How Long Will That Print Last In the Window?

Sung to the tune of "How Much is That Doggie In the Window" - sorry, I'm still recovering from yesterday. If you are doing any of your own printing and wonder just how long those images will last coming off your ink-jet printer, check out Wilhelm Imaging Research right here. This site tests and posts the image longevity on about a million combinations of ink and paper. They have set the standard for this kind of testing.

Here are the kind of ink/paper permanence results you can read about: Epson Durabright inks printed on Epson Professional Matte Paper under glass - 105 years. Office Depot ink printed on Office Depot Professional paper - , 8 months!!! Typical Epson Luster Paper with a UV coating (we use Neuschen-Accutech's 1400 acrylic lacquer with UV protection) will last about 165 years, but in dark storage - read closed wedding album - then >200 years! What is surprising to me is how quickly many of the third party inks fade.

Wilhelm Imaging Research has ratings for all the top printers and inks from Epson, Canon, and HP. These BIG three have very long ratings on their paper/ink combinations. This is a great resource site for just this kind of info.