During 2012, the Printmakers’ Testing fund grew to $5643. Adding in donations from January and February, 2013, total funds on hand reached $6349.
One thousand dollars helps AaI&A to cover the costs of testing one new member-submitted sample. Each sample takes many man-hours of documentation and measurements spread out over approximately four years or more as each sample typically accumulates 200 Megalux hours of total light exposure. As it turns out, five new samples were received from members in the latter half of 2012 and two more arrived in January, 2013. The total number of new samples submitted by members thus comes to seven, and the Printmaker’s testing fund had sufficient funds on hand for the testing of six.
The most recent two samples really should be run side-by-side as a pair since they were submitted by one member using the same ink and media. The key difference between these two samples (#6 and #7 listed below) is the use of the ImagePrint 9 RIP versus the Epson OEM driver. Therefore, I decided not to hold one sample back due to lack of funds. All seven are now in test, and the fund has a slight negative balance of -$651 at the moment.
The sample description (listed as printer/ink/media combination) for these seven new samples now in test is:
#1. Epson Stylus Photo 1400/Epson Claria/Red River Ultra Pro Satin 2.0 (68lb – 270gsm – 10.4 mil)
#2. Epson Stylus Photo 1400/MIS Associates D2 Dyes for Epson Claria Printers/Red River Ultra Pro Satin 2.0 (68lb – 270gsm – 10.4 mil)
#3. Epson Stylus Pro 7890/Epson OEM UltraChrome K3™ with Vivid Magenta/Red River Ultra Pro Satin 2.0 (68lb – 270gsm – 10.4 mil)
#4 Epson Stylus Photo R3000/Cone Color Pro Ink (for the Epson R3000, X800, X880, X890, and X900 printers)/Red River Ultra Pro Satin 2.0 (68lb – 270gsm – 10.4 mil)
#5. Epson Stylus Photo R3000/Cone Color Pro Ink (for the Epson R3000, X800, X880, X890, and X900 printers)/Epson Ultra Premium Photo Paper Glossy (79lb-11.4mil)
#6. Epson Stylus Pro 4900/Epson OEM UltraChrome HDR™/Museo Portfolio Rag (by Intellicoat with new source for paper base).
#7. Epson Stylus Pro 4900/Epson OEM UltraChrome HDR™ (via Imageprint)/Museo Portfolio Rag (by Intellicoat with new source for paper base).
The 10 megalux hour exposure readings for these and some other samples AaI&A has contributed on its own will be added within a few months to the AaI&A light fade test results database.
Sincere thanks to our members who have contributed either samples or funds or both to our digital print research. A special note of thanks to our members who also sent us a pictorial print for the Aardenburg Archives along with their test samples made by the same process.
Mark H. McCormick-Goodhart
Director, Aardenburg Imaging & Archives
