David Harvey wrote:
> Cathryn,
>
> I tried to find the fairly recent posting on the ConsDist list in
> regards to this but couldn't find it. The only "archival" quality
> printer inks that I am aware of are the Epson inks that have been
> tested for stability.
>
The short answer is: (a) right and (b) go to Henry Wilhelm website
<http://www.wilhelm-research.com/> for the latest data on ink
permanence. HP also has a light stable series, see below.
The Epson pigmented inks are very light stable, and water/humidity
stable with details depending on particular paper type. This includes
the first generation of Epson pigmented inks used on the
2000P/4500/7500/9500/10500 some 5 years ago; the first generation had
very noticeable metamerism issues. The second generation, called
Ultrachrome pigmented inks, are used in the 2200/4600/7600/9600/10600
printers. The small ink particles are encased in microcrystalline wax,
making them water insensitive and rendering other properties.
The Ultrachrome Epson inks solved the metamerism problem and created a
rush toward the use of "permanent" inkjet images and printers. They
sold lots of printers. Their major advantage was that Bill Atkinson
(former Apple 1st gen. guy) created superior profiles that could be
downloaded from the Epson Pro website. He made profiles that had
complete control of the blacks and grays. Epson's third generation
inkset is called Ultrachrome K3. They are used in
2400/4800/7800/9800/10800 and "Atkinson" quality profiles are shipped
with the printers. Along with Epson gaining control of grays (routine
output of a fully neutral gray gradient) in the printer software, the K3
generation solved (a) one minor problem and (b) one major issue. The
minor issue is the matting down of darks on glossy Epson papers; the
wax coating of each pigment was made gloss rather than matte as in the
2nd gen. Ultrachrome pigmented inks. The major issue resolved, was the
rendering of B&W prints. The K3 inkset uses 2 gray and 1 black ink,
called "K" in the CMYK printing protocol, for much smoother and superior
B&W images. I'm still using my Epson 9600 with excellent results, after
3 years.
At the low end Epson has the DuraBright series used in the 6x and 8x
small desktop printers. They are not as controllable because they use
only 4 ink colors and are sold in under-$100 printers, but they have
good stability on specific papers. For details you need to dive into
the Wilhelm data. I use 84 & 86 printers on Epson "Premium Bright White
Paper" (paper by the ream $9/rm) for day to day printing of reports with
color on "plain" paper.
HP as a series of high stability dye inks in desktop and large format
printers, but I know almost nothing about them. All the fine detail
about specific ink generation, and printers, is not known to me, sorry.
My experience is that that the particular ink series, which can be
intuited from the Wilhelm data, are as stable as Epson pigmented inks,
but the printers are not as capable of rendering the image quality (dot
dithering and smoothness of transition from faint to dark of a
particular color). Do check their water/humidity stability, I not sure
about that. Many of their medium-level, large format printers, have
been using 3 black inks for some time for creating B&W image, which
Epson has now followed. They have good market penetration into
architects, sign makers and low-end image service bureaus.
Tim Vitale
Paper, Photographs &
Electronic Media Conservator
Film Migration to Digital Format
Digital Imaging & Facsimiles
Preservation & Imaging Consulting
Preservation Associates
1500 Park Avenue
Suite 132
Emeryville, CA 94608
510-594-8277
510-594-8799 fax
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