Discolored/fading Printed Photos

[Phil Conners]

Photos printed on my home printer turns reddish and fade after a few weeks.

I tried different inks, different papers - even different printers. Generally use a 3rd party ink (new cartridges but not originals) and good quality glossy paper (Lexmark for example).

If the photos are covered as for example in an album or a frame with a glass front it doesn't happen so I suspect it is something to do with the air humidity here.

Is there any way to prevent this from happening? A spray or something? Or any particular paper/ink combination known to not fade?

[Tywais]

Photos printed on my home printer turns reddish and fade after a few weeks.

I tried different inks, different papers - even different printers. Generally use a 3rd party ink (new cartridges but not originals) and good quality glossy paper (Lexmark for example).

If the photos are covered as for example in an album or a frame with a glass front it doesn't happen so I suspect it is something to do with the air humidity here.

Is there any way to prevent this from happening? A spray or something? Or any particular paper/ink combination known to not fade?

I have used a clear lacquer spray before to water proof and protect the print from the enviornment with good success. Just a thin coat. You might try Konica paper, I find the water proofing on it to be very good as well as color reproduction.

Also the 3rd party inks could be an issue. I have a Lexmark Z55 printer and use the manufacturers ink along with the Konica paper and have prints on the wall, unframed, for 2-3 years with no fading at all.

Edited March 22, 2006 by tywais

[Phil Conners]

I'll try the Konica paper and the laquer spray. I have tried both Epson and Canon printers with original and 3rd party ink, always same result... but I live in Pattaya where we have always 95% humidity or more.

[Tywais]

I'll try the Konica paper and the laquer spray. I have tried both Epson and Canon printers with original and 3rd party ink, always same result... but I live in Pattaya where we have always 95% humidity or more.

Just make sure it's in a dust free area, the lacquer takes a little while to dry. Also try the Konica paper without the spray and one with as test guides. I use Konica Photo Glossy (Professional?) quick drying paper, water resistant. Will try to get the exact wording from the pack.

[Khun Jean]

I have had the some problem. I switch to a photolab.

More cost effective and better quality (after some instruction ).

The 4x6 are so cheap ( 3 baht) it is uneconomical to print it at home. The paper alone is about the same price or even more expensive.

For bigger prints (A4-A3)i can still make them cheaper at home, but for that i use original ink and the recommended paper. No use to print it cheap and then have it fading.

I use a Canon printer. Canon ink and Canon paper should give a lifetime of around 90 years. Other combinations of paper have no test results available.

I made a few calanders on A4 and with the original inks and paper it is visibly better after a few months.

[astral]

I made a few calanders on A4 and with the original inks and paper it is visibly better after a few months.

Do you mean they improve with age????

[Khun Jean]

I made a few calanders on A4 and with the original inks and paper it is visibly better after a few months.

Do you mean they improve with age????

That didn't come out right.

I meant the ones printed with original ink and recommended paper are visibly better than the ones with other kinds of paper and/or paper and not original ink. Difference was easily visible even for my grandma after a few months.

The ones with other paper and not original ink were faded and they have a purple (magenta) 'haze'.

The printer i used was a Canon i9100 with six seperate ink cartridges.

Papers that were good were from Canon and Konica. The cheaper brands all had problems after some time. Quite a shock really, as they looked absolutely fabulous when printed.

[Nordlys]

There is "ChromaLife 100" series of printer supplies from Canon (ink and professional photo papers) that should last 100 years in 23C room temperature and 50% humidity condition, without discoloration and fading, supposedly (in accordance with ISO1892 standard, they said). Of course not that the product has been tested for 100 years.

http://cp.c-ij.com/japan/printtechnology/i...malife/p02.html

Above Canon link is in Japanese but you can see the part # of ink cartridges and photo papers that meets the 100 years quality spec (bottom of the page). Not sure if they are sold in Thailand but my guess is they are, as some of those ink cartridges comes standard with some of the Canon bubble jet pritners sold in Thailand. Believe similar products are available from EPSON too.

I'm not so sure if those papers have to be used with the specified Canon genuine ink for the photos to last 100 years, though.

Edited March 22, 2006 by Nordlys

[Chang_paarp]

Ink jet inks do not like humidity. Most inks are water soluable, this is one of the causes of your problem. The extreme test is 100% humidity, or a glass of water. to see what the humidity is doing to your images.

Ilford has a chroma ink with a name like cannon's. It is a pigment based ink rather than a dye based ink and is available for the mid to high end printers. They claim near archival results (100 year).

Pigments resist fading due to humidity and chemicals, and give better tonal results. The downside is the cost.

There are waterproof inks too, that should resist humidity.

Cleaning chemicals are one of the worst offenders as are the chemicals given off by many plastics, so storage cam be an issue. Also the chemicals used to combat mould and insects. Although silica gell is your friend here.

Another big killer of dye inks is UV light, this can be fixed by putting the picture in a drawer, hard to look at, or by using UV glass in frames. The cheap resin frames can also cause grief.

[lopburi3]

I agree that there is a huge difference between real and second party inks. But you need to be careful as a lot of the "original" ink sold here is not real (surprise). I suspect you have the best chance of getting good ink at the office supply type stores and avoiding the mall/market sale counters.

[The Skipper]

I notice they last a long time framed behind glass, plastic sleeve, laminated or kept in a folder.

I think air is the culprit.

[Chang_paarp]

I notice they last a long time framed behind glass, plastic sleeve, laminated or kept in a folder.

I think air is the culprit.

That would be UV filtering rather than air. The same air is inside the fame as outside.