DIN A4 prints for long-term archival of photographs

Data format: DIN A4 (297x210mm) or smaller, 600dpi max., RGB, CMYK or LAB, with job ticket. Delivered final format: approx. 305x230mm

For your valuable images and documents, we offer an analogue archival solution as a printed photo, which is suitable for long-term archiving and, with dry and dark storage, offers archivability of more than 200 years without any noticeable colour change occurring. The photos are then placed with unbuffered cotton interlayer papers in acid-free and light-tight cardboard photo boxes to provide optimal long-term storage conditions.
 

Our long-term archivable photo prints are characterised by the following features:

• We print your photo at the highest possible resolution directly from your RGB or LAB colour space. You do not need to convert your images into special ICC profiles.
• We print on the printing system with the most precise colour reproduction on the entire printer market
• We print with the latest and longest-lasting Epson HDX colour pigments
• We print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Pearl made from cotton, which offers excellent storage capability
• On every print, a status line below the image contains the filename, ICC profiles used, print date, rendering intent, printer, substrate, ink and much more
• The prints are equipped with 18gr/qm unbuffered cotton interlayers to prevent scuffing and scratching
• The prints are delivered, upon request, in special archive boxes that are optimally suited for long-term archiving
• Printing papers, interlayer papers and archive boxes are certified and designed for long-term archiving

 

Detailed information on the materials used and their suitability for long-term archiving

Photo printer: EPSON SureColor 9000V Spectro

• The SureColor SC-P9000V is the printer with the most accurate colour reproduction on the entire printer market¹
• It features Epson TFP PrecisionCore print heads and pigment inks with orange, green and violet as additional colours
• We print at the highest resolution of the printer
• The printer and measuring equipment were delivered on 23.12.2015 and put into operation in early 2016

 

Pigment ink: EPSON HDX colours

• We print with 11 different pigment inks

• With the help of violet, UltraChrome HDX can produce a large palette of vibrant colours as well as deep, saturated black tones and dense shadow areas
• The new Photo Black ink has up to 1.5 times higher pigment concentration compared to previous inks, which results in deeper black tones.
• UltraChrome HDX inks were developed for long durability. The weaknesses of the earlier HDR inks, particularly in the yellow range, have been eliminated. Mark McCormick-Goodhart, Director of Aardenburg Imaging and Archives writes: "Yellow has been by far the weakest link [for the long-term stability of the pigments]. The new HDX ink set remedies this weakness [...].
• Henry Wilhelm of Wilhelm Imaging Research writes about the new HDX inks: "The data measured so far shows that - depending on the paper used - the new inks offer long-term stability of up to 200 years for colour prints and probably over 400 years for black and white prints. [...] The larger Dmax, the larger colour gamut and the reduced metamerism from the new Epson UltraChrome HDX pigments represent a major advance in terms of visual brilliance of both colour and black and white images. [...] The generally better performance of the prints is a significant contribution to photography."

 

Substrate: Hahnemühle Photo Rag Pearl

• We searched for a long time for a paper that would enable the same long-term qualities as our HDX inks. We deliberately chose a non-resin-coated paper. It is also important that our Hahnemühle paper contains no optical brighteners, which are critical for long-term stability for various reasons.
• We also chose the paper because the certification experts have extensive experience with it.
• The paper is certified as Digigraphy, like our Epson printer
• The natural white paper with a weight of 320 gr/qm consists of 100% cotton, is free from optical brighteners and resembles a warm-toned baryta paper. With the large colour gamut and high colour density, extraordinary colour and black/white nuances are achieved and three-dimensionality is reached.
• Wilhelm Imaging Research already certifies the paper as having colour stability of over 200 years in dark storage with the "old" Epson HDR inks.

 

Interlayer: Silk paper without alkaline buffer made from cotton

• Between the individual photo sheets, a silk paper without alkaline buffer made from 100% cotton with a weight of 17-18 gr/qm is inserted to minimise mechanical friction
• The silk paper is smooth on one side with a pH of 7.0 - acid-free and without optical brighteners.
• The paper has passed the Photographic Activity Test (PAT) according to ISO 18916.

 

The archive box

• We supply the photo prints in a photo archive box for a surcharge. The archive box is writable and can be stored optimally. Approximately 50 images with interlayer papers can be stored per archive box.
• The archive boxes are guaranteed acid-free and are ideal for storing prints.
• The archive boxes are age-resistant in accordance with DIN 6738, ISO 9706 and ISO 16245

 

Why we chose these materials

When we began to address the issue of long-term archiving of photographs, we researched various websites and sought advice from different experts.
Wilhelm Imaging Research is certainly one of the best-known sources, providing an impressive amount of information on the long-term durability of specific printer/ink/paper combinations. Wilhelm Imaging Research pioneered this field and was an important source for us. However, the perceived closeness to the printer and paper industries, which finance Wilhelm's studies, prompted us to seek further sources. For example, many forum posts stated that papers confirmed by Wilhelm Imaging as being long-lasting sometimes developed cracks within just a few years. Also, the consideration of climate influences such as ozone on the durability of prints was only taken into account very late by Wilhelm Imaging. For these reasons, we did not rely exclusively on Wilhelm Imaging's research, but also considered further studies and opinions.
An excellent advisor was Mark McCormick-Goodhart, head and founder of Aardenburg Imaging and Archives - a company that works in the field of assessing materials for the creation and conservation of images. Aardenburg Imaging is divided into four areas: photography, printing, research and archiving – excellent for our long-term archiving task. 
Mark MacCormick-Goodhart contributed many insights and ideas to our project. His approach of measuring megalux hours as a metric for long-term stability and his idea of i-Metric for assessing the loss of quality through colour change when viewing images are absolutely noteworthy. Based on his findings and results from the  Aardenburg Light Fade Test Results Database and due to his assessment of our project in terms of substrates, printers and ink, we decided on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Pearl.
Regarding storage for archiving, we contacted Dr. Philipp Stolper from the Material & Environmental Protection Department of the Fogra Research Society for Printing e.V., based on their recommendations. I had contact with him, among other things, regarding the suitability of Hahnemühle, Tecco and Sihl papers, which are partly certified by Fogra according to ISO 9706 ("Information and documentation - Paper for documents - Requirements for permanence"). However, he wrote to us regarding this standard: "In this test, the Kappa value (indicator of lignin content), alkaline reserve (measure of substances that can neutralise acids produced during ageing), pH value in aqueous solution (is the paper generally acidic?) and the tear resistance according to Elmendorf (mechanical stability) are determined. This standard is primarily aimed at ensuring that the paper does not release acids or oxidise and thus cause additional damage to the printing ink. This standard does NOT address the relationship between paper and printing ink, nor does it look at changes in the printing ink."
Our original idea was to place the prints in polyethylene sleeves, as recommended by Epson for archiving. However, Dr. Stolper had a clear recommendation: "Regarding the polyethylene sleeve, I don't know if that might not even be counterproductive if moisture accumulates here and microbiology also comes into play." Admittedly, that was understandable, and McCormick-Goodhart struck the same chord: "A high quality PE wrapper won't necessarily harm anything, but probably is unnecessary unless you expect high levels of physical print handling on a routine basis." We subsequently eliminated the polyethylene sleeve.
The printers, inks, papers, interlayers and archive boxes we use have thus emerged as the optimal combination through numerous certifications, study results, recommendations and opinions.

 

Why is long-term archiving of photographs important?

Today, almost all photographs are taken digitally, and image art is often only produced digitally. Digital images are inexpensive, high-resolution, good in colour and excellently retouchable. But can we be sure that these images will still be displayable many years from now? That they can still be viewed? That the colours will still look exactly as they did at the time of capture? How can we protect a digital original from loss and preserve its colour authenticity for many decades and many generations?
Two classic problems with digital images come to the fore here:

1. Problem: Risk of loss due to storage media failure

• Every hard drive will eventually fail or produce read errors
• CDs and DVDs can corrode and scratch, drives may no longer be available in the future (see floppy ...)
• Flash memory and SSDs cannot be rewritten indefinitely, and failure of the electronics also leads to total loss.
• Due to their small size, these media can easily be forgotten, sucked up or unintentionally discarded.
• Accidental dropping, water etc. can cause media failure.
• The cloud also does not offer a secure solution: What if the provider becomes insolvent? Who guarantees the data? Will Strato and Amazon still exist in 50 years?
• Can you permanently migrate your data to new storage media over decades and centuries and convert the file formats to the current state?
• Colour microfilm would have been a solution, but is now rarely used, and backprinting is labour-intensive and requires special readers and printers.

 

2. Problem: Readability of data formats and colour spaces

• Can data formats such as JPG, TIF and PSD still be read in decades to come?
• Can colour spaces such as ECI-RGB V2 or AdobeRGB still be interpreted, can the original colour be viewed?
• Micrografx Picture Publisher, Macromedia Freehand ... have disappeared. What about Adobe in 50 years?
• Can you manage the permanent effort to migrate to new data formats?

There are currently hardly any alternatives to long-term archiving of valuable digital photography as a print. "A physical print is the only viable way at this point in time to ensure that future audiences will see the aesthetics of the image the way the photographer wanted them portrayed. The print is where the photographer is able to instill and ensure his or her own aesthetic values in their image craft. At this time, enduring, nothing less than a print, a tactile, physical object, very often hand signed by the artist, achieves this goal." Mark McCormick-Goodhart