Longevity & Quality of Print Reproductions

Personally, I would never buy a print reproduction unless the longevity of the reproduction has a guarantee such as shown below.

A skilled craftsman will state the paper used, the ink system used, and ideally provide Wilhelm Research certification.

Unfortunately this is all too rare for most reproductions, often because many artists and pinters are not sufficiently skilled in this area.

Reproducing original works is a skilled art in its own right. Most reproductions are digitally reproduced, but there is much more involved than sticking it on the colour photocopier.

Quality of image capture is important. If the image has not been captured correctly then the resulting image will be bad, whatever you do to it afterwards - basically garbage in, garbage out. Unfortunately I have seen many reproductions whose poor quality can be seen from about 3m away.

Every time a reproduction is produced, the operator needs to perform a number of corrections which change every time a different type of paper or ink is selected - i.e. they cannot just substitute a different type of paper without recorrecting and recalibrating the image. A skilled operator will deal with factors such as colour gamut (e.g. can the ink reproduce all the colours of the original), ICC profiles, etc. Foremost, they must have an artists eye and will compare numerous test prints against the original work to see that it reproduces the original accurately in every way possible.

Then they will need to seriously consider which paper (and finish) they will use with a particular ink. In tests by the Wilhelm Institute, a particular ink and paper combination guaranteed against significant fading for 120 years (under ideal conditions) may drop to under a year (in extreme cases) if either the ink or paper is substituted. It is not just about using quality materials - it is about using the correct combination of quality materials.

Some artists will ask also for an archival UV resistant coating to be applied over their reproductions. This can significantly improve print longevity.

Ideally any reproduction should be hung away from direct or bright sunlight. If this is impossible, enquire about archival coatings for the print, and the use of museum glass on your frame. This can significantly improve longevity against fading, while coatings can help protect against airborne contaminants (e.g. pollution, or acid gases in geothermal areas).