Digital BW, The Print

Hello All,

Referring to the Wilhelm report on the 2400 in ABW mode (page 3 at
this link  http://www.wilhelm-research.com/epson/R2400.html ), someone
asked me why he rated EEM so highly (110 years), it being a non
archival paper. Here's my take on this, I thought it was worth posting.

It's easy to get confused by this, but you have to understand what W.
is measuring.  His ratings are for ink fading.  They aren't paper
reviews.  He gives results with different papers because any given ink
lasts longer on some papers than others.  

The problem with EEM is that it turns a dingy shade of yellow in a
short amount of time, due to acid or lignen or whatever, so it's not
considered archival.  But that has nothing to do with ink fading.  In
fact, most of the good pigment inks don't fade much on EEM, hence his
high ratings.  

So his 110 year rating is not an endorsement of EEM for any particular
purpose.  As I said above, his reports aren't paper reviews, and his
rating was not for EEM, but for the K3/EEM combination.  He's just
saying that X ink lasts Y years on EEM without fading, nothing more. 
EEM is still a crummy paper for anything but proofing.  I've had EEM
prints around the house and on the windowsill for several years that
haven't faded at all.  They have a dingy yellow look but the ink
hasn't faded.


Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm