I have a full color Epson test print up on my studio door and just stepped
out to look at it. Its been up about two month and little but the blue
remains.
I have been using Basenwork, a fine art litho paper with a clay coat. Its
works really well, but anything you can put thourgh there that will bend
will work. I've been printing really long panoramas made using
Apple's QTVR tools. Any paper that is no wider than 10 inches can be run
through. You just have to have enough ram to hold a ten foot long photo
shop image.
Nash editions, acting on the advice of J Cone of Cone editions now silk
screens on a UV coating that "makes them as good as water colors" and we
all know they ain't going to be around long under direct UV radiation.
That's just something reassuring to say to the museum curators. They know
how to handle watercolors.
If the Cactus Printer people are still in business they were blowing
acrylic paint at about 65 dpi to make large scale images. Those should last
longer.
Of coursee if your serious and I quote from their promotional materials:
U L T R A S T A B L E FINE ART PRINTMAKING IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Long recognized as the finest and most durable of all color print
techniques, the historic 19th century carbon process has been reinvented by
the new UltraStable pigment transfer system. Produced by combining multiple
layers of pure color pigment films, the hand made UltraStable print has
adistinctive surface and texture which readily identifies it as the ultimate
in photographic printing.
UltraStable pigment prints are truly permanent, and will retain the beauty
and vibrancy of the original colors hundreds of years after conventional
photographs have faded away. Accelerated light-fading tests conducted by
Henry Wilhelm have shown that "UltraStable prints are far more stable than
conventional dye-image color prints and indicate that under typical indoor
display conditions, UltraStable prints should last for more than 500 years
before noticeable image fading or staining occurs". By comparison,
conventional color photographs, lithographs and ink-jet prints displayed
under the same conditions will suffer severe fading in less than a decade.
Printed on watercolor papers or on a specially designed smooth white
polyester base, these uniquely beautiful images have become the world
standard for fine art color photographs.
Print materials and process instructions are available directly from:
UltraStable Color Systems, Inc.
500 Seabright Avenue, Suite 201
Santa Cruz, California 95062
Tel:(408)427.3000 Fax:(408)426.9900
For a materials price list or the name of the nearest lab producing
UltraStable prints,Email cb@ultrastable.com.
*They have not figured out how to email me their complete price list yet.
But Hey, you can't have permance and speed too.