8mm Forum: My Fading Digital Prints

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Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 12, 2014, 03:45 PM:

Looking through some photos today that I took about 8 years ago with a digital camera, and then printed them out on HP Premium Plus Photo Paper. Guess what, they have all turned pink!!!!! [Eek!]

So does that mean that all my digital prints over the past 8 years will suffer a similar fate? And does that mean that digital photos are useless for archiving family photos for future generations?

Posted by John Yapp (Member # 2873) on July 13, 2014, 11:48 AM:

That is indeed a worry Paul. I assume you are talking about prints made on a home printer rather than professionally made. Did you use original Manufacturers ink, or compatibles? Either way, it doesn't bode well for the future, and has to go in the same category as all those Cds/Dvds we were told would be indestructible and last for ever. I have photos at home from my Father's army days during WW2, and some from well before that. I doubt any of my digital efforts will be in existence in fifty years time, I hope I'm wrong.

Posted by Kenneth Horan (Member # 3) on July 13, 2014, 01:09 PM:

Paul, When using an ink jet printer be sure to use archival (non-fade) water proof inks and print on archival paper. This will provide longer term preservation of your digital photo print-outs. However this is the expensive route. The best solution is to have a photo lab make traditional photo-chemical prints on archival paper from your digital files.

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on July 13, 2014, 10:18 PM:

Sadly, few things are manufactured to last as long as possible, nowadays.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on July 14, 2014, 11:24 AM:

Sad to hear, Paul. Do you have them backed up digitally in some form so that you can re-print them with, as stated above, low fade inks?

Posted by David M. Ballew (Member # 1818) on July 16, 2014, 04:13 PM:

Paul, on the one hand, I hoped you were being humorous and ironic. One is used to hearing of old celluloid going pink, but anything digital? Nah! Never happen! ;-)

But of course as others have pointed out, anything printed on paper, even archival photo paper, is only as good as the ink that was used.

That being said, might I recommend you download free Google Picasa software? I have scanned old, faded photos into my computer, opened them in Picasa, and hit the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button. And presto! Many times, blues and greens magically return. In fact, the results in some cases have been astonishing and borderline miraculous. I absolutely swear by Picasa as a simple, simple, simple photo manipulation software that produces good results for the average or casual user.

Posted by Brian Fretwell (Member # 4302) on July 18, 2014, 01:07 PM:

The other point to raise is have they been on display and has the sun been shining on them. The UV can damage most pigments but often the red fades first. If stored covered acid from other papers can affect the image, store in archive quality sleeves.

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on July 18, 2014, 01:28 PM:

When digital cameras were intoduced, one of the advantages that they stated was that you would no longer pay for the process of 35 mm film. I would be interested to know how it woks in other countries as in Belgium you still have to pay an extra amount (of course they changed the name of it and they don't call it process costs anymore but somthing you could translate to English by "handling costs") when you print pictures.

Posted by David Ollerearnshaw (Member # 3296) on July 18, 2014, 03:02 PM:

I have printed covers for my films and dvd and they fade. This is using both Epsom or Canon inks and the compatibles inks on photo paper.

Don't think my local chemist where they still develop 35mm film, but here's the nasty bit they are printed on a printer and thus are not photographs any more.

Also the digitally restored films are put onto harddisks if they don't keep moving them on to new disks they too will become unplayable.

When you look at things now its all short term.

Fifty years will be pushing it. I can't watch my BETAMAX tapes now and some of the laserdiscs are also becoming unplayable.

Let's hope real film comes back.

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