THE MEDIA TAKES A LONG TIME TO DRY

There are several factors affecting the length of time it takes for a print to dry, including the amount of ink laid down, room temperature, the humidity of the room and the amount of air being circulated. Place the print on a flat surface in a warm dry environment with good air circulation to obtain the best results.

WHAT CAN I USE TO MOUNT MY HARMAN INKJET PRINTS?

Inkjet prints may be mounted using dry-mount tissues, double sided adhesives and other materials designed specifically for photographic materials. It is important if using a dry-mount press that a temperature of no higher than 180 °F (82°C) be used. It is preferable to use a cold-mount tissue wherever possible. High mounting temperatures or poor quality mounting adhesives may affect the long-term stability of the print.

CAN I USE TEXTURED LACQUER SPRAYS ON HARMAN INKJET PAPER?

Photographic spray lacquers may be used on HARMAN Inkjet papers as long as the product is specifically designed for photographic inkjet products. Before the lacquer is applied it is important that the print be allowed to dry for 24 hours.

ARE HARMAN INKJET PAPERS ACID FREE?

Yes, HARMAN Inkjet materials are acid-free.

ARE HARMAN INKJET PAPERS AVAILABLE IN ROLLS OR JUST SHEETS?

HARMAN Inkjet papers will be available in both roll and sheet formats, depending on the particular product. You should check the particular product information to determine sheet and roll size availability for that product.

DO HARMAN INKJET PAPERS REQUIRE ANY SPECIAL HANDLING BEFORE OR AFTER PRINTING?

The paper should be left n the original packaging until you are ready to use it. This will prevent the effect of any ambient conditions such as very high or low humidity from affecting the paper. Once removed from the package you should avoid touching the printing surface and handle the paper by the edges only. Touching the printing surface may leave an oily deposit that may affect the ink absorption characteristics of the paper.

After printing care should be taken not to scuff the printed surface of the print. This is especially true when the print initially emerges from the printer.

HOW LONG WILL MY INKJET PRINTS LAST?

Today’s inkjet printers, combined with state of the art photo quality inkjet papers, such as those from HARMAN technology, can produce prints that not only rival the quality of traditional colour photographs, but also comfortably outlast them.

However, the answer to this question is and always will be somewhat conditional, because the paper used to make the print is just one of the factors. Others include:

· type of printer

· type of inks

· paper and ink combination

· amount and type of light the print receives

· humidity, temperature and the degree and frequency with which they change

· presence of pollutants in the air

Fortunately, the science of assessing longevity through accelerated testing is keeping pace with the proliferation of inkjet usage in imaging. Committees comprised of industry representatives—and independent experts such as Wilhelm Imaging Research and the Image Permanence Institute at the Rochester Institute of Technology —continue to develop ISO standards in the inkjet arena, although no standard has yet been agreed or published that specifies predictive tests for the effects of light fading.

Nevertheless, for home display, a de facto predictive standard has been adopted by the majority of the imaging industry, based on a light level of 450 lux for 12 hours per day at a temperature of 23C and 50% Relative Humidity. Estimated years of life under normal display conditions can then be derived from the total amount of light that prints have received in accelerated testing. However, this can only be an average, and actual life will be very much dependent on individual display conditions which will vary considerably. These factors include: the size and facing of the windows (e.g. south, skylights etc), use of blinds/drapes during the day, whether prints, which we do not advise, will be in full sun anytime during the day, and the position in the room where the prints will be displayed. In addition the level at which noticeable fading is reached, so that prints are considered unacceptable will be very much subject dependent.

There is also wide agreement that the effect on print life from normal levels of incandescent (tungsten or compact fluorescent) lighting found in homes is negligible. Virtually all light induced fading that occurs is from daylight. As a result, print life data published by HARMAN technology and many other companies is based on exposing prints in an industry standard test chamber containing a filtered high intensity Xenon arc lamp, which closely simulates daylight through a window. HARMAN technology follows this practice.

Unless prints are intended to be displayed under fluorescent lighting only (e.g. in a room either without a window, or well away from one) results based on testing with high intensity fluorescent light will predict appreciably longer print life than results based on daylight simulation. For this reason it is important to check, when comparing predicted life from other manufacturers, what type of high intensity lighting the data is based on.

For the reasons stated above, HARMAN technology believes that simulated daylight testing more closely represents real world conditions.

Recently published research by the Eastman Kodak Company that repeated an earlier study in the 1980s has indicated that average levels of light exposure in many homes may be much lower than previously estimated, and at 100 – 150 lux, roughly one quarter of the above. As a result in homes with this lower average level of illumination prints may last very much longer than some present day published estimates suggest.

Inks used in printers fall into two categories: dyes that are similar to those used in traditional colour photographs, and pigments that are the colorants that are found in paints. Pigments are generally more resistant to fading than dyes.

We recommend that all prints intended for long term display be protected behind glass or laminated

With suitable polyester based laminate to reduce the influence of pollutants, excess humidity and other deterrents to print life.

HOW SHOULD I STORE MY INKJET PRINTS?

The well-established recommendation for storing traditional colour photographs in a “cool dry place” can also be applied to inkjet prints. This can be broadly defined as 24C (75F) or lower, with relative humidity in the 30-50% range. Attics and basements, or cellars, which can be subject to wide swings in heat and humidity, are not suitable environments for long-term storage.

Testing has shown that inkjet prints develop less stain than traditional colour photographs over time. Thermal fade (i.e. from heat alone) is also generally not an issue with inkjet inks.

Nevertheless, there are two important factors to be aware of that can seriously shorten the life of inkjet prints. These are: high humidity and air pollution. The extent to which a print will react to these factors is dependent on whether they were printed with dye or pigment inks and on what class of media: swellable polymer, or either microporous or nanoporous (see Glossary Section for a description of HARMAN PHOTO media types)

When dye based inkjet prints are subjected to high humidity or dampness, the colours have a tendency to bleed or spread, resulting in blurred looking prints. In extreme cases, direct water contact will cause streaking and destruction of the image. Pigment based inkjet prints on the other hand are much less susceptible to the effects of humidity, and are quite water resistant too. High humidity can also promote the growth of mould.

Atmospheric pollutants, especially ozone, can cause severe image degradation with some unprotected prints. This phenomenon, often known as gas fade is primarily, but not only, associated with dye images on nanoporous papers. It can be easily minimized by storing prints in photo albums and/or sleeves designed for the long-term storage of photographic prints.

As a practical result, any one of the factors mentioned above can determine the eventual life of a print. Light alone in many cases may not be the limiting factor. For example a print that is only exposed to relatively low light levels may be rendered unacceptable much sooner by being displayed in a strongly polluted atmosphere.

Further Reading: “A Consumer Guide to Traditional and Digital Print Stability”. This publication is a clear, easy to understand, eight-page guide that explains the main causes of image deterioration and suggests ways to make prints last longer. It was created by the Image Permanence Institute (at the Rochester Institute of Technology) with support from Creative Memories. It can be freely downloaded in PDF format from the Web at:

http://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/shtml_sub/consguides.shtml and

www.creativememories.com/stability.pdf

It also includes a comprehensive list of references for those who wish to study this subject in more detail than is possible here.

Another very valuable and equally unbiased resource is a website recently launched by the International Imaging Industry Association (I3A). This site: www.savemymemories.org provides comprehensive advice, on not only on how to protect, display and store your prints, but also how to back up and preserve the original digital camera files that the prints were generated from in the first place.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DYE AND PIGMENT INKS?

Dye Inks: These classes of inks, which use transparent dyes similar to those used in traditional color photographic prints, contain colorants that penetrate the surface of the inkjet paper. They are characterized by their vibrant colors and the wide color gamut that they can produce. Early generations of inkjet dyes had relatively poor resistance to light fading, often less than 10 years. However recent advances in dye chemistry have enabled print display life predictions of between 50 years and 100 + years to be claimed. Examples of these new dye sets include Chromaplus 100 from Canon, Epson Claria and HP Vivera. Dyes remain somewhat more susceptible to fading caused by atmospheric pollutants, and this is more apparent with porous papers (see below),

Pigment Inks: These inks contain particles of colorants similar to those used in automotive paints. They are opaque and due to their relatively large size stay on the surface of the print. In general images made with pigmented inks are more resistant to light fading, atmospheric pollution, high humidity and water than dyes. On the other hand, as above dyes still produce a larger color gamut and are less prone to surface artifacts, such as differential gloss and metamerism.

WHAT TYPES OF PAPERS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PHOTO QUALITY INKJET PRINTING, AND HOW DO THEY DIFFER?

Swellable Papers: (Also referred to as Swellable Polymer) As the name implies the ink receiving layers on these papers swell in thickness in the presence of the moisture in the ink, and allow the colorants to be absorbed. They typically have three layers: a protective top layer, a second that anchors the droplets of ink in place, and a third that absorbs other ink components. Due to their relatively large particle size, pigment inks are not usually recommended or compatible with swellable papers. The pigment particles tend to remain on the surface of the paper and the prints never completely dry.

Porous Papers: These papers are commonly called “instant dry” and may also be described as “ microporous” or nanoporous”. The technology behind them, and the way they absorb inks by rapid capillary action is quite different to swellable papers. The surface of a porous paper is coated with microscopic particles that create tiny cavities or pores that take up the ink and prevent it from spreading. This creates an effectively huge surface area for the ink to be absorbed to, which characterizes the “instant drying” that these papers are noted for. For the same reason porous papers have a higher resistance to moisture and humidity.

However, because they have no protective polymer layer, and have an enormous surface area, printed images on these papers are more susceptible to atmospheric pollutants such as ozone, and sulphur and nitrogen dioxides. This phenomenon is most often referred to as “gas fading”. Although both pigment and dye based inks are completely compatible with these papers, pigment inks in general will provide increased protection against “ gas fading”.

The terms microporous and nanoporous that are often, and somewhat misleadingly used interchangeably characterize the paper by its particle/pore size. Microporous paper layers use particles between 1 and 5 microns, whereas nanoporous particles are roughly one hundred times smaller at 50 nanometers or less. (A micron is one thousandth of a millimeter). The finer the particles, the finer the pores to absorb the ink, the smoother the paper and the glossier and more transparent the layer. The particles in a nano layer are so small that they do not scatter light anymore and are effectively invisible. The transparency of the layer is very important in achieving brilliant colors and true photo quality output.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RC, FIBER BASE AND FINE ART PAPERS?

Paper Base: In addition to the ink receiving and protective layers, depending on the paper type, the base of the paper will have in the case of RC papers (as used in traditional B&W and color silver halide papers) a paper base encapsulated between two layers of polyethylene, backed by additional layers to control curl and static electricity.

For true photographic quality fiber base papers a baryta (barium sulphate) layer is coated on top of the paper base. This enhances the detail and definition of the images, providing whiter whites and deeper blacks. It also has excellent archival qualities.

A third class of base usually known as “fine art” or cotton rag papers are 100% cotton fiber matt, and may be coated or uncoated. Cotton papers are usually described as acid and lignin free, and may also contain alkaline buffering agents to provided increased protection against atmospheric pollutants. Most are relatively heavyweight, do not contain optical brightening agents (which means that they have creamy “natural “ look), and have surface characteristics that range from smooth to heavily textured.