FACTS GENERAL INFORMATION ARTICLE FACTS publishes this document as a public service. Its use is voluntary, and all results obtained by its use must be entirely the responsibility of the user. This document is subject to revision, change and/or withdrawal at any time.  © FACTS 2000

EVERCOLOR: THE SEARCH FOR QUALITY AND PERMANENCE

By William A. Nordstrom, President EverColor® Limited

Color Process and Why They Fail

The organic dyes used in modern positive and negative films, print papers and display transparencies gradually fade when exposed to light, varying temperatures and humidity. Special processes such as Ilfochrome®, which uses more permanent azo dyes, and the discontinued Kodak Dye Transfer process, have exceptional dark storage stability. However, when displayed under artificial lighting or exposed to sunlight, all conventional color prints eventually fade. You don’t need a chemistry degree to understand what happens.

There are two common color printing methods. The most popular uses color couplers in the emulsion of the photographic paper which develop to form dyes in direct proportion to the amount of metallic silver exposed to light. Color stability is a secondary concern. In fact, minute amounts of unused dye couplers remain in the print even after thorough washing. As time passes—witness the fading pictures in your family photo album—these materials break down. Depending on the quality and intensity of the ambient light, it may take but a few years for a picture to deteriorate. Not a pretty sight.

An alternative printing method is the dye destruction process. Here, dyes are coated on the base material at time of manufacture, then bleached out during processing in direct proportion to the amount of silver developed for their ability to be dye-bleached, not necessarily for longevity. Although prints made with this process hold up well in dark storage, they gradually fade when displayed. And there are other weaknesses. Dye-destruction is not a color-corrected system and therefore shows color inaccuracies from the original transparency. Moreover, there are additional problems controlling highlight detail, contrast, and tonal scale.

On a more exotic level—generally the one sought by professionals—stands the Dye Transfer process (Kodak has stopped manufacturing these materials). It’s a tedious procedure that involves rolling three matrix films, after they’ve been soaked in acidified cyan, magenta and yellow dye solutions, into contact with the print surface. Done correctly, the final print has wonderful color and tonal range. Dark storage stability is good, but prints exposed to light will eventually fade and shift color.

The Evolution of Color Pigment Printing

Today, the search for archival color has focused on the earliest of color printing methods—the carbro or carbon pigment process. The basic technique, which forms an image using color pigments instead of dyes, was developed in the late 1860s by Louis Ducos du Hauron, the French pioneer of color photography.

Du Hauron’s three-color adaptation of the carbon printing process required making multiple color separation negatives for each image. Simply explained, each separation negative was exposed onto a light sensitized gelatin-pigment film, which incorporated the appropriate color pigment. Exposed areas of the gelatin hardened, and the unexposed pigments were washed away with warm water, leaving only the image. Then the three pigment images were registered and transferred to a paper base for the final print.

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California has an 1869 color print made by one of du Hauron’s students in its photography collection. It’s neither large, nor color accurate—but it is a 120 year old color print.

A further improvement came with tri-color carbro, which was used in commercial photography in the 1920s. Although expensive, it was the preferred method for advertising and fine art photographers until about 1950. Even in the 1930s a 16x20 inch print cost more than $500 at pre-World War II prices.

Besides cost, tri-color carbro was painfully slow. It often took eight hours to make a single print. Early separation negatives had many color errors, so exceptional results required extensive color correction on the intermediate black and white bromide separation prints. Despite these drawbacks, tri-color carbro prints exist today—still showing excellent color. They are prized by collectors and command high prices.

But cost and laborious production methods knocked tri-color off its pedestal by the 1950s, when it was replaced by the newer dye transfer process. Dye transfer prints were faster and more affordable, even though requiring a similar three-color separation process. In the early days, dye transfers were retouched and used primarily for advertising reproduction in the printing industry. Since few photographers worried bout dye fading, tri-color carbro bromide paper and pigment film manufacturers ceased production. The process was nearly forgotten—except for the few diehards who continued experimenting with pigment films in their home darkrooms.

Then, in 1985, a photographer named Charles Berger developed a new version of carbon-pigment reproduction called the Polaroid Permanent Process. He later joined forces with a skilled carbro printer named Richard Kauffman to market an easier-to-use product called UltraStable. The new method offered many advantages over traditional printing technologies. Its transparent, non-metallic pigments—originally meant for use in the automotive industry—created a new level of permanence. I used UltraStable materials before launching EverColor. The fine arts world owes much to men like Berger and Kauffman who’ve helped take photographic printing to a new level.

The EverColor Process

An EverColor Pigment Transfer print begins as a color scan from your transparency, negative or reflective art. If your original is already digitized, simply send us the file (call in advance for technical details). We can image any size original from 35mm to 25 x 25 inches. From the electronic file, we output color CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) continuous tone resolution separation negatives using the latest electronic imaging techniques. Digitized information gives us complete artistic control over color balance, tonal scale, contrast and sharpness. We can easily make color corrections and electronically retouch flaws in the original image.

The first (yellow) CMYK pigment sheet is independently laminated to a special polyester base, contact exposed with the appropriate film negative and processed. The procedure is repeated for each of the remaining pigments.

Using modified prepress procedures, EverColor separation negatives exhibit the highest technical standards. The print has continuous tone resolution, with unbelievable depth, sharpness and color saturation. Traditional “wet” darkrooms simply can’t compete. You only have to see the quality and color of an EverColor print to realize how far this technological quantum leap has carried us.

And it is quality that lasts. EverColor materials have undergone rigorous manufacturer testing for color stability. The result? We guarantee an EverColor print won’t fade or discolor for centuries under the typical lighting used in a home, business, museum or gallery environment. We are that confident.

I’m gratified to introduce this major advance in photography. EverColor will be at the forefront of color printing technology for many years to come. How ironic that the revival of an 1860s carbon-pigment process has raised the art of making archival, museum-quality prints to new heights a century later.

For more details about EverColor, call (800) 533-5050 or fax (916) 939-9302.