Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/07/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]- ----Original Message----- >From: "Robert G. Stevens" <robsteve@istar.ca> >The very best dye subs and inkjets still do not last more >than a year without noticable fading. There are new ink tecnologies that >are coming for inkjets that use oil based inks, that may prove to be more >permanent. While all of your points are very well taken, and I agree that in many cases a Cibachrome print might be better in terms of archival properties. However, for less serious display purposes, such as a picture frame on your desk at work (where you would not want to risk the theft or damage of a valuable print) or a print you would only want up on the wall for a couple of months or a year, low-cost inkjet prints can make more sense. While master printers might be able to duplicate many photoshop techniques, as you say, such treatment only makes the cibachrome process less economical. I would rather be able to share prints with friends and family and dress up my house with them without making a considerable investment in each print. In terms of my own personal experience with fading, I printed two photos on regular document paper when I purchased my first inkjet printer (a HP, which while fast, had banding problems when printing photos) three years ago. These prints were literally tacked on the front of a refrigerator. While the color print seems somewhat less vibrant than the original print was, it is not noticably so (nobody looks at the print and says "oooh... that's faded"). The black print appears as it did originally, if possibly the blacks are somewhat less dense. I would like to pick up some of the UV print coater and see if it makes a marked difference in the longevity of these prints. As you have already pointed out, the side benefit of going the inkjet route is that you create a digital version of the image which is not prone to fading, scratching, etc. If you burn your "keepers" into a CD, the images are pretty much permanent. And it is quite easy to transfer the files onto DVD or the next media which will supersede CD-ROM.