Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/12/05

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Subject: [Leica] OT HP 7690 Print Longevity
From: benjaminmarks at verizon.net (Benjamin Marks)
Date: Sun Dec 5 10:47:12 2004
References: <200412051809.iB5I839R074572@server1.waverley.reid.org>

Benjamin Marks here again with some permanance testing data-points. On 
1/5/04 I printed some test pictures on a friend's 7960 and cut the prints in 
half. One half was taped up in a West-facing window (facing out), the other 
was put in a metal file cabinet away from the light. Prints were on HP's 
paper which is one from the top of the line (not the super premium 
heavy-weight stuff). As a control print I printed the same picture on 
Ilford's Galerie matte single-weight paper with Jon Cone's Peizo inks (first 
generation, the Sundance inks, I think). Today is September 6, 2004 so this 
is a nine-month report and given the results, I don't think that it makes 
sense to continue with the test.

Both inkjet prints in the window showed noticable fading compared to their 
control-halves. The HP inkjet print faded to a warm reddish brown. The paper 
base yellowed considerably and the print shows noticable bleaching and loss 
of contrast when compared to the control print. The HP ink on this print 
also has a blotchy or mottled quality. The HP control print still shows 
excellent tonal separation and contrast. Blacks are still blue-to-neutral 
and the overall print quality is good.

The Peizo print also showed fading compared to its control half, with the 
window print warming to a brown which I would compare to a brown-toned or 
platinum print. This is similar to the stabilized tone of Peizo prints which 
I have around the house framed under glass. The Ilford paper base showed 
some warming, although not as much as the HP paper. To give you a sense of 
how strong the sun is in a central Vermont west-facing window, I had jotted 
some notes on the face of the Peizo print with a water-based Pilot "Precise" 
roller-ball pen. Those comments have almost entirely faded and must be read 
by tilting the paper to an angle to read the impression that the pen made on 
the paper's surface.

In the final analysis, this may have been too harsh a test to yield any 
useful results. I did not have a traditional silver print as a further 
control or a C-print from a one hour lab. The direct light in the window was 
strong enough that the only lesson to be taken away from this is "don't hang 
your inkjet prints facing outward against the windows." Well, whoopie. No 
one does that anyway and the treatment that I subjected both of these prints 
to is harsher than any I would subject a traditional silver print to. The 
good news is that the environmental contaminants in my home did not, by 
themselves, cause noticeable degredation in either the HP print or the Peizo 
print when kept under subdued light conditions. Another control print taped 
to the wall or under glass and normal display conditions would have yielded 
more practical results, I think. The head-to-head lesson in this test is the 
edge in image permanance goes to the original Peizo carbon pigment inkset 
over HP's inks for the 7960.

My own recommendation is that anyone using either of these printers give 
careful thought to display and storage conditions of their prints. 
Displaying prints in an environment with a lot of direct or reflected window 
light is likely to lead to some print fading, regardless of the most 
optimistic claims put forward by an ink manufacturer.

Anyone with questions or comments may e-mail me at:

Benjamin-Marks-at-verizon-dot-net (no dashes at all when you type it all 
out)

Best regards,

Ben