Print life
When it comes to ink jet printing one of the important factors is the lightfastness, or resistance to fading, of the print. Early generations of ink jet printers used dye based inks as these gave bright, intense colours but poor light resistance. Fortunately, technology moves on and developments in print-head technology and the ink manufacturing process have resulted in pigment based inks for inkjet printing. Pigment based inks significantly improved the lightfastness properties of the print, but the paper used also plays a part, the paper used to print newspapers will turn yellow very quickly – but a newspaper is only expected to last for a day. So, if you want to display a print it is important that the paper you use can also offer good light resistance too. When researching the printer I wanted to use I found a really useful website by a company called Wilhelm Imaging Research which test for companies like Epson, Canon, HP etc. The good thing about this company is that all the tests are carried out using the same test procedure – so no marketing spin!! For those of you that are interested, they also provide details on the test method used. Wilhelm Imaging Research also provide test results carried out on third party suppliers such as Hahnemuhle, Canson and Lumijet.
The website is basically split into five columns, archival sub-zero storage, test methods, 3rd party inks & papers, desk-top printers, medium & wide format printers (or you can use the search option). The website address is www.wilhelm-research.com.
West Park Museum & Art Gallery
I have recently done some work for West Park Museum & Art Gallery in Macclesfield using digital images produced by Alan Bardsley. This museum holds a collection of work by C F Tunnicliffes RA OBE who produced fantastic art – etchings, woodcuts, acrylics, oil – you name it – he could do it. To see more of his work visit www.thecharlestunnicliffesociety.co.uk.
