Digital BW, The Print

I hate to beat this dead horse any more, but I went back and re-read 
all the posts about EAM Archival Qualities.  I wanted to be sure I had 
gotten clear info from the discussion.  There are many views to 
consider, I know.  I also know people believe what they want to 
believe, but (IMHO) I have enough doubt about this paper not to get 
near it for selling archivally sound prints. (Cheap enough for 
proofing though...do you really get what you pay for?)

Believe what you want, Do what you will...
Cathy


I pulled out just one post from the Piezo3000 archives:

"If that is what it is supposed to be, they [Epson] have a major 
problem in quality control and/or product stability after it leaves 
the factory.

I tested EAM with both the Light Impressions and Lineco paper pH 
testing pens.

Both indicated that there was a neutral or basic coating on the 
front. The pens dissolve this coating but if applied lightly they 
turned blue (LM pen) or lavender (Lineco pen).

The back also appears to be coated and this tests acid with both 
pens. The coating might be to improve mechanical handling in 
converting.

Tearing the paper I checked the core and it tests acid with both pens.

Steadman reported similar results on different batches.

Now I am willing to believe that it might have been manufactured as 
an acid free and lignin free paper with no added pH buffers. These 
would test slightly acid, pH = 6.0, after exposure to the atmosphere 
and certainly with the application of an acid coating.

However, there is obviously no alkaline reserve in the paper. It does 
not meet ASTM or ISO standards for permanent document paper and would 
not qualify for purchase by any U.S. Federal government agency, many 
individual states nor some European governments. Is it going to self 
destruct real fast? Probably not. Is it going to last as long as a 
buffered paper? No way."






--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Paul Roark" 
<paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> Cathy Van Berg wrote:
> 
> >... it has been well established in the Piezo3000 group that Epson
> >Archival Matte is not Archival at all.  There was much discussion
> >...it is important to me that all my work be as acid free as 
possible...
> 
> There has been more discussion than evidence, I fear.  Also, the 
"green"
> problem of Piezo on EAM is, in my view, not a problem of the paper.
> 
> I would also feel better if EAM clearly indicated a basic (acid 
free) pH
> with my acid test pen.  However, there appears to be a lot more to 
the
> science than what these marking pens will show.  When newsprint 
tests out as
> better than my archivally-processed silver prints, and I see no 
correlation
> between acidity and light-fastness, it makes me wonder if these 
cheap pens
> have any value at all.
> 
> At any rate, I continue to think that color shifting and fading are 
more of
> a problem than what happens several hundred years from now.  So far, 
among
> the papers I've tested, EAM seems to be the best in terms of light 
fastness,
> at least for relatively pure pigment inksets like the MIS archival 
inks.
> 
> Paul
> http://www.PaulRoark.com