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<x-charset iso-8859-1>Bob, Nice little study and very interesting. One statement in your conclusions sort of confuses me. Under [point 7, you say: 7. It looks like, if we're going to use these inks, we're going to have to get used to protecting our prints from the air. >From all appearances, your study addresses different papers under different conditions and not different inks on the same paper under the same conditions or even different ink/paper combos under the different conditions. Can we really draw any conclusions about inks? Do we know at all anything about the inks and their contribution to the air contamination sensitivity effects that we are getting? I am not being critical or negative only inquisitive. -----Original Message----- From: owner-epson-inkjet@leben.com [mailto:owner-epson-inkjet@leben.com]On Behalf Of Bob Meyer Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2000 9:19 AM To: epson-inkjet@leben.com Subject: Is it the Ozone? (a fade test update) Well, my samples of 7 papers have been stewing for a week. Let's take a look and see what's happened. BATCH 1, exposed to the output from a whole house electronic air filter, IN THE DARK. So any effects on the inks are a result of air alone, not light. Epson Premium Glossy (EPG) - Noticeable color shift, most apparent in the gray scale, which has gone quite brown compared to the dark stored control print. Epson Heavyweight Matte (EM) - No noticeable change. Ilford Gloss Film (IF) - No noticeable change. Ilford Gloss Paper (IGP) - No noticeable change. Ilford Satin (IS) - Oops! My sample blew away. Pictorico High Gloss White Film (PHGW) - No noticeable change. Pictorico Gloss Paper (PGP) - Slight color shift. Not as noticeable as on the EPG, but definitely there. EPG framed under glass - No noticeable change. ------------------------------------------------- BATCH 2 - Exposed to outdoor air, but no direct sunlight (Lots of indirect light). EPG - Large color shift, more so than the first sample, above. Grays have turned very brown. EM - Slight color shift. And the paper stock has yellowed, too. **This is a major disapointment.** IF - No noticeable change IGP - No noticeable change IS - No noticeable change PHGW - Noticeable change. Not as bad as EPG. Comparable to the shift on Epson Matte. PGP - Significant change. Looks just like the EPG, in fact. ---------------------------------------------------- BATCH 3 - Displayed in a west facing window. Direct sun for a small part of the afternoon, but little contact with outside air (until Thursday evening, when we turned off the AC). EPG - Very, very slight shift. I don't think I'd notice it without a control print to compare it to. EM - No noticeable shift. IF - No noticeable shift. IS - No noticeable shift. PHGW - No noticeable shift. IS - No noticeable shift. PGP - Very, very slight shift. ------------------------------------------------------ BATCH 4 - A mini test. Two prints on EPG exposed about 8 inches from a 22 watt flourscent light. Indoors. One under glass, the 2nd on top of the glass. No noticeable change on either one. Conclusions? Yes, it's the ozone. The EPG print stored in the dark, but exposed to the output from an air cleaner, demonstrated the cyan fade (which I think is a better description than orange shift). The EPG exposed to light through a window shows almost no shift. But exposure to light seems to enhance the fade, since the print exposed to outdoor air/light shifted the most, and we didn't have any bad air/ozone alerts during this test. This isn't really suprising, since light acts as a catalyst to many reactions. 2. Pictorico Gloss Paper isn't an answer. It shifted pretty much the same as the EPG. 3. Epson Matte is a major disappointment. It shifted noticeably in the print exposed outdoors. I know Epson doesn't make any longevity claims for outdoor use, but this has only been a week. Epson, are you listening? Give me an address and I'll be happy to send you a sample. 4. Ilford papers have the potential to be great, with appropriate driver settings. The paper isn't quite as glossy as EPG, but it's close. And I like the Satin finish a lot. The only real problem is that the ink gets laid down too heavily, and there's noticeable reticulation. I don't have cost information on the Ilford, though. Epson: I know you want to sell Epson papers, but given the embarassment this problem is causing, a tie in with Ilford, and appropriate driver settings, would seem to be in order. Either allow Ilford to supply an appropriate driver, or re-sell Ilford paper under your name. (How about Epson Enhanced Glossy Paper (c)* as a name?) 5. I had high hopes for the Pictorico High Gloss White Film. Colors are identical to the EPG, and I like the surface even better. It showed no fade in the ozone/dark test. But it didn't handle the outdoor air testvery well. And at 3 times the cost of EPG.... 6. Epson Premium Gloss stored under glass is looking good. I'm going to take part of the framed sample and expose it outdoors (still in a frame) and see what happens. But one of the reasons I want the gloss is so I don't have to display under glass. 7. It looks like, if we're going to use these inks, we're going to have to get used to protecting our prints from the air. That's a disapointment, but I guess it means I can use cheaper matte papers intead of gloss. I'm going to start similar tests with Tetenal SpectraJet 264, ICI Olmec Satin 260, and ICI Olmec Gloss 260. I've seen one report, at least, of orange shift on the Tetenal, but haven't seen any tests on the ICI papers. I also just received the Red River sample pack (a great deal, btw) and I'll probably test a couple of papers from that batch. BTW, let me extend thanks to John Nollendorf for the Ilford samples, and Rachel at Digital Art Supplies for the Tetenal and ICI samples. ===== Bob Meyer Step Outside. The graphics are AMAZING! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail – Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/ - Turn off HTML mail features. Keep quoted material short. Use accurate subject lines. http://www.leben.com/lists for list instructions. - Turn off HTML mail features. Keep quoted material short. Use accurate subject lines. http://www.leben.com/lists for list instructions. </x-charset>
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