Print life for home printers

[Blasted]

I currently have a Canon ip5000 pixma printer and have been using Ilford paper. I like to print pictures out and want to stick them in an album. These are typically 7x5 in size.

My question is, how long will they last? Are they as good as the pictures I get if I were to send them away for printing or get them done at the supermarket?

Thanks

 

[ChrisGilbert]

Depends on the ink. I use a Pixma Pro 9000 but I make a point of using the genuine Chromalife100 inks - in the main because I sell my work and want to inherit the colour warranty that the inks come with, whatever that is worth - In 5 years of printing I have yet to have one fade that has been looked after properly.

 

[Blasted]

Thanks,

how long would a normal standard print from boots last? assuming it was put into an album.

 

[mrjames]

when they say a print will last "100 years", they mean it will last "100 years in a darkened museum, or album stored", UV light will accelerate print fading by a factor of several thousands times- i've read that 1 day in a window sill is equal to 100 years in storage.

I have made prints with the chromalife 100 inks and after a year i noticed blacks turning magenta, colours becoming more orange and magenta literally bleeding out of the black's, and that was in storage! (although I may have been using OEM inks at that time)

I just made some more prints and put them on the window sill with a book covering half the print, and after 3 weeks the print has nearly lost all colour saturation. . Also when framing if you use UV resistant glass, or have a print sealed (laminated) then it will be fade less, but in my experiences a bare print will fade dramatically in 1 week, i'm now using genuine canon inks but I'm still using the same olmec paper, so maybe canon paper works better in that regard but i'll never know because I no longer do my own printing.


If I was you I would probably get them done through somewhere like photobox, order before 4pm and you'll get them the next day, cheap and genuinely will not fade in any noticable length of time (I have 7x5's blue tacked on a sunlit wall which have been there for 2 years and haven't faded one iota)

 

[Blasted]

Thanks,

So what exactly is the difference between my home printed 7x5 and the one I get from boots or other printing retailer?

Is it inks, a combination of inks and paper, finishing treatment, method of printing?

 

[Willid1]

Thanks,

So what exactly is the difference between my home printed 7x5 and the one I get from boots or other printing retailer?

Is it inks, a combination of inks and paper, finishing treatment, method of printing?

Prints from most of the big printers will be on proper silver halide paper, this gives them the archival quality people want.

I have found that framed under glass and not in direct sunlight even ordinary inkjet prints last quite well, I have some that have been on the wall over 5 years and still "look" OK, but proper silver halide prints are the way to go.

Fuji Crystal Archive paper

Photobox use Fuji Crystal Archive paper

Given the cost I use Photobox to print any stuff I want to last.

HTH

David

 

[Blasted]

Thanks,

For my larger stuff I have been using DSCL and after checking it says they use Fuji standard crystal archive for glossy prints and Fuji DP Professional paper for the Lustre.

I agree about cost, after buying paper and then inks and all the faff that goes with it, it may just be simpler using boots for the small stuff and people like DSCL for the larger stuff, especially if it will last a bit longer.

 

[POAH]

depends on the ink, the paper and the storage.

the ip5000 is dye based so won't last long in sunlight

the fuji crystal archive prints have a print longevity of

50 years under UV glass
40 years under glass
26 years naked bulb

from wilhelm research.

your dye inks won't last anywhere near that - pigment inks are significantly better than what you get from fuji crystal archive prints

I currently have a Canon ip5000 pixma printer and have been using Ilford paper. I like to print pictures out and want to stick them in an album. These are typically 7x5 in size.

My question is, how long will they last? Are they as good as the pictures I get if I were to send them away for printing or get them done at the supermarket?

Thanks

 

[mrjames]

Thanks,

For my larger stuff I have been using DSCL and after checking it says they use Fuji standard crystal archive for glossy prints and Fuji DP Professional paper for the Lustre.

I agree about cost, after buying paper and then inks and all the faff that goes with it, it may just be simpler using boots for the small stuff and people like DSCL for the larger stuff, especially if it will last a bit longer.

i'd use DSCL for the smaller stuff too, unless you need 1 hour prints, or feel like keeping them in business

but remember that crystal archive paper is only used for images smaller than 18x12, they use a fuji frontier printer to print up to 18x12, which uses a laser to expose a light sensitive paper which is then developed in chemicals similar to standard film processing, but for bigger than 18x12 they do 'poster prints' using an epson inkjet, printed on epson ultra pearl or satin papers. I have never tested the difference between the 2 processes though.

 

[Blasted]

Thanks again guys. Looks like I will be sending a lot more stuff off to be printed rather than doing it at home.