I still have hanging in our bedroom a picture I printed about 35 years ago (Kodak paper IIRC, though I do have some cibachromes too). The room is not brightly lit, and it hasn’t so far shown obvious signs of fading. Unlike one of our wedding pictures.
Time for some music methinks …
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‘Archival’ - moot word. Pigment inks do have the reputation for lasting for what one might reasonably expect the word ‘archival’ to represent.
However, dye inks have come on considerably in recent years. Epson is quoting 100 years for it’s inks/papers. The Photospeed presenter of a comparative test, dye v pigment, hazards 50 years - but nobody has confirmed this, yet.
His own test of dye v pigment showed no fading of a dye print after 6 months in a window receiving lots of light. It still looks as when printed and, because of the nature of dye inks, showed snappier colours compared to the pigment ink print alongside it in the window.
Keith Cooper, the guy who produced the ‘Profiles’ video above, reckons that dye prints are good for more than the lifetime of himself and most people printing photographs on the class of printer that makes this topic relevant.
I do recommend Keith Cooper’s videos. Like @SuePJ I find his presentations excellent and as a professional who evidently has to supply prints to his clents, as opposed to simply handing over original RAW files or transparencies, his breadth of knowledge and experience makes his channel a one-stop-shop for all things printer/paper/inks.
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