Digital BW, The Print

> Ahem! If it "stinks a bit", it almost certainly contains chemicals
> destructive to your photograph.

You've obviously never been to a paper factory.  Nor worked with any sort of product with contains organic volatiles as a solvent or propellant.  Naturally, of course, there are numerous things that smell horrible that are just fine for prints and there are numerous things that don't smell at all that will destroy them quickly.  Smell has nothing to do with it.  Anything that goes on wet and ends up dry, including the ink itself, is going to emit a vapor that may or may not smell.

> Now maybe I have missed something over the past few years, but the last time
> I checked, there was no such thing as a spray-on-anything-at-all that was
> "good" for the longevity of photographs. 

You have.  But, you are also correct that many of these products are definitely garbage.  But not all.  Skepticism is a good thing, blind skepticism isn't though :).

> Manufacturers' ridiculous claims notwithstanding, has there been any
> independent research by any trusted body that says any of these products are
> at all safe? If so, please provide me with a reference.

Yes, Wilhelm has tested the PremierArt Print Shield and clearly shown in improves print longevity in a number of circumstances and never hurts the print either.  You can get the data from the Wilhelm site or the PremierArt site.

> If not, c'mon guys, you've gotta be nuts to put this worthless unpredictable
> garbage on photographs you care about.

Apologies, but you've got to be nuts to think we are going to listen to unfounded blather with a mean edge and no knowledge backing it :)