Print Permanence – the Guru speaks
Print permanence is one the most crucial issues, if not the most crucial issue, in acceptance of digital printing in the fine art world. Early versions of inkjet printers were plagued with horrible fading and color drift issues, and dedicated digital fine art printers are still fighting against that reputation to this day.
Henry Wilhelm has long been one of the world’s experts on print permanence for both traditional and digital printing, and he started Wilhelm Imaging Reseach to help disseminate his findings. Michael Reichmann posted a 1 hour + interview with Henry Wilhelm yesterday on his Luminous Landscape site. Despite its length (or because of it), it is well worth a listen. He covers all sorts of territory, including the different issues facing traditional prints and digital prints, dye-based versus pigment-based digital prints, issues relating to different inkjet papers (cotton rag, alpha cellulose, etc.), the presence of lingins or optical brightening agents (OBAs), and more. If you are at all interested in finding out more about these issues, I’d recommend taking a look. It does get a bit technical at times, but the overall interview is pretty accessible.
Wilhelm’s site itself is also well worth a visit as he provides tons of useful information free of charge. You can find longevity ratings and hundreds of paper-ink combinations (and, yes, each paper-ink combination is different – the combination of the two can result in unexpected effects). One recent posting covers ratings for each of Harman’s new papers printed on the Epson K3 prints – a concise 8 page PDF report gives you all the information you need to know about the expected permanence of prints made with this combination. It is not the most user-friendly site, but you can’t beat the value.
Wilhelm’s site also covers traditional printing methods, including gelatin silver black & white, color C-prints and R-prints, etc.
You’ll inevitably be asked about the permanence of your digital prints, and these free resources will give you a great starting point.
- Jim Nickelson
