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If you have read the past installments of Wilhelm Wednesday you know that not all photos are created equal. Photo processing plays a big part in how long your pictures will last. The inkjet printer technology you choose for printing at home makes a big difference in how long your photos will last. You have choices in the products you buy and services you use. Usually purchasing the printer that has longer lasting prints or the processing that has longer lasting prints does not cost much more or any more than purchasing products that will fade more quickly, some as soon as a few years.

So now that you are armed with this knowledge you will shop around and find where you can get your prints processed with Fuji Crystal Archive because the prints are rated to last 60 years. Your next printer will be researched at the Wilhelm website because testing and new technology is evolving at a rapid rate.

Look at this rating from January 2000

 

 Can you believe the short life span that inkjet prints had in 1999? This is one of the main reasons that I didn’t jump on the digital print at home bandwagon until the last few years. I didn’t want to have pictures that would fade before I even got them into scrapbooks!

Do keep in mind that this chart is from January 2000 but the statistics given for traditional photo processing will have remained similar. Now you can see why I have only used Fuji processing since I discovered Mr. Wilhelm’s research. Since it has been available Fuji Crystal Archive is only the processing method I use for my photos. If I can get a Fuji print for 12 cents at my local WalMart store and it will last longer than the Kodak pictures that Snapfish offers for 12 cents, I’m ordering from WalMart. Not only will my pictures last longer but I’ll save on postage too when I upload the pictures to the store and then pick the photos up at my convenience.

If I was purchasing a photo printer this week based on testing alone I would purchase the Epson R1800 printer (see the specs.)

However, I’m really anxious to see the testing on the new Canon printers. I had the wide carriage Canon 9100 and was very pleased with its output and the low ink usage. In fact I purchased a Canon PIXMA MP 780 just over a year ago to act as my office workhorse. The MP 780 is a flatbed scanner, copier, fax and printer. We use the printer on a daily basis and we have been very happy with its performance. Canon claims that their new ink will last 100 years and if Wilhelm verifies that my next photo printer will be a Canon.

I’m curious, will this information make a difference in how you process your photos or the next photo printer you buy? Please leave a comment and let me know.