printing photos vs. professionally printed....my whoas.

[Richard_Cranium72]

I use the "Original" PhotoSmart Printer, ya know the one that's the size of a MicroWave Oven ..

No fading for me in over 3 years of photo's and I use Kodak Glossy Heavy paper, 118#

My 712c printer does about the same, though I've not had any out for over 8 months or so to judge.

The HP folks will probably blame the lack of using HP papers, I know that some Epsons do really have a BAD problem with fading.
This might have something to do with the "Archival" inks that Epson has developed lately.

If memory serves correct, HP inks on HP Photo paper are supposed not to fade for about 4-7years, stored away from UV Light and Ozone.

Are yours exposed to either ?

DrVette

[DVNT1]

Your entirely right, that's a problem with all of the inkjets and standard ink. I understand laser will lasts longer because of the heat fusion of ink to paper. I've read about special inks that aren't acidic(sp?) which helps. I also think they only are good for certain printers too.

Another alternative is a spray coating after printing. I don't remember what the spray(s) are called. My wife is really into that long lasting printing due to her hobby of "scrapbooking").

[Jonty]

I printed some photos onto Epson photo quality ink jet paper about a year ago and I notice now that there are strange yellow streaks, not on the photo itself but on the unprinted part. The paper has been stored in the dark and I use genuine Epson ink too.

[FeOats]

I have the HP970 printer (which will be two years old in November) which I use to print all of my photos. I haven't noticed fading, yet. However, knowing that fading will eventually happen, I recently purchased a laminator. For pictures I will be laminating, I print them on the thinner Epson photo quality glossy paper (laminates beautifully). Otherwise I prefer either HP's premium plus glossy paper or any paper by Kodak for printing photos going into a frame or into a photo album.

[SoopaStar]

I have an HP Photosmart i1000 printer and I have been using it to print most of my photogaphs. Recently, I have noticed something a tad disturbing (to me anyways) for most of the photos I have printed in the last 6 months.
They are fading. Skin tones are turning white-ish, colors are loosing their brightness. I find it quite annoying that HP pushes these printers and their paper (glossy and matte finish) as a replacement for getting film developed. And now this happens to the pics? I am using Kodak glossy high quality paper and the HP cartidges (no refills here!).
Anyone else have this problem or know of a way to 'treat' the pics do they don't fade?

Paul

[krusty]

I have heard that Epson have or are about to bring out some non-fade inks for their printers as this is a known problem

[Egg 'n' Bacon]

Pratically all inkjet inks fade at a faster or slower rate, according to several factors; the ink to start with, the atmosphere where the print is displayed, how much sunlight, etc. At present, the most cst efficient way of prolonging print life, is to emulate FeOats, & use a laminator. This prevents the inks from oxidising prematurely.

I have an A4 print I did 2 years ago on an Epson EX (A3 photo printer), which was framed soon after printing, & this has stayed fresh as a daisy. Others done as late as 6 months ago are already showing signs of age.

So it seems the ideal way to treat your prints, is in the same way that museum & gallery curators look after their displays.

Good luck, whatever you do http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Fingers (edited 09-05-2001).]

[Richard_Cranium72]

I found one name at Staples that looks right but the price is staggering.
8x10 sheets are about $1.25 each, ughh

GBC Cold Laminating Supplies

GBC Cold Laminating Film, Single-side Sheets, 8 3/4" x 11 1/4", 5 Mil., Hot/Cold, 10/Pack

Item No. 376706
10/Pack $12.99

Create a variety of protected materials from any photo or image! Use with cool touch laminators or on the cold-run setting of DocuSeal laminators. Protect your important business materials and collectors items.

The "Hot" laminator on a roll is the only feasable way, and it's expensive to set up initially.

What to do?

[Mr. NoOne]

At least here in New Jersey there's a lab that does prints on real photographic paper, it goes trough chemical and it's all the same process as if it were from a negative.
And the quality is amazing...

Of course the printer that does this is soooooo expensive (i think they said $ 250 grand) that is out of the question if you wanna buy one, but you might wanna check out their web site and compare prices...

The company is called Accucolor labs (http://www.accucolor-lab.com)

[CadetStimp]

Looks like commercial inkjet based digital photo processing is on the way....
http://www.phogenix.com/article_0501.html

Looks like they are also using a laminate process.

[rh71]

I use Epson also and I noticed the fade after a few days. Then I compared it to another one I had printed out before and that was perfectly fine. The difference? The older one was encased in glass/frame. My only advice to prolong the color would be to frame the pics!

[RP]

Dye Sub (Dye Sublimation) printers are the only ones that can give a true photographic quality color printed image and last over time.
The Textronics units were the main ones around and used to cost $10,000 a few years ago.
Now you can find an Olympus Dye Sub printer at about a thousand and the results are spectacular.
More competition from other companies is on the way - to the benefit of all of us.

[SysOpt]

I used to try to print photos myself but I found the experience to be time consuming and costly. What I use now:

http://www.ofoto.com