HP Indigo 5500 Ink - Is it archival quality?
Today on the blog Anthony Asked:
"You say that your books are archival quality, because the paper is acid free, but I find that the Indigo printing can be erased by an ordinary school rubber. How do you... say that the book is archival quality?
"I’m concern about treasuring our family history in your books. Can you clear it up for me?"
http://memorypress.blogs.familylearn.com...
I am just in marketing. I will be able to answer the question on Monday when I talk to our guy in charge of printing. But I was wondering if anyone knew the answer before then?
Does the HP Indigo 5500 print archival quality ink?
Answers:
Most printer manufacturers use the term "Archival" to describe UV resistant prints on UV resistant photo paper that are expected to last about 75 years on their own, somewhat longer if you put the print behind UV resistant glass.
While the Indigo Press 5500 looks like a fantastic machine, it's the optional UV Coater that'll make your prints "archival". If you've got the UV Coater, be sure to make mention of it in your page.
Your Indigo Press is probably using HP ElectroInk. Here's a PDF from HP with specifications and test info:
http://h30267.www3.hp.com/data/en/us/ele...
From Designer Today
http://www.designertoday.com/news/4174/h...
"The HP Indigo UV Coater is the company's first digital press finishing device and is ideal for use on high-quality, color applications. A near-line, user-friendly device able to support multiple HP Indigo presses, the HP Indigo UV Coater protects printed materials against damage from finishing or mailing systems, while also adding high-value appeal to printed materials by applying attractive gloss, matte and satin UV finishes."
If your client is looking for digital photos that will last indefinitely and they're placing them inside an album on acid free paper, UV fade won't be much of an issue.
Most conventional (chemical photgraphic processing) photographs fade whether exposed to light or not since the photo paper never really stops "developing" the process can take 100 years or less but that's the standard expectation and the reason why library archives store these photos in absolute darkness.
UV resistant digital prints will only fade noticeably if exposed to UV light for long periods of time. The beauty of digital prints is that they can be reprinted at any time wihout any loss in quality.
As digital printing technology improves, so will UV resistant inks and toner, along with the paper that photos are printed on, so again, to take advantage of these improvements, you can reprint digital photos any time in the future.
If your client is taking pencil erasers to your prints, tell them to try that on regular inkjet prints, laser prints, 4 colour process prints and conventional photos. Press hard enough and you can marr just about anything.
That's a ridiculous test, since it's not something a reasonable person would do, especially with photos.
Good Luck.
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