Epson Chrome Prints - Longevity

As a follow up to a previous thread on home made albums and framed

prints using the 2200/7600 series Epson printers, I thought I would

share some research I found online in regards to the longevity of

chrome based prints...

A very accomplished artist/photographer by the name of Stephen

Livick has done extensive testing of all kinds of dye and pigment

based prints...

Generally his observations conclude that the life of untreated

prints is a lot less than what is claimed elsewhere. His testing

methodologies and results are well documented, so it is quite

compelling.

See:

http://www.livick.com/method/inkjet/pg1.htm

My take is that prints from Epson chrome based pigment printers

stored in archival grade albums do not need to be protected with

special UV spray coatings, but framed prints displayed in normally

lit settings do need to be further processed after printing to stand

up to the test of time.

If your in the business of selling framed art using Epson chrome

based printers this is a 'must read' site.

Casey

Interesting info Casey.

When I first got an Epson 2000P I ran my own test. I printed a 12X18 image on Epson

Archival Matte, covered 1/2 of it diagonally, and placed it in a window box where direct

sun would hit it at least 4-6 hours a day... there it stayed for a year. I deliberately printed

a very magenta heavy image because in my art training I had learned that reds and

magenta were the most fugitive colors. very minor fading, but fade it did.

What is not known is the effect of framing with UV glass. Any thoughts?

Marc,

From the website referenced above:

"In testing just completed I have discovered that glass and UV blocking glass do not stop the fading it tends to proceed along at exactly the same rate behind glass, both plain and UV blocking. The test took six months and showed no benefit in using glass to stop the fading, however glass does protect the print from pollutants in the air.

Of course matting in acid free matts and then framing your works under glass is advisable and perhaps a necessity. Plain hardware store glass however affords you little protection from light damage and the more expensive 97% UV blocking glass gives only about 5% and perhaps up to 10% protection ( tests are being conducted at this time). You might try asking for the "Museum Grade" of this type of glass, it affords more protection but is hard to find as framers usually do not carry it. You can calculate and add those percentage of time to our longevity estimates depending on the glass you are using. Glass bascially keep the image from atmospheric contamination. But you can accomplish this same atmospheric protection by varnishing your prints as well."

Thanks Casey and Scott.

I will investigate further and seriously start better protecting my display prints provided to

each client.