[neutron]

hello to my fellow light majicians! my name is neutron and this is my first post. as i learn "the system" perhaps i will put this question in a different thread at a latter date. question: i bought some heavy watercolour paper (white and at $3.25 for a sheet measuring 3x3 feet) at a craft store. i printed a few images using a canon 9000. the result was a heavy textured, acceptable (but not sharp-that is the idea) sharpness and very nice tone which, of course, can be tuned in pshot. Question: what is the "life" of the image of this print? will it fade and when? i like to experiment with different papers but this question, an important one, persists. any ideas would be appreciated either thru a thread or to neutron.copernicus@gmail.com. i am looking forward to enjoying this site. neutron

[silkstone]

Hi neutron and welcome to Pixalo.

TBH I wouldn't post your e-mail address here - most forums are scanned by web-bots that will grab your address and add it to their spam lists.

The Canon i9000 uses dye inks which will fade over time. It depends on exposure to both light and air. If you mount the photo behind glass, that reduces the gas fading, but there will still be light fading. How quickly depends on all sorts of factors, but you could notice a difference after just a year or two, especially since you're not using 'approved' photo paper. Having said that, I have some framed pics printed on an i9950 which look fine after over three years hanging on the wall.

Some printers use pigment inks (or a newer dye formulation) which tend to last a bit longer, but they are more fussy about the type of paper and the longevity is only guaranteed if you use archival grade paper.

The good news of course is that you can always print them out again. Given that you are using a non-standard paper type, it's difficult to give any definite advice. One thing you could do is to make two prints with some primary colours, and leave one print in strong sunlight for a time and the other in darkness. After a few weeks, see if there's any difference.

[stepheno]

Hi neutron and welcome to Pixalo. Silkstone is right about your email addy and is usually right about anything to do with printing

[P-E]

[Sonsey]

Hi neutron, it's good to have you at Pixalo!

[Geir Andersen]

neutron

[neutron]

to silkstone, stepheno, p-e and sonsey; thank you for your responses. it gave me a warm, 81B feeling. in regards to my question; i was 95% sure of the answer but i was hoping (i am an optimist) that i was wrong. is there a spray that would work? also, i bought an inkpress sample pack that included some transparancy film. taking a long shot, i will print on this and affix it to the watercolour paper by using a border frame.
i can already tell that i am going to enjoy this board. i have been a pro for a long time but the last four years have been filled with trials and tribulations which i am thankfully done with. i am new to digital so after this long time period i am really catching up and loving every minute of it. thank you all again. its a nice world when there are kind people like yourselves living in it, neutron ///I

[silkstone]

It's good to have you here, neutron.

You can buy spray lacquer to seal photos and artwork, and that will reduce gas fading and perhaps help with light fading too, but there is then a risk that the lacquer itself will discolour.

I believe that your printer has an ink formulation that is claimed to be fairly light-fast, although again I'm not sure if that will apply when using non-standard paper. Since all photos are inclined fade eventually, I'd be tempted to go ahead and not worry about it too much.

[WOODY]

HI

[simpbow]

Hi &