Print Preservation
When buying a fine art print the purchaser wants to be assured that the print will last for a long time and not encounter the problems that many of you may be familiar with either the photos taken when colour for came out in the 1960s or some prints made on many dye-based inkjet prints. These tended to have horrible colour fading problems.
The longevity of your print, which mainly deals with the colour permanence, or lightfastness of photo to resist fading is based on many factors such as the intensity and duration of light, humidity and any airborne contaminants.
The fine art prints available from the artist are expected to last in the range of 100 to 200 years depending of the chosen fine art paper, the mounting and display methods. The data I use is from Wilhelm Imaging Research and is not based on manufactures claims.
The maximum longevity of a photo print is based on a the photo print be mounted in a UV glass frame, with acid free matting and backing paper and having the backing board sealed with tape. It also has a maximum specification of 450 lux of light reaching the image for a 12-hour day, which represents a fairly brightly lit room such as a living room or kitchen. The temperature is set to 24c and a relative humidity of 60%
For practicable purposes this is the environment normally found within a typical heated or air-conditioned office or home.
If you are not able to determine the amount of light falling on the photo then it recommend that when the image is mounted that no direct sunlight strike on the photo during the day or for only brief periods or that the image is not hung on walls that are opposite very large expanses of glass windows where the light in the room is very intense.
All colour pigments whether in a painting or on a photo print image will be degraded over time by light, but it may take many years (hundreds) for any noticeable effects. This is why in museums they control light entering into their works of art and have restricted flash photography. They want the images to last thousands of years.
Print images that are displayed not with a glass frame the colour permanence will be in the range of 35 to 70 years.
It is important that when mounting a fine art print that only acid free matting and backing paper be used. Typical newspapers are not acid free and you will notice how quiclky these turn yellow and this can leach into the edges of the fine art print.