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Thread: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

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  1. #1

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    Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    Maybe it was just the way I was printing back then, but going through a bunch of old color Epson pigment prints from 2007-08 I was struck by how green they were, consistently. Back then I was using an Epson 2200 with the Ilford Pearl RC type paper, I don't remember forgetting the Magenta!

    Has anyone else had prints leaching Magenta from older color ink jets? I think my B&Ws were also contrastier, like they lost something too. Might just be my eyes or brain fooling me too though, I may have been in a very green state of mind... I know I am a better printer and the new papers and printer do better color. They aren't as bad as the Epson 1100 prints from the 90s! (Yet my 1992 Iris prints are still going strong!)

  2. #2
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    Sometimes I think that with today's "Dump the new and get the newer", the term "archival" means that it will last until you get tired of looking at it.

    But, yeah...the old magenta goes bye-bye pretty quickly. Funny...I have old inkjet prints on regular computer paper that have maintained color better than the same image printed at the same time with the same printer/inks on inkjet "photo paper". I think it is because the ink got into the paper and was less accessable to UV than with the photo paper where the ink sits more on the surface of the paper (and perhaps the one uses less ink with inkjet photo paper).

  3. #3
    Format Omnivore Brian C. Miller's Avatar
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    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    How were they stored/mounted/displayed? I have a big one, stored in the dark, only displayed under UV blocking glass, which has lasted since 2004, no problems.
    "It's the way to educate your eyes. Stare. Pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long." - Walker Evans

  4. #4

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    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    Mostly in sleeves in the dark, so maybe those archival polypro or polyester sleeves had something to do with it?

  5. #5

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    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    I printed with the 2200 for several years. Coincidentally I happened to have occasion just yesterday to go through all my color prints including those printed with my old 2200. There was no obvious fading, discoloration, or any other problem in any of them that I noticed in a quick run-through. FWIW my prints are stored in boxes sold by Light Impressions and Adorama. I didn't start any serious digital color printing until about 2004 so the color prints don't go back very far.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  6. #6
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    Hopefully I won't be accused of being anti-digital for stating this, but once
    again there's the possibility that the optimism of accelerated aging tests don't always replicate real world conditions. All one has to do is peruse some of the inkjet patents to see that not all the dyes used to color certain
    pigments are first rate in terms of permanence. Other characteristics have
    to take priority. This was certainly the case with certain magenta components. Of course, I can't speak for every tweak out there, or for every combination of ink and paper, any more than anyone else can. But
    this kind of experience should make one wary of all the marketing hype.
    After all, how does one know something has two hundred years of archival permanence when it's only been on the market a few years, or
    not yet at all?

  7. #7

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    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Hopefully I won't be accused of being anti-digital for stating this, but once
    again there's the possibility that the optimism of accelerated aging tests don't always replicate real world conditions. All one has to do is peruse some of the inkjet patents to see that not all the dyes used to color certain pigments are first rate in terms of permanence.
    I would not want to be accused of being anti-analog either, but let us not forget that aside from color carbon prints all of the past analog color print processes used dyes that were very likely to fade in a short period of time with minimal exposure to UV light. All of the C and R prints I made in the 1980s look like sh&t today. On the whole my belief is that color prints made with inkjet pigment printers on good quality papers will fare much better in the long run than most analog processes of the past.

    Sandy
    For discussion and information about carbon transfer please visit the carbon group at groups.io
    [url]https://groups.io/g/carbon

  8. #8
    ROL's Avatar
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    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    Quote Originally Posted by sanking View Post
    I would not want to be accused of being anti-analog either, but let us not forget that aside from color carbon prints all of the past analog color print processes used dyes that were very likely to fade in a short period of time with minimal exposure to UV light. All of the C and R prints I made in the 1980s look like sh&t today. On the whole my belief is that color prints made with inkjet pigment printers on good quality papers will fare much better in the long run than most analog processes of the past.

    Sandy
    Precisely, which is why I came to the personal artistic conclusion many years ago that I could express anything photographically I desired with classical monochrome processes. F%#k color!

  9. #9
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    Figures. "Icon LA" is a commercial digital service. So what do they call it if a printer is used containing dyes rather than inks, or when a laser device is used to expose a chromolytic medium rather than chromogenic (which
    has certainly been done, though not for much longer)? A while you're at it,
    explain Giclee, which as far as I can recongize, represent a tablecloth ready for the laundry. My guess is that most folks walking into a gallery just look at subject matter.

  10. #10

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    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    A while you're at it,
    explain Giclee, which as far as I can recongize, represent a tablecloth ready for the laundry. My guess is that most folks walking into a gallery just look at subject matter.
    Giclee is just as good as inkjet IMHO.

    And yes, most people who walk into galleries, and gallery owners as well, are primarily interested in subject matter, and the location of the wine and cheese reception. All the more reason for the artist to resolve the issue of permanence to his/her satisfaction.

    Sandy
    For discussion and information about carbon transfer please visit the carbon group at groups.io
    [url]https://groups.io/g/carbon

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