Fading Coloured Photos

[bainbrig]

Printing from a Canon Pixma, using good inks and Canon photo paper.

Initial results always sparkling, good colours, etc. But if I stick a photo on the wall ( not in sunlight at all) after some months it gets faded.

Is there any way round this? Do commercial photo printing firms still use some sort of fixative?

Ta.

BillB

[woofgang]

you say good inks but are they Canon inks?

[bainbrig]

No. Why, do (overpriced) Canon inks have a fix built-in?

B

[woofgang]

because I use Canon Inks and don't get your fade problem

[Souldarkness]

Depends how much light they are exposed to. If you laminate them they last longer

[bainbrig]

Just daylight, soul - nowhere near sunshine (back of a room).

Be interested to hear if anyone else who uses non-Canon ink gets any problems, as the price difference is truly horrendous. (Full set of inks on my 7700 is over £70 for Canon, and about £28 for 'compatible').

[Tuvok]

Printer manufacturers design their paper to be used with their inks and vice versa.

[woofgang]

I always use quality paper but apart from the photo sized card, which I use rarely, its not Canon. I think its HP and Kodak at the moment, plus some crafting brands. when I need to stock up, I look for branded bargains. I agree about the cost of the inks, and in my oldest printer I do use non Canon, but in my posh new ones, I stick to Canon.

[bainbrig]

Oh well, I'll keep searching for an explanation - not convinced that Canon and their ilk have the best interests of consumers at heart!

One odd thing is that it is only certain colour-combinations that seem to go off while others stay put. Photos of our pet robin (brown and red) fade, but ones from decades ago of other furry friends stay pretty much the same.

[Khandro]

The paper - unless rubbish- wont effect the colour fade, I only use Canon inks - and I'm a professional. They are expensive, and I wish they could save a little and help pollution, by simplifying their absurdly over the top packaging.

[kvalidir]

Agree with Khandro, Canon are expensive for a reason :/

[bainbrig]

So are you both (K and K) saying the colour fade IS caused by the non-Canon inks?

[TonyV]

Bainbrig the fact is printer manufacturers make very little if any money on printer sales. The profit is in the ink sales, so if they "add" some idiosyncrasies to their printers to make them work perfectly with their own inks then I guess that's what they will do.

[CrapAtCryptics]

I dont find genuine Canon inks that expensive if you shop around a bit.

[woofgang]

I don't think they can add idiosyncracies that mean that they work better with their printers.......I do think that SOMETIMES you get what you pay for. I use non canon inks in my old printer for things that have a brief use or for letters and so on. I have no idea whether they would fade with time or not. What I do say is that pictures that I have printed with Canon inks 15 years ago have not faded.

[kvalidir]

Honestly I don't know, however my prints don't seem to fade and I use Cannon inks in my photo printer ( and cheapos for document printing in the other printer).

[Bertrum]

You could try an inkjet fixative spray
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=inkjet+fixative+spray&index=aps&tag=googhydr-21&ref=pd_sl_4lm2sa5wy2_e&adgrpid=51269127257&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=259093630030&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7812326849067561917&hvqmt=e&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007434&hvtargid=kwd-297082701805
Not used it myself but may be worth a try

[bainbrig]

I’m chasing the science here. Assumptions about what Canon do or don’t put in their inks aren’t definitive, just chat.

The ONLY faded pic I have is the one on the wall!

All my other compatible-ink prints are fine.

[TonyV]

Woofgang maybe not idiosyncrasies then, just my overactive mind maybe. But truth applies to all the major printer manufacturers that their ink works the best with their printers.

[TonyV]

Bainbrig, someone will say that your aftermarket inks dont't stand up to light very well

[woofgang]

tony...well kind of.....but you can't compare quality inks because you can't put eg an epson cartridge in a Canon printer