Lyson
Archival Inks
and other kinds of ink for fine art giclée prints
Horror
stories of fading colors have made it difficult for reputable companies
even when their inks offer longevity. One review indicated that Epson
prints, if put outside in the sun, fade within a day. This is something
Epson ads in popular magazines do not tell you about.
Printer
companies claim the warranty is voided if you use other inks. Yet
this claim is illegal in the United States. It is illegal, against
several Federal statutes, to require that a buyer have to buy a certain
product in order to maintain a warranty.
A
variety of experienced companies made inks that last for decades.
Unfortunately
few independent ink testing centers have developed means for testing
longevity that people take seriously. For example, people who have
actually produced ink for centuries (such as VanSon and other European
companies) get a smile on their face when you mention the claims of
ink longevity that are popular in trade magazines.
If
an ink manufacturer pays someone to test their inks, this "test" is not considered independent. Second, none of these companies nor
testing places have, so far, actually guaranteed their inks with a
written contract (3M being the notable exception; when 3M says their
inks last x-years outdoors, you get an actual guarantee).
But,
why worry? How do you know the paper itself will last a hundred years?
As long as the original image is safe, the picture can easily be reprinted.
What is important is that the image last the lifetime of a normal
viewer, say 50 to 75 years. True archival inks will become available
in the meantime, after all, there are billions of dollars available
for whomever develops such an ink.
In
the meantime, Lyson, Ilford, VanSon,
and American Ink Jet offer inks you can use for your
exhibits, fine art, and giclée prints. Many of these inks will outlast
a conventional color photograph.
FLAAR
tested Epson inks on desktop printers about five
years ago (they failed all the tests). We then tested Encad
GA inks and were pleasantly surprised when the images still held their
color after four years. A bit different than the day the prints rolled
off the printer, but still acceptable for the museum where these prints
still hang.
This
January we initiated tests of Encad GO inks (which are rated to outlast
GA inks). Ilford is preparing to send us a variety of inks. Whenever
we receive other inks, such as Lyson, etc., we will be glad to test
them as well. We tested the new UV
pigmented inks for the Hewlett-Packard
DesignJet 5000 and were surprised at the wide color gamut, definitely
better than any previous HP pigmented inks.
If
you need to find a place to buy inks for fine art giclée printing,
you should select a place where the people are specialists in fine
art giclée printers, media, and inks
Last Updated
Jan. 15, 2003
Previouly updatedr June 9, 2001 (EM), May.17, 2000 
