Cibas, photoceramics, etc. Was Re: dye sublimation prints

Luis Nadeau (nadeaul@nbnet.nb.ca)
Sun, 22 Mar 1998 00:42:24 -0400

At 6:27 PM -0700 98/03/21, Bob_Maxey@mtn.3com.com wrote:
>>>>

>FYI: There is a world of differnece between Cibachrome and the material I
>was referring to; Ilfochrome Color Micrographic Film. Unfortunately,
>discontinued. It is used specifically because of its archival nature, and
>is/was widely used as an archival storage medium.

Nothing new to me here again. They both have had excellent dark keeping
characteristics. It is really unfortunate that this kind of technology is
disappearing before we have something new to replace it with.

I did learn something new recently however about the permanence of good old
Cibachromes. I visited a photographer's office at a local university here a
couple of months ago when he showed me an unusual print. On one brightly
lit wall he had a dozen Cibas, all made by himself in 1977. They looked
quite healthy considering they had been exposed 40 hours/week under
fluorescent lights for 20 years. They were no longer pristine but certainly
acceptable for most purposes. They were mounted on cardboards *without*
protective glass and all of them except one had been sprayed with a matte
finishing product.

The one that had not been sprayed had kept its original gloss except in the
solid black areas which are now perfectly matte! This is really weird. This
effect is only visible under a specific angle and I don't know what its
significance is from a permanence point of view except that there is
definitely a physical change taking place here. The photographer noticed
this print just recently when he happened to look at it under the right
angle and has no idea how long it has been like this. Has anyone else seen
this? I'll certainly mention this to my colleagues when I get the chance.

It is important to be careful when talking about one's personal experience
regarding anything. I have never seen the effect of cancer personally and I
could tell you that my grandfather smoked two packs a day until he got shot
by a jealous husband at age 96, but this would be no scientific proof that
tobacco is not dangerous to your health;-)

Luis Nadeau
NADEAUL@NBNET.NB.CA
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/nadeaul/