Dye based inkjet fade test complete

[invisibleflash]

I had finished up one of the last fade tests I was doing in March. I made some time today to scan it. Been working on the cine' film Archive which is fairly massive. No time for much else. At the end of the summer, I will have the other 2 sun fade tests done. A 1-year fade test of a 1980's dye transfer print and a 6-monh fade test of a 1950's carbro print. Carbro prints are very, very rare. It will be interesting to see how it holds up in the sun.

 

Anyway, let's get on to the dye-based inkjet print. I've tested other dye-based prints at the beginning of my dye stability testing years ago. But I didn't bother to record all the printer info. I was just working informally for my own education at the time.

 

For me it was good enough to distinguish dye-based vs pigment-based inkjet. I've only tested a handful of dye-based inkjet printers, but the results are all the same. Terrible light fastness for them all. They fade in normal room light, let alone sun. But I redid the test with a known printer just to have a model number test done.

 

A proper anal lab tester would get all the data and lumen they received over a 6-month session down. That way they can say each test got all the same amount of light. You see this dye-based test is even more troubling than my normal tests, as it was mainly done in the winter. In the NE US, sun is weakest in the winter. So, it got less sun than my normal sun tests I do in the summer. But I already knew dye-based inkjet is crap for light fastness, so winter is fine for fading it.

 

6-month sun fade test of a dye-based print made on a Canon MG2522 printer. Print was cut in half and one half exposed to the sun, one half stored in dark storage.

 

 

 

Here is a master file of the image for comparison.

Faces of Gentrification

Here is a print from an old Epson R2000 pigment-based printer. 1 year of sun with it. Section that was in sun is marked with an S.

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2022 by invisibleflash

[JDMvW]

Even if it's not strictly a scientific test, it's both useful and interesting. Thanks very much

 

For more of this sort of thing (maybe a surfeit), see

 

LINK Wilhelm Imaging Research

Edited April 27, 2022 by JDMvW

[digitaldog]

And another site see: Aardenburg Imaging and Archives

[Ed_Ingold]

You should not use ceramic coated paper with a dye-based inkjet. The huge surface are inside the porous coating intensifies the effect of light and ozone on the ink. Conversely, ceramic coatings are ideal for pigment-based inks.

 

I have two dye-based prints hanging with indirect exposure to sunlight for over 20 years, with no signs of fading. The paper was coated with gelatin or some kind of polymer with a glossy surface.

[conrad_hoffman]

Yeah, the paper is as important as the ink.

[rodeo_joe1]

A thin sheet of glass, as is used in most picture frames, makes a world of difference to fade resistance.

[Robin Smith]

Does the Canon printer use the Chromalife 100+ inks, which say they have a fade free life under glass of 100 years?