Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/10/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Benjamin, Like anything in modern life, you have to read the fine print. HP specifically designed their ink and paper as a unified set: they make no claims unless you use both together. Epson, on the other hand does not tie their product quite so tightly together. Therefore in the Epson world, you can use their inks on a good quality watercolor paper and expect 70 to 100 years of life in an album or behind glass. Don't give up on inkjets because you have to learn a new work flow. In the silver world, you had to learn about dual fixer baths, fix removal solutions, archival wash procedures, testing for retained fixer, and paper drying protocols that now seem easy and straightforward. What seems arcane now will become normal with use. :) Don don.dory@gmail.com On 10/21/05, Benjamin Marks <benmarks2005@gmail.com> wrote: > > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >