Lightfastness & Archival Inks: Bubble Jet Set page 2

Each kind of printer ink has a different degree of light fastness. BJS does not make the ink more light fast, just more washable. I spray any quilts in which I use this fabric with Quiltgard UV Protectant. (available from our Internet Store) This is the same product I have been using since 1985 to prolong the light fastness of my hand dyed quilts. It does not change the hand of the fabric at all. It is like sunscreen for your quilt. Like the sunscreen you put on your skin, it will not completely prevent sunburn (fading) but it significantly slows it down. Bubble Jet Set has only been on the market for two years, so we don't have any really long term tests yet. So far I have not noticed any fading in the quilts in which I have used the printed fabric. Naturally I have not hung them in sunlight. The UV fabric protector is an aerosol like Scotchgard, and also offers the kind of soil protection that Scotchgrad offered.

New Printer:
The GOOD NEWS is that Epson recently (2001) came out with a completely new kind of ink that is archival (light fast) to 200 years. It is available in their Epson Stylus Photo 2000P printer. This printer prints sizes up to 13" x 44" (disclaimer: I have no professional affiliation with Epson, just a satisfied customer) The ink is PIGMENT based rather than dye based. I talked with a technical guy at Epson and got an explanation of the difference.

Until now, all of the ink jet ink we have been using was dye based ink. This allowed the printers to get progressively better resolution, which is what we all want. Professional photographers and other artists (like us) has also wanted additional light fastness. The solution of was to switch to a pigment based ink. The first problem with this was that the particles of pigment were much larger than particles of dye, so they were not getting the high resolution that photographers were seeking. Once they figured out a way to get the pigment particles microscopic, the second problem was that the pigment prints were not a brilliant as the dye based prints. Epson solved this problem by coating each microscopic pigment particle with polymer. So now we have a pigment based ink that gives us the same resolution and brilliance as the dye based inks.

I have been testing this printer since June in the snatches of time I have had between teaching trips. I must say that I am thrilled with the results. Here are some of my initial discoveries:

washability
The first thing I noticed was that the image printed on fabric is immediately washable, with or without pre-treating with Bubble Jet Set.

heat setting
I also noticed that after washing, there was slightly less color loss if the image had been heat set with a hot iron before washing. This is different than the dye based inks which do not respond at all to heat setting.

Bubble Jet Set for improving image
I noticed that images printed on fabric which was not pre-soaked in bubble jet set seemed dull and faded. The same images printed on Bubble Jet Set soaked fabric were much more saturated and brilliant. The brilliance was retained after washing, with no visible change. The BJS makes a dramatic improvement in the image, comparable to the difference between printing on plain paper and printing on coated paper. I then wondered if any kind of coating or sizing would work just as well. I tried using starch as sizing to see if that made a difference. It didn't. There is something in the chemistry of the Bubble Jet Set that seems to help the colors retain their brilliance. I checked with the manufacturer of Bubble Jet Set, and he confirmed that BJS contains chemical which are "gamma increasers" Gamma is a photographic term for contrast and brilliance.

printing on synthetics
I experimented with printing on many different kinds of synthetic fabrics as well as cotton and silk. Polyester and nylon fabrics which were not pre-soaked in Bubble Jet Set, seemed to cause the ink to migrate along the fibers and created fuzziness in the image. On the other hand, when these same fabrics were soaked in Bubble Jet Set, the images were sharp and brilliant. The Bubble Jet Set seemed to stop the liquid migration. Since we have not been able to print on synthetics at all with the dye based inks, this is very exciting. I have not had much time to do further experiments with synthetics. However, in my one other test, I found that all the colored inks retained their brilliance, but the black ink faded significantly. This fading is only on synthetics, the same image printed on cotton had no fading at all. I need to do some further testing on synthetics to find all the variables.

printer settings
After experimenting with many different printer settings (photo-enhance, saturation, etc.) I discovered that printing at the "automatic" setting consistently yielded the best quality images.

My initial testing was all done with one image, so I could have a good basis for comparison. In further tests with other images I discovered that to get the kind of brilliance I wanted in my printed images I had to increase the contrast and saturation of the image. This is best done in one of the "paint" programs, rather than in the printer program. Personally I use Corel Photo Paint. This is like the difference between printing on expensive photographic paper and printing on plain paper. On plain paper the image will always be duller than on photographic paper. Printing on fabric, even with the gamma increasers in Bubble Jet Set is still like printing on plain paper. You need to make the image more saturated and increase the contrast to get the brilliance of the image on your computer screen. Since every computer, scanner, and paint program is a little different, I recommend taking one image and printing it at several different settings to see what will yield the best results in your personal computer set up.

wearability
One of my concerns with a pigment based ink was that the images might crack or wear off like some of the old transfer images. I did a huge project for my Father's 100th birthday celebration in which I enlarged old family photos and printed them on cotton broadcloth. Some are 13" x 44". I have been carrying them around in my suitcase as samples for the last two months, and have folded them and unfolded them dozens of times and have seen no deterioration of the images at all. Good news!!!

other questions
Here are some questions I asked the Epson guy after I did my initial tests

Will the archival ink become available for some of the other models of printers?
Epson's archival ink will only work in the 2000P, 5500, 7500,10000 printers.

Do you have a wider format printer that uses this ink?
The 7500 can print up to 24" wide and the 10000 can print up to 44" wide. Here is an Epson link where you can get more info: http://prographics.epson.com/
I tried to find prices for the wider format printers and could not find them on either the Epson site or at any dealers on the internet.
I have a feeling they would be beyond my personal budget anyway.

Will any of the cartridges available be refillable?
Epson does not sell supplies for refilling and does not recommend refilling cartridges. I tried refilling Epson cartridges after buying the kit at Houston last year. There is no problem refilling them, they just don't work after you refill them. Save your money.