4/7/998

A student in my laboratory has a number of digital images of gels and

transmission electron micrographs which she would like to include in her

thesis. I know that prints from our inkjet printer have poor archival

properties (they turn brown over a period of a year or so, depending on

light, air exposure), but we do have access to a dye sublimation printers

elsewhere. How long can we expect black and white dye sublimation prints

to last in a thesis without discoloring or fading? Given that these

printers haven't been around very long, does anyone actually know?



Marie



Dr. Marie E. Cantino

Dept. of Physiology and Neurobiology, U-131

University of Connecticut

Storrs, CT 06269

Ph: 860-486-3588

Fax: 860-486-1936



CANTINO@ORACLE.PNB.UCONN.EDU

It probably depends on what dye sub printer you have as to how well a

print will stand up to the passage of time.



A Kodak printer we had put a plastic coat on top of the dye as the last

step in the printing process.



An old Sony dye sub printer I had did not do this. The dyes would smear

if any moisture at all got on them. Also after several months in the

hallway under fluorescent light, the dyes would fade. If they were not

exposed to light, they kept their color 4-5 years and I suspect they

would keep much longer.



I do not know whether the plastic coating prevents the fading of the dye

when exposed to light a number of months because I haven't tested any of

these prints.



That is the extent of my knowledge on the subject. Hope it helps.



Matthew J. Schibler Ph.D.

UCLA Brain Research Institute

73-384 CHS 951761

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1761



(310) 825-9783

FAX (310) 206-5855

E-mail: mschibler@bri.medsch.ucla.edu

Matthew



you mention smudging with ink-jet inks. I have started using an Epson Stylus

600 and I notice that it doesn't smudge if you use the full glossy papers. I

don't know about fading, though but it may be useful to use the glossy

finish for more permanent results if your printer can use it and the cheaper

papers for routine work.



Malcolm Haswell

University of Sunderland

UK

malcolm.haswell@sunderland.ac.uk

I posed this question to a Kodak rep at the last MSA in Cleveland. He

stated the prints were archival; that is, they should last at least as long

as properly fixed photographic material, at least 50 years.









Rick A. Harris, Director

Microscopy and Image Analysis Facility

Section of Molecular and Cellular Biology

1241 Life Sciences Addition

University of California

Davis, CA

530 752 2914

530 752 3085 fax

raharris@ucdavis.edu

My experience with dye-subs is that grayscale prints are usually a

result of CMY printing, although two possibilities are (1) the CMY

ribbon also had a "K" of black component, or (2) a monochrome "K" ribbon

was used. If the prints were a result of "K" printing then they are not

likely to change color, but they may fade while the paper stock remains

white. If they are a result of CMY printing, they are liable to acquire

a pink or green tint (... not bad though ...).



Lastly, and at least for Kodak dye-sub printer engines, there exists a

ribbon/paper combination which lamenates and protects the image from UV

... or you can try to find UV protection, usually as a form of a spray,

to apply to print.



... hope this helps :o)



cheerios, shAf



<>/\<\/>/\<\/>/\<\/>/\ cogito, ergo zZOooOM /\<\/>/\<\/>/\<\/>/\<>

Michael Shaffer, R.A. - http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~mshaf/

Geological Science's Electron Probe Facility - University of Oregon

mshaf@darkwing.uoregon.edu or mshaf@oregon.uoregon.edu



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