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It is not only inkjet prints that are subject to light fade

Issue #0902/3 – Comment and argument on the subject of image fade is almost entirely restricted to inkjet prints and it will probably never occur to most people that prints from laser printers could be affected. However, laser/toner prints are also subject to fade, albeit to a lesser degree.

Formal testing is at an early stage, so definitive results will not be available for some while, but, in order to demonstrate the early stages of toner fade compared to an original print and to extensive ink fade, please refer to the images below.

CharisCo logo – Toner fade after 6 months exposure to UK sunlightCharisCo logo – Toner fade
after 6 months exposure to UK sunlight
These prints have been displayed in a southwest-facing window – the laser print for about six months and the inkjet print for several years.
You will notice that toner fade at this stage (6-8 months exposure) is heavily in the magenta range, resulting in the red showing as a subdued orange and the green, blues and purple all very pale and washed-out. The effect is most noticeable by the lack of a rich red and by the much wider band of yellow that is visible, compared to the fresh print.
CharisCo logo – Fresh print – how it should lookCharisCo logo – Fresh print
– how it should look
When we come to the inkjet print that was exposed to sunlight for a number of years, we see that almost all of the colour has drained out right across the image. The residual image is almost entirely light blue with a very small amount of yellow showing in the areas that should be black and in the green area only of the rainbow.
In fact, this print originated from a large format printer that underlays black with the other colour inks in order to achieve a really solid black. The black and magenta have both degraded completely, leaving a covering of cyan (hence the strong blue band in the rainbow) with a hint of yellow throughout.
CharisCo logo – Ink fade after several years exposed to UK sunlightCharisCo logo – Ink fade after
several years exposed to UK sunlight

All colour inks and toners for printers of any type (from home inkjet to commercial linotype) rely on dyes and pigments to create the colour. Even colours in vinyl material used for signage, fabrics for furniture and soft furnishings, paints for building decoration and for vehicles are subject to the same chemical dynamics as printer colorants.

Therefore, we can expect any artificially coloured material to be subject to light fade and that this fade will be most extreme when exposure is to the sun.

Given time, we’ll be able to compare the longevity of inks relative to toners but there can never be any doubt that magenta is the most vulnerable colour – even with a laser/toner print. (P.S. never buy a red car!!)

~End~

This entry was posted on Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at 1:45 pm and is filed under Print Technology, Total Cost of Printing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.