, for reasons I cant
discern as yet. The rest are still good except the ones on an open shelf..
They ALL faded at the edge nearest the light.
Though this is not a scientific test, it IS a real world test that showed (to
my satisfaction at least) that "Instant Fading" usually is caused by poor
treatment or poor storage methods. I have a dozen or so photos just "stuck-
up" on the walls of my computer/photography room (used to be a darkroom) and
I notice that they start fading after about 3 months, and the ones nearest to
where I sit for hours on end editing and sorting ect turn yellow (the paper)
very shortly after being hung (cigarette smoke will do that) The Ionic ar
cleaner in this room is 4 times larger than the square footage requires, and
gets cleaned every 2 days, but only seems to protect the photos at the far
end of the room from me <G>.
As an aside, I accidently left a black leather briefcase containing 80 8x10s
from both Canon and Epson in my truck for 18 months (I thought it had been
lost), where temperature ranged from over 130 deg F (summer parked in the
sun) to minus 10 deg F (coldest weather this winter). The prints still
looked pristene, though a plastic ruler, and several other plastic items in
the case were warped and distorted by the summer heat.
All of these test prints will remain where they are until March 20, 2006.
Sorry about the time lag, but the only way to do a "Real World" test, is in
"Real World" time.
I almost forgot to mention that each room in my house has an ION type air
cleaner running 24/7/365 (similar too (but not as costly as)the ones
advertized ad nauseum on American TV). I dont know if they have ANY bearing
on the test results.
I did this test because I had told some of my customers that I would replace
their prints if they had any fading problems with properly stored photos, and
I wanted to know what I could expect.
--
Larry Lynch
Mystic, Ct.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram