shelf life of paper?

[Bill Kramer]

Does inkjet photo paper have a shelf life? I realize that the paper it self should not age if properly stored, but do the coatings change or loose their ability to hold ink over time. The time span I am thinking about would be paper that has sat around my studio for 3-5 years.

[Ernst Dinkla]

Several things you could control are; air and light tight packaging which should reduce humidity fluctuations in the paper and reduce oxygen exchange of the air inside as well, that might destroy optical whiteners as light will do too. The space your paper is stored in should have a low temperature but at the same time a low humidity till the paper is used when it should be around 55%. You will still see a more permanent curl created in roll paper that is longer stored but for the rest I do not think aging has much impact on both the paper and the inkjet coating properties. Keep the polyethylene bags your paper came with as I presume they do not gas out the wrong chemicals when aging, other plastics might.

One of my many things to do is creating a dryer module with a Peltier element to place in an already made paper roll cupboard. I can store rolls on HP 44" spindles etc in that steel cupboard which makes it easier to exchange paper types on the printer. It is in fact an office cupboard with sliding doors laid on its side as the dimensions then were appropriate for 44" spindles.

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Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

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