Not sure where these longevity numbers are coming from. Even cheap litho inks on acid and lignin filled newspaper pulp will last two hundred years depending on the environmental, handling, and aged print quality assumptions being made. That said, I just bought a Pixma Pro-100 from Adorama ($399 plus a free package of 13x19 25 sheet Semigloss Paper which then qualifies the purchase for a $300 rebate from Canon). I received it today. I recently concluded that it is now time to revisit the pluses and minuses of dye versus pigment inks. I welcome the printmaking community to join in the fun. I will take this printer and relevant media through initial image quality evaluations, light fade resistance, short term drift, and long term humidity resistance studies on various relevant media over the coming months. These are the kinds of studies that separate pigment versus dye performance over time. I welcome the printmaking community to help me with media selection choices. Media selection will probably be key to finding what's good and what's not in terms of image durability over time.
cheers,
Mark
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com
Hi Mark -
I'm with you regarding longevity - it will be fascinating to see what the actual longevity of these inks and papers REALLY is, despite what the claims of the manufacturer are (which is where the 100 year longevity numbers come from). Granted, all the aspects of archival storage vs "out in the full sun" come into play, so it's all relative or irrelevant, whatever the case may be. Put these prints away in a dark drawer, and assuming the space/enclosure is acid free, etc., who knows just how long they would last. Put them on a wall in a home in Florida or Arizona where the sun sweeps across, daily, and no matter what, I'd say no way 100 years. I'll certainly be interested in your scientific findings.
Also, I'm genuinely curious. Would you really use this dye-based printer to create portfolio prints for clients' viewing if you intend to deliver pigmented ink prints to clients once they have made their selections? In my own situation regarding this printer, I want to make prints to be bound in a book where light fade resistance is a lesser requirement but abrasion resistance is a higher requirement. Humidity resistance may be the deal breaker, however, so I need to run some further confirming tests before I fully commit myself to dye-based prints bound in a book.
cheers,
Mark
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com
Thanks for asking this question, Mark, I'm happy to respond. I do predominately motion-blur abstracts, that ultimately end up being printed as large as my 44" Z3200ps printer can go. I've been looking at doing dye-sub on aluminum panels as well. In discussing my work with a client, I usually put out a portfolio that contains the same image on several different substrates, to give an idea of what the image could be on different materials. I can and do print 13 x 19 canvas pieces as well, and offer that as an example of what the image looks like on canvas. My main goal is to sell the image, which will be much larger, and I want all the "pop" I can get. Often I leave the 13 x 19 image with a client to mull over, and sometimes, they just buy the smaller piece, because they have to have it.
I've been struggling with portfolio formats that are portable, and have been investigating published books. I've done one with MyPublisher, and found that when using the lay flat pages and going with the super gloss coating on the heaviest sheet that it works somewhat OK, but nothing I would really show. So I too am interested in a bound book or portfolio and I like the idea of working with these inks and papers, for exactly what you have indicated - abrasion resistance, lesser light fade requirements, etc.
Understanding that one of these dye images is about what one gets when a Chromalux aluminum dye sub print is made, so this print sample represents about what one might see in a Chromalux print, more or less. When I have the Pixma Pro 100 13 x 19 prints, Z3200ps prints on Matte, and Z3200ps prints on canvas, most of what I can offer for substrate is covered. These choices give a client plenty opportunity to visualize what surface choices can be.
Also, while we're on the subject of experimenting, I'm doing that with printing many of my abstract images to see and understand what the differences between dye inks and pigmented inks really is, comparing the images side by side.
So far, I'm really liking what this printer can do, and given the fact that I got the Adorama deal - the printer ends up being about $30 bucks, or so after the rebate, with the free paper.
I'll definitely be interested in seeing the outcome of your testing - how about starting with Pro Semi-Gloss Paper?
-Mark Lindquist
http://lindquiststudios.comhttp://robograph.com
