PRINTING GLOSSARY

Archival

Archival quality is a non-technical term that suggests that a material or product can safely be used for preservation purposes. For a material or method to be archival, the materials used in the process or that come into contact with the artwork must be chemically-stable with a neutral or slightly basic pH, durable, permanent, and protect the artwork from deterioration from environmental factors such as humidity, temperature, exposure to ultra-violet light, and pollutants from chemical off-gassing.

Archival standards are the principles that most museums adhere to.

Black & White

Archival Gelatin Silver Exhibition Print

Gelatin Silver is the name for the standard black and white negative printing process.  The paper has a light sensitive emulsion composed of silver halides.  Through the developing and fixing, processing eliminates unexposed silver to reveal and fix the image.  RC (Resin Coated) paper is less archival (around 50 years), but very rarely used in fine art prints.  The more common “Fiber-based” prints can last upwards of 70 to over 100 years, depending on the fixing and handling.

These gelatin silver prints produced by Schulman Photo Lab in Los Angeles are the finest black and white prints obtainable, processed as per manufacturer's archival procedures including multiple washes and special selenium treatment for maximum archival properties and cool, intensified blacks.  

Colour

Chromogenic Print

Chromogenic print is a short name for a “Chromogenic Dye Coupler Print,” also known as a C-print.  It is the standard negative-based color print process in which three separate color dyes bond to couplers of the silver contained in the paper’s emulsion.  In processing, the silver is removed to leave the remaining colors.  Until recent innovations in color papers, the life of a print without obvious fading or image deterioration was at best 20 years, compared with over 60 years today.  These are prints created via the latest Light Jet Technology by the Fine Art Department of the The Icon Los Angeles.

Digital

Dye-Ink on Fine Art Paper

These dye-ink prints on museum-quality fine art paper present a cost-effective method of delivery high quality prints produced in-house and shipped strait to your door.  The dye inks used in this process deliver rich, vibrant colors that will truly shine in any display environment, however are more susceptible to fading over time when compared to pigment-based inks.