"Fine Art" Dye Ink Printers?

[paul_brenner1]

<p>I'm primarily a "serious" fine art b&w photographer but also enjoy digital color.<br>

I'm in the market for a good photo printer to make "small" (8x10" max) prints. I can't justify the expense/size and don't need a pigment printer, but I have a couple of questions:<br>

1. I'm reading that some dye inks are now essentially the equal of pigment inks in terms of longevity. True?<br>

2. Will any dye ink photo printers take "fine art" papers (in terms of thickness)?<br>

3. What fine art papers, if any, are compatible with dye inks, or are most/all meant for pigment?<br>

Thanks very much.<br>

Paul</p>

[colin_mattson1]

<blockquote>

<p>1. I'm reading that some dye inks are now essentially the equal of pigment inks in terms of longevity. True?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Not for display. There are a variety of dye ink sets that will perform very well in a typical consumer album application, but even the best dye's still much, much less permanent than a pigment print for any kind of display.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>2. Will any dye ink photo printers take "fine art" papers (in terms of thickness)?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>This will vary with the media. A lot of media's light enough it'll feed through darn near anything, though the really heavyweight stuff will require a printer built to take it.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>3. What fine art papers, if any, are compatible with dye inks, or are most/all meant for pigment?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Most matte papers are compatible with either, albeit generally optimized for pigments. The major brands all clearly mark what you can use on their packaging/spec sheets/websites, so it's pretty easy to verify whether dye will work or not.</p>

[dhbebb]

<p>Epson seem to have something called DURABrite, supposed to be fade-resistant dye-base inks:<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0001D0LM8/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=14DTRTE624ENQ3JRMEPF&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294">http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0001D0LM8/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=14DTRTE624ENQ3JRMEPF&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294</a><br />but the above printer at least ain't cheap (and cheap printers in general will not have archival inksets or indeed any capacity for thick media). I have had an Epson 2100 for quite a while, with Ultrachrome pigment-based inks, nice results, no problem with 155 g/m3 paper, 310 g/m3 paper definitely needs help to get started, goes through OK after that. <br />I recently got an Epson 3880, this is the first printer I've ever had that happily works with really heavy paper. Quite a few cheap printers are designed to have a small desktop footprint, this means the paper executes a 180 degree turn and comes out on the same side (the front) as it goes in, any printer like this will fundamentally not like thick paper. I have found quite a lot of paper/ink combinations will work, it seems to be a question of ink viscosity (or "wetness") and the paper finish (how porous). A wet ink and a non-porous paper will mean prints that dry extremely slowly and smudge like crazy. In the interests of longevity, however, I stick to Epson inks and media for art prints - only these are tested and guaranteed to last.</p>

[roger_smith4]

<p>For relatively long-lived dye inks, try Epson Claria. For a performance comparison see Aardenberg imaging's tests.</p>

[danny_low]

<p>The best source in the industry for longevity data is Wilhelm Research at</p>

<p>http://www.wilhelm-research.com/</p>

<p>Look at their test data and judge for yourself.</p>

<p>Danny</p>

 

[roger_smith4]

Here's Aardenburg. They test a wider array of papers and inks and as a non-profit, their tests aren't paid for by the manufacturers:

http://aardenburg-imaging.com/cgi-bin/mrk/_4102c2hvd19kb2NfbGlzdC80