Understanding inks and media longevity

There is much we do not know yet about the longevity of the inks and media that are being offered. At the same time, there is much we do know. The Iris inkjet printer has been studied extensively in regards to inks and media longevity. The Epson printer has been studied only slightly in comparison. What we have learned about media is that it has an extraordinary effect on the longevity of inks. No longer can we think in terms of ink alone. Recent testing by Wilhelm Research has reversed prior tests, creating recent uncertainty about longevity testing. What we have learned about Longevity testing is that results stating "years" need to be taken with grains of salt...

Still much is certain. Archival dye inks are stronger than ordinary dye inks, except when used on coated papers. Pigmented inks have greater fade resistance than either and are not affected adversely by inkjet coatings. Pigment inks which have zero dye components offer the most stability.

Archival inkjet inks available for EPSON printers fall into three categories: dye, archival dye based,archival pigmented, and archival pigment.

Dye inks are available from EPSON. They are the standard inks which come with new printers. They fade rapidly but are very colorful. ConeTech offers an alternative dye ink called DarnGoodInk! which costs about 75% less than EPSON's ink and delivers the same performance.

Archival Dye inks: The first classification of archival ink was offered by Lyson, a UK firm. Their Lysonic E and later, their Fotonic ink were the only choices until a few years ago. While they improve the fade characteristics of inkjet prints over regular dye based inks - the color gamut (the range of printable color) was extremely weak in the Lysonic E. Although color saturation improved with the Fotonic ink, longevity did not fair much better than standard EPSON inks. Luminos Platinum and Luminos Silver are repackaged Lysonic E and Lyson Fotonic. The best attributes of these inks, their ability to print on glossy surfaces, is also their greatest weakness. Printing archival dye inks on glossy surfaces destroys their ability to withstand fading. Many artists have printed on coated papers in order to improve their color gamut. Unfortunately, this also destroys their ability to withstand fading.

Pigmented inks offered by several vendors are an attempt to join the extreme light-fastness of pigment with the brightness of ordinary dye. These inks print on all but the glossiest surfaces. However, often pigmented inks are known to produce mottle on some surfaces. This is caused by the uneven absorption of the dye and pigment components. Another limitation of pigmented inks is an extreme amount of metamerism caused by varying absorption and reflection of spectral information due to the dye/pigment components.

Pigment inks: The newest archival ink is made from 100% pigment; hence the name Pigment Ink, rather than Pigmented. Dye is unnecessary to create color brightness because a unique micro-dispersion of extremely fine pigment particles allows an extraordinary amount of colorant to be used. They print with practically no metamerism, and offer the best combined longevity and color gamut. Pigment inks are not affected by color enhancement papers in the way that dye inks are. However, they are not very compatible with gloss. PiezoTone are pure pigment inks!

"I would contend that too much emphasis is put on longevity today. None of the other art disciplines are as concerned with this topic as digital printmaking is. Even photography is plagued by process such as the most popular C-Print (Chromogenic) process which chemically deteriorates even in the dark. Even Cibachrome / Ilfachrome prints can not keep up with certain inkjet inks and media. Watercolors are prone to fading as are pastels. More emphasis should be placed on educating the consumer on how to care for works on paper. And you can quote me on that".

           Jon Cone