Epson Inks

jwlast · Sep 29, 2004

Howdy all. I've got an Epson 1280 printer, does a great job all the way up to 11x17. Got a question about the inks though. I've noticed as the prints age (about 1ish year plus) the pictures start to develop a green tint. The older the print, the greener they turn (although it doesn't seem to happen with all the prints). As a back ground I've been using Epson ink and Epson paper. Had been using a mix of glossy and non-glossy paper for prints but recently switched to premium glossy full time. Prints in question are all currently framed, so can't really make a call on if it's just on the non-glossy paper. Additionally. photos aren't exposed to direct sunlight.

Any thoughts? Anybody else with the same problem?

Scubatooth · Sep 29, 2004

JWlast

just a couple of questions

1. how are you protecting the prints are they behind glass or open to the air.

2. have you applied anything to the surface of the print after the ink was layed down?

3. are the inks fresh that you are using or are they older ?

4. do you have a profiled and calibrated workflow for doing your images or is this eyeballed, nad did the prints have a green cast to start ?

another good research is wilhelm research and they do some of the most extenisve research on photo papers (ink or silver process) http://www.wilhelm-research.com/ to help with how long the archivalbilty of the image is.

if you answer those questions i will be able to fill in some more of the blanks and help you keep the color shift from happening

tooth

Scuba65 · Sep 29, 2004

that happens to me when the ink is low. i will either get a green looking picture or sometimes a red one. but, i think it's the ink that is low, at least that's what happens with my printer.

jwlast · Sep 30, 2004

Tooth

Thanks for the questions. Hopefully my replies will help solve the mystery. BTW, this problem is only after the prints are about a year old.colors look good prior to that. Insidious change to green tint, not an overnight thing.

1. how are you protecting the prints are they behind glass or open to the air.
- Not doing anything to the prints after they come out of the printer other than framing them

2. have you applied anything to the surface of the print after the ink was layed down?
- No.

3. are the inks fresh that you are using or are they older ?
- Fresh. Cartridgestypically run through one in less than 2 months

4. do you have a profiled and calibrated workflow for doing your images or is this eyeballed, nad did the prints have a green cast to start ?
- Look good eyeballed, turn green over time.

another good research is wilhelm research and they do some of the most extenisve research on photo papers (ink or silver process) http://www.wilhelm-research.com/ to help with how long the archivalbilty of the image is.

if you answer those questions i will be able to fill in some more of the blanks and help you keep the color shift from happening

tooth

Scubatooth · Sep 30, 2004

jwlast:
Tooth

Thanks for the questions. Hopefully my replies will help solve the mystery. BTW, this problem is only after the prints are about a year old.colors look good prior to that. Insidious change to green tint, not an overnight thing.

1. how are you protecting the prints are they behind glass or open to the air.
- Not doing anything to the prints after they come out of the printer other than framing them

2. have you applied anything to the surface of the print after the ink was layed down?
- No.

3. are the inks fresh that you are using or are they older ?
- Fresh. Cartridgestypically run through one in less than 2 months

4. do you have a profiled and calibrated workflow for doing your images or is this eyeballed, nad did the prints have a green cast to start ?
- Look good eyeballed, turn green over time.

another good research is wilhelm research and they do some of the most extenisve research on photo papers (ink or silver process) http://www.wilhelm-research.com/ to help with how long the archivalbilty of the image is.

if you answer those questions i will be able to fill in some more of the blanks and help you keep the color shift from happening

tooth

JWlast

ok whats happening is that since paper is exposed to normal enviroment what is happening is that the inks are reacting with the air and causing certain chemicals with in the ink to oxidize and change colors. this is where a spray UV protector would do good or even a print sleeve from photo impressions might help. now are the frames have a glass cover over them?

also is the lighting different from where you are printing the prints and where they are hanging?

also is this green cast happening to all prints or just select prints?

tooth

diversteve · Sep 30, 2004

jwlast:
Howdy all. I've got an Epson 1280 printer, does a great job all the way up to 11x17. Got a question about the inks though. I've noticed as the prints age (about 1ish year plus) the pictures start to develop a green tint. The older the print, the greener they turn (although it doesn't seem to happen with all the prints). As a back ground I've been using Epson ink and Epson paper. Had been using a mix of glossy and non-glossy paper for prints but recently switched to premium glossy full time. Prints in question are all currently framed, so can't really make a call on if it's just on the non-glossy paper. Additionally. photos aren't exposed to direct sunlight.

Any thoughts? Anybody else with the same problem?

I wonder if it's something to do with the stability of the black ink used by Epson. Several years ago, I printed some b/w 11x17 prints, maybe on a 1280, I don't remember, but certainly it was an Epson large format printer, and I've noticed over several years they faded to a really dark brown, kind of like a fax fades, but not nearly as much. So I'm wondering in your case if the black fading is allowing more of the green in the mix to show through.

Don't know what you can do about it though, I don't think Photo printer inks are as stable over time as photo-processed printed images. Although I do have a couple of other prints made around the same time that have held up extremely well, they were printed on regular Epson Glossy photo paper, and one of them is in indirect sun all day in my office.

my .02

Scubatooth · Sep 30, 2004

sjspeck

the issue with the black ink you are talking about is from the epson 1200 with the black ink but that was almost 5 years ago and that was because of the amount of water in the ink and because of excess caused the fading.

also you might want to double check your statement on longevity with the link above fro wihelhem imaging bacuse that isnt the case any longer. but the silver process and longevity vary depending on how image is processed, if its a walmart or other non pro labs less then 50 yrs because the papers and chemicals arent archival, were as the quality paper and labs prints will last a very long time

tooth

diversteve · Sep 30, 2004

Scubatooth:
sjspeck

the issue with the black ink you are talking about is from the epson 1200 with the black ink but that was almost 5 years ago and that was because of the amount of water in the ink and because of excess caused the fading.

also you might want to double check your statement on longevity with the link above fro wihelhem imaging bacuse that isnt the case any longer. but the silver process and longevity vary depending on how image is processed, if its a walmart or other non pro labs less then 50 yrs because the papers and chemicals arent archival, were as the quality paper and labs prints will last a very long time

tooth

You're right! I remember reading that several years ago. I stand corrected....

I wouldn't have prints made at Walmart that I wanted to be stable over time. I use a local color lab for that recommended by a friend, who's a local professional photographer.

I stand by my "statement" though, it's my opinion that over time photo-printer inks will degrade more than achival quality photo prints made in a lab. Personally I think slides are even more stable, if stored in correct conditions. I once worked at a college where they maintained an image library for scholarly purposes, their method of choice for archival retention was slide film if possible.

"I don't think" was my opinion, not meant to be a statement of fact. I don't want to get into a semantics argument over this as it's counterproductive to the resolution of this problem, so I'll defer to your knowledge of the subject and not post here further.

Chris Bangs · Sep 30, 2004

Dye based ink will not last as long as the Pigment based ink. I use Pigment for stuff I sell and dye based for general use. I have some pigment based prints that are 5 years old hanging in a very bright location, little if any fading!

Paper also makes a big difference! Matte paper is the best choice for archival printing but newer high quality paper hold up well

The newer printers/ink formulations are much better than the stuff the 1200/1270 uses

Aggie Diver · Sep 30, 2004

I work at a big box retail chain. With the Epsons, unless you have the Durabrite inks, they're going to fade over time (especially given exposure to air, light, etc.).

The biggest faders of ink jet photos are exposure to air (particularly humid air) and exposure to sunlight (say you've got your photos on a table that gets hit by sunlight a couple of hours a day). UV light kills the chemicals in photo ink, contributing to fade.

Epson Inks

Please register or login

jwlast

Guest

Scubatooth

Contributor

Scuba65

Contributor

jwlast

Guest

Scubatooth

Contributor

diversteve

always tired

Scubatooth

Contributor

diversteve

always tired

Chris Bangs

Contributor

Aggie Diver

Contributor

Similar threads