Epson Exhibition Fiber has betrayed me

[texshooter]

I can no longer praise Epson Exhibition Fiber. I have a few unused boxes that are a couple years old. I printed a test color chart to discover that this paper ages very quickly. Just look at the faded color after just two years of sitting unopened in a dark and dry box. I tried other brands that have been sitting on the shelf for the same amount of time, and they look just fine, no fading.  It's just EFF that's unusable. Anybody else notice the same thing?

[hugowolf]

An acid free archival box, or the box the sheets came in?

Brian A

[texshooter]

The box it came in. Magenta is the worst, but black and orange are hit hard too. To be more clear, the ink is not faded. Rather, the paper's ability to absorb the ink has weakened, especially the magenta ink. I printed the color charts today on two year old paper. The paper has been stored inside the plastic bag inside the box it came in. How can a paper lose absorption strength?

[Ernst Dinkla]

Given the rest of its quality issues, like the abnormal paper white shift in time, the paper is not worth any further testing IMHO. However your message is a bit confusing. Do you see any puddling then if it does not absorb the ink well or do you mean the magenta remains weak in color strength when dry? To be sure, there is no sheet of protection paper printed that was also in box? Back and front side of the EEF is too obviously different to make mistakes about.


--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
April 2014, 600+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[Paul2660]

I have stopped using Epson EF for most jobs for other reasons. However I have 3 large boxes of 24x30 and occasionally use this paper.  After reading your post I made a test print and am not seeing this issue.

It may be a bad lot or a different paper manufacturer. Epson does not make their own papers as they don't own a mill.   

I would look at the Canson Infinity lineup.

Paul

[Randy Carone]

tex, can you rephrase the problem. Maybe I'm dim, but I don't know what you are trying to show us.

[texshooter]

tex, can you rephrase the problem. Maybe I'm dim, but I don't know what you are trying to show us.

Look at the magenta chevron. Does it look normal to you?  It looks faded, rubbed out, smeared, whatever. The paper in the image is two years old, but the print is new.   When I print on new EEF paper, and other brands,  the magenta chevron looks normal. I don't know why. It can't be the printer or the ink because new paper stock looks fine. It can't be a bad batch of paper, because I tested a second box which is three years old and it, too, looks abnormal. Two bad batches, manufactured a year apart, can't explain this phenomenon. The only reasonable conclusion: Epson Exhibition Fiber = Bad.