most of us don’t think about how long a color print will last when it’s new. We are likely to consider its long-term stability only when it has started to fade or discolor, usually after it’s too late to do anything to save it in its original form. The fact is that no image will last forever. Heat, humidity, light, air pollutants, and mishandling all can shorten the life of a color print. This guide is intended to help readers gain insight into some of the causes of image deterioration and learn ways to make their photographic and digital color prints last longer. The subject of image stability has become considerably more complex in recent years. In the past, most color prints were produced using the traditional photographic process. A relatively small number of manufacturers made prints, and the prints generally exhibited similar behavior. In the last decade or so, however, there has been a marked increase in the number of images produced by digital color printers, and these newer materials differ widely in both their composition and their response to environmental factors. While being able to save images as files on a computer hard drive and print copies on demand has great appeal, the longevity of these stored files is not guaranteed. Technology changes rapidly, and equipment fails. Preservation of the color prints thus takes on greater importance
The natural process of deterioration starts as soon as a color image is printed, whether it is produced digitally or photographically. While we cannot completely prevent this, we can handle, store, and display color prints in ways that will greatly extend their useful life.
