My opinions about image quality and degree of color shift are just that: my opinions. If you don't agree with them, fine. But each of my opinions is based on direct comparison of tested papers to a protected, dark stored control sample, and to the other tested papers. Each evaluation was made under the same lighting conditions (A Luxo desk lamp with a 22 watt circline fluorescent and a 60 watt incandescent. I use both bulbs alone and in combination for the evaluations)
I'm not a scientist. I make no representations for the accuracy or repeatability of these tests. I certainly would not make any predictions about how long a paper will last in "normal" use based on these tests. But accelerated testing has become the standard way to measure print life, and I think my tests are a useful indication of the relative merits of different papers and/or inks. If paper 'A' doesn't fade in the ozone chamber and paper 'B' shifts within days, it seems fair to believe that paper 'A' will last longer in real life, too.
The least repeatable of my tests is the outdoor (UV) test. Weather conditions were unavoidably varied. Not all papers were tested at the same time. Some samples got more light than others, some were exposed to higher humidity, and some to higher temperatures. I'm aware that this is an extreme test, and if every paper reacted in the same way I might have thrown all the results out. But, in fact, some papers did dramatically better than others in this test.
As Summer has turned into Fall, an interesting change has occurred. A paper that used to show noticeable shift in 2 to 3 days under test in Summer conditions now takes 7 or 8 days to show the same relative shift. For this reason I'll try to always include a piece of PGPP paper, as a control, in all future tests.
Important Note: If you think a paper might be suitable for your needs, I urge you to test it with your images, in
your environment, and decide for yourself. I got good results with one Red River paper, but I know of
at least one user who's seen that paper fade as much as PGPP. And I got significant shift on Tetenal
Spectra Jet, but at least one user who gets shift on PGPP has not seen it on the Tetenal. This
is a complex problem, and there may not be one solution that works for everyone.
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