Question:
What is the difference between Archival Inkjet prints, Pigment Print,
Print and
prints?
Answer: Nothing! They are all the same printing process.
We call our prints Archival Inkjet prints. However, they are also known as a Giclée, Iris or Pigment prints. Giclée is just a fancy word for "spit ink". Pigment prints get there name from the archival pigment inks used. Iris prints were named after the printer used which was manufactured by Iris Graphics. Ultimately, they are all the same. Some labs or galleries like to use fancy words to charge more money or make it sound more specialized.
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Now that we have demystified the print names. What are some things you should be asking? The most important question to ask are the following.
Is this paper archival?
One of the papers we prefer is Epson Hot Press Natural. It has a smooth natural white surface with a high Dmax, beautiful tonal transitions and no optical brighteners. This paper is acid-free,
-free, 100% cotton fiber, 330gsm weight paper. They are printed on an Epson printer with "
Epson UltraChrome K3 with Vivid Magenta
" inks.
Another paper is Canson Platine Fibre Rag. It has a pure white surface with an extremely high Dmax and no optical brighteners. Internally buffered to resist gas fading. This paper is acid-free,
-free, 100% cotton fiber, 310gsm weight paper. They are printed on an Epson printer with "
Epson UltraChrome HDR
" inks.
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Does the paper contain optical brighteners?
are chemical compounds that absorb light in the
and violet region (usually 340-370 nm) of the
, and re-emit light in the blue region (typically 420-470 nm). Basically, they make paper brighter in the sunlight. But over time they can degrade and this will affect the your image and makes it non-archival.
Are the inks archival?
We have two different printers which use two different types of inks.
Epson UltraChrome HDR
and
Epson UltraChrome K3 with Vivid Magenta
. They are both pigment inks with high pigment density and feature a resin coating for each particle for more stability to produce prints of an even surface and gloss and that are highly stable on a wide variety of media including fine art, specialty and plain paper. These inks can deliver twice the density of our conventional pigment inks. As a result, they reproduce a larger gamut of color and deeper blacks.