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Printers, Ink and Paper
Recent development in inkjet printer ink means prints are now as permanent
as any other archival print medium - better than photography, better
than commercial printing and very much better than the previous
generation of inkjets.
To realise the extra life several points must be adhered to: Ultraviolet
must be excluded, Various airborne contaminants must be excluded - ozone
- this is best achieved by placing the prints behind glass. Papers must
be acid free with no trace of specific chemicals - preferably as
recommended by the ink manufacturer.
If these precautions are followed 100+ years can be expected before
significant (5%) fade or colour change is discernable.
The most popular and available long life inks are: Epson's DuraBright
and UltraBright pigment based inks and Canon's ChromaLife 100 four
(CMYK) dye based and one black pigmented.
Recommended printers include:
Canon Pixma IP4500 at £63 has outstanding paper handling, including
double sided, and colour using 5 (two blacks) ChromaLife 100 inks with
their coated papers. Now superceded by IP4600 at £80+
Watch this space.
Papers
There are a lot of very bad papers on the UK market purporting to be
'inkjet' paper. The ideal paper should:
• Specify a DPI (Dots Per Inch) rating of 4000 and above.
• Be double sided - for gift cards, etc.
• Be at least 160 GSM thickness - some printers do not like heavier then
300 GSM (140 lb).
• Be Matt not Gloss - because gloss papers behind glass often produce
objectionable fringe effects and or Newton's rings.
A good example which meets these requirements is the
Ryman Double Sided
Matt A4 160gsm rated at 5000 dpi.
Last updated March 2008
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