Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/10/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I have found that Jon Cone's original (Sundance) carbon inksets fade/warm initially, but are pretty stable after their initial fade. I am currently experimenting with his newer Peizo-ICC warmtone inkset on acid-free paper. There is a photo shop here in Burlington, VT which has had one of these new-ink prints taped in a window for a year with no noticeable fading. Glossy paper is still not an option with Cone's inks. I have had wildly varying results with HP's inksets. On HP Premium Plus paper, I have seen no noticeable fade under non-glass display conditions over the past year. But combining the HP inks with Costco's Kirkland glossy paper and with Ilford's pearl paper has been disastrous. Prints fading to yellow/green after only a few weeks. I would regard _ANY_ longevity claims from a printer/ink manufacturer with suspicion. This variability and lack of standards is one of the real drawbacks of digital as opposed to silver-based prints, in my mind. When I make a silver print, I know that print quality will be consistent, at least over the next 20 years. I know it because I have seen it; and the technology is quite stable. With inkjet who knows. Even if you hit on an ink and paper combo that you think works for you, it will probably be replaced by something later and greater within five years (given the short product cycle in this still-new industry). I'm sure that there are those for whom the end product is not a print. For me, it still is though. Ben