Both dye and pigment-based inks have been used successfully to optimize the overall performance of ink-jet printers, the output of which is approaching and surpassing traditional silver halide photographs. The formulation of these inks strives to simultaneously address traditional image quality concerns like color vividness and grain, as well as such print characteristics as photo permanence, dark storage stability, and gloss uniformity. Addressing these multiple concerns often involves making a large number of trade-offs. For dye-based inks, improved color gamut has been traditionally compromised by decreased light-fade stability, because lightfast dyes tend to be less chromatic. In this paper, a discussion of a new generation of inks developed by Hewlett Packard is given. By careful selection of dyes, the new HP ink set achieves > 100 year predicted light fastness performance while simultaneously improving color gamut over previous products.
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