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Jan. 10, 2006
When you're shopping for a photo printer these days, the question about the print display lifespan of this model vs that model is bound to pop up. But should you really be concerned? Or should a printer's price, color, overall image quality, and other features—like built in card readers or an LCD monitor for previewing photos—be the primary reasons you choose it?
I think the permanence issue is overrated for digital prints, and it was already headed that way in the 1990's when Fuji and Kodak went at each other over display-life claims for their silver-halide based color print papers. Both companies based their claims on different accelerated test criteria (primarily the light levels used), but nearly all players agreed that the print display life of their newest color papers had been improved dramatically from their older papers. (From 20 to 60 years depending on the paper, compared to less than 10 years on older versions.) Ok, it took nearly 40 years to address and solve the problem, but at that point, I thought the controversy was essentially over for most film shooters (after all, only a small fraction of prints remain on display in a home after 20 years).
But then digital printing came along and print fading took on new prominence. Certainly, no one wants to frame a print that fades within a few years, and most of us have seen examples of that happening to early digital prints as well as older film-based color photos. However, in a relatively short time period of only ten years, Epson, Canon, and HP made significant longevity advances in their ink jet models. Based on accelerated tests from the Wilhelm-Research Institute, you should be able to get 30+ years out of most Canon ink jet models, 70+ years out of HP's Photosmart printers, and up to 200 years on several Epson models (all when using their best photo papers, and all on display in a frame behind glass.) The numbers are higher when prints are stored in a decent photo album, but most ink jet printers now exceed the display life of the best silver-halide based photo papers--at least according to Wilhelm-Research.
How long is good enough? If you're planning to sell prints or display them in a gallery, display life should be an important factor. But for making enlargements you plan to give as gifts or display in your home or office, print longevity should take a back seat to the other concerns I mentioned above. That said, I'm making all my display prints for gifts, and for hanging in my home and office on printers that claim to deliver over 100 year print longevity. But that gives you an idea of the size of my ego.
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