Gloss optimizer and fading of dye inks

[Ink stained Fingers]

That's interesting, the fading effect depends on the ink in use, the paper and the environment; you mention that
' but later, they caught up to the prints that had no GO applied ' - how long was this period - weeks or months - for your test ?

more effective to use pigment ink..

Yes, they perform much better - significantly, but I don't like their look in some cases but that's a different story...

 

[The Hat]

how long was this period - weeks or months - for your test ?

I can’t recall the definite time line, but it was more than six months..

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Please let me update on the fading results after another 4 weeks, there was quite some sun, and it was pretty dry,
all factors which may influence the results this or that way, and I'm running this test only on one type of paper, tests
some years ago had shown that the paper, the coating as well has an impact onto the fading performance of a particular ink. Changes in colors for the patches w/o GO are now becoming visible in direct comparison with the reference patches kept in the dark


Fading Test Epson 106 ink - w/o and with GO overprint
Total Lightness increase of CMYK patches (Range from 0 - 255)
(measured with a scanner, deltas via the histogram vs.
a copy kept in the dark)
L1800 Printer, Epson 106 inkset, Ultra Glossy driver setting, Sihl glossy paper


_______________patches w/o GO_______patches with GO

after week 1__________1_________________0

after week 4__________4_________________3

after week 7__________8_________________5

after week 11_________20________________12

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

15 weeks are now gone with this fading test checking for the effects of a gloss optimizer overprint

Paper Fading Test Epson 106 - GO overprint
Total Lightness increase of CMYK patches (Range from 0 - 255)
(measured with a scanner, delta via the histogram vs. a copy kept in the dark)
L1800 Printer, Epson 106 inkset, Ultra Glossy driver setting, Sihl glossy paper


_______________patches w/o GO_______patches with GO

after week 1__________1_________________0

after week 4__________4_________________3

after week 7__________8_________________5

after week 11_________20________________12

after week 15_________31________________21


The overall trend remains, the GO overprint slows down the fading of the 106 inks, the unprotected black shifted just by 4 within 15 weeks, this compares to lightness increase of 7 within just one week of the HP 727 dye black - see the separate test here
https://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/refilling-canon-with-oem-ink.10712/page-12#post-114117
This makes a huge difference - the Epson ink is better after 15 weeks than the HP 727 ink after one week.
I'm stopping this test here, the GO was supplied by the German octopus-office ink supplier, the GO of other suppliers may perform with different results, I already see a visible difference in gloss between this GO and the InkTec GO, the impact onto the fading performance may vary as well.

 

[The Hat]

@Ink stained Fingers, Your GO tests were very interesting, but what became clear to me is your GO worked well at the start as it did in my test, but as time went on it started to catch up to a point where it will make little difference..
Please let it run a little longer...
P.S. I used PC72-GO..

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Thanks for your input @The Hat , that's a good point - I'll place the targets back into the environment in a minute. There was quite some sun in the last weeks, and the patches are directly exposed to it. I could imagine that the GO may just reduce the impact of ozone but not filter the UV radiation very much

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Please let me update this test after another 4 weeks - with lots of weather - sun, rain, high and low temperatures, thunderstorm

Paper Fading Test Epson 106 - GO overprint
Total Lightness increase of CMYK patches (Range from 0 - 255)
(measured with a scanner, delta via the histogram vs.
a copy kept in the dark)
L1800 Printer, Epson 106 inkset, Ultra Glossy driver setting, Sihl glossy paper



_______________patches w/o GO_______patches with GO

after week 1__________1_________________0

after week 4__________4_________________3

after week 7__________8_________________5

after week 11_________20________________12

after week 15_________31________________21

after week 19_________54________________42

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

that's the status after 23 weeks, that's an image of the patches as they look today, this w/o GO overprint

with these ressults

Paper Fading Test Epson 106 - GO overprint
Total Lightness increase of CMYK patches (Range from 0 - 255)
(measured with a scanner, delta via the histogram vs.
a copy kept in the dark)
L1800 Printer, Epson 106 inkset, Ultra Glossy driver setting, Sihl glossy paper



_______________patches w/o GO_______patches with GO

after week 1__________1_________________0

after week 4__________4_________________3

after week 7__________8_________________5

after week 11_________20________________12

after week 15_________31________________21

after week 19_________54________________42

after week 23_________73________________55

Cyan is the weakest ink at this time, photo prints would get lighter overall with a color shift to red. These patches are placed outside, on a recessed balcony, indoor performance should be much better.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

The patches are out in the environment now for 27 weeks - for half a year with these results:

Paper Fading Test Epson 106 - GO overprint
Total Lightness increase of CMYK patches (Range from 0 - 255)
(measured with a scanner, delta via the histogram vs.
a copy kept in the dark)
L1800 Printer, Epson 106 inkset, Ultra Glossy driver setting, Sihl glossy paper

_______________patches w/o GO_______patches with GO

after week 1__________1_________________0

after week 4__________4_________________3

after week 7__________8_________________5

after week 11_________20________________12

after week 15_________31________________21

after week 19_________54________________42

after week 23_________73________________55

after week 27_________92________________72

The weakest ink remains cyan; I had some Fujifilm Drylab Cyan left from an older order, and
compare it against the Epson 16 cyan, the fade for the same amount in a 4 week period until now.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

The patches are out in the environment now for 31 weeks - for more than half a year with these results:

Paper Fading Test Epson 106 + GO overprint
Total Lightness increase of CMYK patches (Range from 0 - 255)
(measured with a scanner, delta via the histogram vs. a copy kept in the dark)
L1800 Printer, Epson 106 inkset, Ultra Glossy driver setting, Sihl glossy paper

_______________patches w/o GO_______patches with GO

after week 1__________1_________________0
after week 4__________4_________________3
after week 7__________8_________________5
after week 11_________20________________12
after week 15_________31________________21
after week 19_________54________________42
after week 23_________73________________55
after week 27_________92________________72
after week 31________115________________92

Cyan remains by far the weakest ink, weaker than black;
I'm running a little test in parallel with the Epson 106 and the Fuji Surelab cyan inks, they fade equally fast.