<\/p>\n
This photo-buying advice is to help you become a more informed buyer of photographic art. Many things go into the quality of a print besides your attraction to the image, and some even unscrupulous sellers exaggerate claims or conceal drawbacks. Of course, you must adore an image before you even think of buying it, but what you learn here may help guide you through the thicket of variables to decide if the price being asked is fair.<\/p>\n
The foremost consideration is how the print was made. There is a dizzying variety of means of producing a photograph, and some are much better than others. All photographs fade and discolor slowly over time, sometimes over centuries and sometimes over months, depending on how it was made.<\/p>\n
We won\u2019t know with certainty how long a print lasts until it starts to fade but accelerated aging testing (blasting it with a bright light to make it fade faster) can make crude estimates of the display life of a print. Take these test results with a grain of salt, but they indicate the longevity of a print made by a given process.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll start with color processes. In the middle of the pack these days, in terms of display lifetime, are prints made in the old traditional fashion, with enlargers projecting a film image onto photosensitive paper, which is then processed in a series of chemical baths. Many digital photo printers use this same method, but substitute laser arrays or L.E.D. technology for the enlarger light source to project an image onto the photosensitive material (more on this later).<\/p>\n
Even within this category, there is a wide variety of tested lifetimes. Every paper is different! The best seems to be Fuji Crystal Archive paper<\/em>, with an estimated time before noticeable color shifts in the 60-year (or greater) range. Ironically, Eastman Kodak<\/em> historically has had much poorer silver-based color papers.<\/p>\n Several years ago, Kodak introduced a photographic paper claiming to have a 100-year lifespan, however, this claim was based on fading criteria four times looser than the Crystal Archive<\/em> tests \u2014 the Kodak lifetime would be 25 years under the same conditions that the Fuji paper yields a 60 year lifetime. Prints produced on the Ilfochrome<\/em>\u00a0process are probably comparable to the Crystal Archive<\/em> paper.<\/p>\n The digital variant of this classic process is to have the image exposed directly onto a photosensitive paper using three colored lasers, LEDs, or a CRT as the light source. The lifespan of these prints is the same as the lifespan of the paper they\u2019re printed on, but the image quality is likely to be better due to the exquisite control allowed by digital processing. Lightjet<\/em> and Chromira<\/em> are popular large-format machines of this type.<\/p>\n Fuji\u2019s and Noritsu\u2019s\u00a0digital minilab series printers dominated the market for silver halide digital printing, however, recent developments in inkjet technology are rapidly replacing chemical and silver-based printing in favor of the more compact, less expensive, and eco-friendly inkjet equipment.<\/p>\n At the high end of the lifespan, the range is specialty prints made by expensive processes such as the carbon printing processes. In these prints, three-color separations are made of the image and long-lasting pigment sheets are laid down in registration on a single piece of paper. These can last centuries but are very expensive. You\u2019re not likely to run into one of these in your church bazaar!<\/p>\n Digital output using inkjet printers is all the rage today but beware: many home and office-grade printers produce photos that can be very short-lived. I posted one in an east-facing window to catch a few hours of direct sun in the morning. After six months, it was significantly faded. The problem is that many consumer inkjet inks are dye-based<\/em>, and these fade rapidly in bright light.<\/p>\n A pigment-based ink, on the other hand, lasts much longer. Epson<\/em>\u2018s version of these inks, called Ultrachrome<\/em>, and Canon<\/em>\u2018s Lucia<\/em> pigment inks, when printed on archivally stable papers, have been tested to last even longer than Crystal Archive<\/em> paper before noticeable fading or color shifts. Recent developments in certain commercial dye-based inkjet technology, used in dry minilab equipment like the Epson D1070, appear to have overcome longevity issues and rival pigment-based inks.<\/p>\n If the print is made on a color photocopier, I wouldn\u2019t even touch it. These prints can often have a lifespan of a few months before noticeable fading occurs.<\/p>\n Note that I have been talking of display<\/em> lifetimes, i.e. lifespan when exposed to light. Should your photo be displayed on the wall, then this might be the only one to consider. But prints fade and discolor even in the dark. The processes that cause the dark color shifts are different from those that cause light fading, so the light and dark fading times are not directly related.<\/p>\n Beware of photographers who praise the lifetime of their work using only the dark storage numbers!<\/p>\n If your photo is going to be on display, it is primarily the light fading that matters. To trump up the other figure in sales hype is disingenuous.<\/p>\n Black and white prints tend to last much longer than color prints. A properly processed traditional black-and-white print can last for centuries. Note that this assumes it is a properly processed<\/em> print. (For those who don\u2019t know what these terms mean, this includes printing on fiber-based paper, using two fixing baths, a hypo-clearing bath, selenium toning, and extremely long wash times.)<\/p>\n Generally, fiber-based paper (FB) prints will outlast resin-coated (RC) prints. Inkjet output of black and white prints often lasts longer than color inkjet prints, even when using similar ink\/paper combinations. Thus the Ultrachrome<\/em> or Lucia<\/em> pigment inks, used with certain archival papers, are a good choice for printing black and white prints.<\/p>\n To sum up: question the longevity of consumer-grade inkjet or photocopier prints and ignore claims of dark storage lifetime. Look instead for inkjet or Gicl\u00e9e fine art prints produced on archival media using Ultrachrome<\/em> or Lucia<\/em> pigment inks.<\/p>\n Specialty processes can be expensive, but give exquisite images with long lifetimes. Traditional black and white prints should receive proper processing.<\/p>\n The matting is a thick board with a big rectangular hole in the middle that holds the photograph. It makes handling the photo safer since you\u2019re only touching the mat. It sets off the image in the middle of a blank field, separating it from busy surroundings for a more pleasing display.<\/p>\n A beautiful matting job can enhance the beauty of the photo. When placed in a frame, the matting spaces the photo away from the glass so it can\u2019t stick to it.<\/p>\n Mats come in a variety of qualities. The cheapest is poster board, a glorified cardboard used for short-term displays. This stuff is inexpensive, however, it is laced with the natural acid of the wood pulp that it is made from. This acid will eat away at the photo wherever it touches. If a photograph is matted this way, it won\u2019t last nearly as long as if it was finished with an acid-free mat.<\/p>\n Good mat boards come in two kinds. One is a wood-based board with the acid (and wood lignin, also an evil agent) removed. Even better is a board made of cotton (\u201crag board\u201d). Be careful, as some matboards are declared acid-free when the lignin hasn\u2019t been fully removed, and it will turn acidic in time. So look for \u201cacid-free\u201d in the mat board, but the two boards I\u2019ve just described go beyond simply acid-free.<\/p>\n If the print is framed, it should be framed with a mat. If the photo is popped into a frame, it will eventually stick to the glass and be ruined in time. If you MUST frame without a mat, use Acrylic glazing (like Plexiglass<\/em>) instead of glass.<\/p>\n Acrylic is far less likely to permit moisture condensation between the photo and glazing. Moisture can readily accumulate when the frame is exposed to rapid changes in temperature in a humid environment.\u00a0 This trapped moisture will \u201cglue\u201d the two surfaces together, ruining your precious print.<\/p>\n To sum up: poster board makes a poor quality mat, acid-free and lignin-free wood pulp board or rag board are the best. If the photo is in a frame, it should be matted, or glazed using quality picture glass or Acrylic.<\/p>\n Let the buyer beware: there are a couple of other things to watch out for when buying. One is the size of the print. If you compare sizes when shopping for photos, be advised that some photographers list the \u201csize\u201d of their print by the size of the mat board it is mounted on, not by the actual photo size.<\/p>\n This gives them a false appearance of economy. Be sure you know which your particular vendor is using. There is nothing wrong with carrying around a ruler to check the size of the photos for yourself when you visit a gallery or artist\u2019s display.<\/p>\n Lastly, let me point out to you that prints can look different under different illuminations. A print that looks muddy and dark under dim light may spring to sparkling life under a brighter light. Prints viewed under the yellowish light of an incandescent bulb may look different when viewed under sunlight coming through a window. If at all possible you should view a potential purchase under the same illumination, both color and intensity, that it will have when you display it.<\/p>\n When buying in person, don\u2019t be afraid to ask the photographer if you can hold the photo and walk around into a light source like the one you\u2019ll be hanging it in. Since this shows you are an informed buyer who is seriously considering a purchase, they should have no objection to this.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Written by Timothy Edberg This photo-buying advice is to help you become a more informed buyer of photographic art. Many things go into the quality of a print besides your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":7000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[218,76],"tags":[59,63],"class_list":["post-1674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technical","category-tips","tag-display","tag-tech"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tHow Was the Print Matted?<\/h2>\n
Caveat Emptor<\/em>:<\/h2>\n