Page 4 of 4 FirstFirst ... 234
Results 31 to 35 of 35

Thread: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

  1. #31

    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Posts
    775

    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    I have analog c-prints that I made in the late 90's (at my university lab) as well as even more recent ones made at commercial labs that have noticeable color shifts. In some cases the paper itself has yellowed to the point that they look like crap. Now I know that this could be due to many factors including bad or dirty chemistry, etc., but it just goes to show that there are many variables with all print processes. These prints were maybe exhibited for a month or two then dark stored. And as I said, they weren't all from a university darkroom. Some were from a fairly well-respected pro lab.

    I feel more confident in the stability of my inkjet prints. I have a few that have been displayed in my home for a few years in horrible conditions (sunlight part of the day, non-uv glass, etc.) and they still look great.

    I call mine pigment inkjet prints. It's honest, I have no shame in saying they came from an inkjet printer. And the 'pigment' part differentiates them from earlier ink sets. I guess 'inkjet print made with inks that are somewhat pigment-based with other additives' doesn't have the same ring to it. And it wouldn't fit on the label.

  2. #32
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,318

    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    If C prints that recent have shifted significantly it probably indicates improper processing,
    failure to stabilize or wash properly, or marginal chemisty. One hour labs were infamous for that kind of result. Doesn't automatically make sense to blame the paper, though some papers were better than others. Over the long haul the base will start to yellow due to residual couplers. The problem with inkets in general is that there are so many potential combinations of ink and substrate which have no real track record that it's pretentious to make any kind of claims about them unless a very specific combination has been realistically tested and observed over time. At least with Cibachrome that kind of variable was narrowed down, and we have a real world track record. I deliberately displayed them in all kinds of conditions.

  3. #33
    Vaughn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Humboldt County, CA
    Posts
    9,206

    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Ellis View Post
    I agree with Sandy that "giclee" sounds contrived (and pretentious) though it made more sense to use such a term back when it was created than it does today. But it doesn't strike me as any more pretentious than calling a print made on plain old photo paper a gelatin silver print.
    When inkjet printing came into being, the word "photograph" for a B&W print was no longer sufficient to describe a "plain old photo paper" print. "Silver print" would probably be sufficient, but there are silver processes (non-gelatin) besides "plain old photo paper" prints. So I do not feel there is any pretentiousness in the terms "silver gelatin" or "gelatine silver" prints.

  4. #34
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,318

    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    Vaughn - a number of years ago I had a bit quarrel with an SF downtown swank gallery owner. He called me for advice. Had a big collection of pre-emulsion silver prints (Talbotypes etc) worth a lot of money, but was too much of a skinflint to put wire racks
    in his storage area. So against my advice he put in particle board shelving (full of formaldehyde glue). When he realized this mistake he decides to seal them and took the
    advice of a marble conservator in Britain (against my advice again) and used a stone sealant containing lots of sulfur. With no emulsion the paper quickly absorbed this and that, and within six months all the portfolios he sold were brownish pieces of paper with
    no image on it! Lawsuits followed. So yeah, silver gelatin, and silver something else can
    make a difference.

  5. #35

    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    South Carolina
    Posts
    5,505

    Re: Old Pigment Epsons Fading to Green?

    Proper identification of prints is interesting for historical reasons, and may be important for conservation reasons. Following is a list of different kind of prints that have used silver.

    1. Salted paper --Silver salt sensitizer applied directly to paper, 1840-65
    2. Albumen -- Silver sensitizer mixed with albumen, 1855-1920
    3. Collodion (POP and DOP)-- Silver sensitizer with collodion base, 1885-1920
    4. Gelatin (POP and DOP) -- Silver sensitizer with gelatin, 1885-

    And then there are the silver-iron processes like Vandyke, Kallitype, Argyrotype, etc. which, like pt/pd, have the sensitizer applied directly to paper, i.e. no binder.

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

Similar Threads

  1. Fading RC prints
    By Howard Barron in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 16-Jan-2012, 09:43
  2. Pyro stain fading under UV
    By Michael S in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 25-Oct-2006, 14:10
  3. Scan quality from Epsons?
    By Terence Patrick in forum Digital Hardware
    Replies: 64
    Last Post: 19-Oct-2006, 21:53

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •