Iris Printers (History of)
Gus Lopez
I'm trying to do some research on some rather expensive prints that were
supposed made around 1980 on an Iris printer. The nature of these prints
is that if they were made after 1980-1985 then they are fraudulent.
I did extensive searches on the web regarding Iris printers to find out a)
when Iris Graphics, Inc. was founded and b) when they made their first
printer. The earliest references I found were in late 1984 (a usenet post
from a colleague of Iris' founder looking for softare developers for a
startup -- no indication they had a product yet) and source that refers to
Iris printers available in 1987.
But none of this points to definitive info on the founding of Iris and
when they had their first printer. If anyone could help me locate this
info (when Iris was founded, when Iris made their first printer), it would
be truly appreciated as it would help determine whether these prints are
fraudulent. Thanks in advance.
Gus
JK
Bill Hilton
Gus, you might try this Yahoo group, it's moderated by a well-known author who
just published a fine book on digital printing (with several references to Iris
prints so he's been researching it) and there are a lot of people on the group
who have been doing fine art prints for a long time and might be of help.
groups.yahoo.com/group/digital-fineart
Iris prints were famous for their very short projected life span so I'd guess
the prints you are referring to have faded badly?
Bill
Gus Lopez
Bill Hilton <bhilt...@aol.comedy> wrote:
>
>Gus, you might try this Yahoo group, it's moderated by a well-known author who
>just published a fine book on digital printing (with several references to Iris
>prints so he's been researching it) and there are a lot of people on the group
>who have been doing fine art prints for a long time and might be of help.
>
>groups.yahoo.com/group/digital-fineart
Thanks. I will follow up on that.
>Iris prints were famous for their very short projected life span so I'd guess
>the prints you are referring to have faded badly?
No, these are really sharp. Was there any digital color printing
technology circa 1980 that would produce high resolution color prints that
would still be vibrant today?
(I'm beginning to think these images were recently printed).
Gus
Bill Hilton
>>guess the prints you are referring to have faded badly?
>From: lo...@drizzle.com (Gus Lopez)
>No, these are really sharp. Was there any digital color printing
>technology circa 1980 that would produce high resolution color prints that
>would still be vibrant today?
Maybe some pigment processes, but I doubt it. You might ask Bill Nordstrom at
Laser Light (www.laslight.com), he was a founder of the EverColor pigment
process and ran a company doing prints using that technology. But I doubt it
was as early as 1980. Bill would likely be a good source of info though since
he's been doing the fine art printing on a variety of processes for many years.
Send him an email and see what he says.
>(I'm beginning to think these images were recently printed).
I found some info on the Iris printer in Henry Wilhelm's book "The Permanence
and Care of Color Photographs" (1993). He says that according to his
accelerated light tests the Iris prints are rated at less than 3 years before
fading (somewhere else he says they are introducing longer lasting inks "in the
future" though). He says they last a long time if kept in the dark.
If the prints you mention were indeed exposed to the light and have lasted 20
years then it's very doubtful they are Iris prints.
He also says "Since their introduction in the late 1980's, the Iris printers
..." so according to this source the Iris inkjets weren't available in 1980.
The process really took off in 1991 with a famous exhibit by Crosby, Stills and
Nash member Graham Nash.
This info is on pages 52 and 54 of Henry's book, which is usually available in
the reference section of many large libraries.
Bill
LauraK
>guess
>>the prints you are referring to have faded badly?
>
>No, these are really sharp. Was there any digital color printing
>technology circa 1980 that would produce high resolution color prints that
>would still be vibrant today?
>
>(I'm beginning to think these images were recently printed).
If you haven't already found this group, it's an excellent source of
information.
http://www.fineartgicleeprinters.org/
I'd also suggest posting your problem in the Usenet group
comp.publish.prepress
A lot of knowledgeable printshop owners and users and many of them have been
around for quite some time.
Since the Iris was introduced as a proofing printer they probably used it or
are aware of it's early days.
lau...@madmousergraphics.com
http://www.madmousergraphics.com
web design, print design, photography
Gus Lopez
Bill Hilton <bhilt...@aol.comedy> wrote:
>
>>No, these are really sharp. Was there any digital color printing
>>technology circa 1980 that would produce high resolution color prints that
>>would still be vibrant today?
>
>Maybe some pigment processes, but I doubt it. You might ask Bill Nordstrom at
>Laser Light (www.laslight.com), he was a founder of the EverColor pigment
>process and ran a company doing prints using that technology. But I doubt it
>was as early as 1980. Bill would likely be a good source of info though since
>he's been doing the fine art printing on a variety of processes for many years.
> Send him an email and see what he says.
will do.
are you aware of any color printing process that existed in 1980 that
meets the following characteristics:
o it's not photographic (not photo paper)
o there's no sign of pixelation
o colors are vibrant and have not faded over the years
I'm thinking my best bet might be taking some of these prints to a high
end printing shop in Seattle (where I live) to have some veteran in the
field look them over.
thanks for all the help!
Gus
Tom Monego
Iris printers weren't magical good inks but then Wilhelm did rate them for only
3 years. It is conceivable that prints under glass in subdued light might still
be good after 15 years. But this was designed as a proof printer, so the
results didn't have to last longer than a few months. The iris has continuous
inkjets, but it still has to dither to get a pattern. When Nash Editions
started to use the Iris for fine art printing they used some uncoated paper
which because of the ink spread masked the dithering patterns making the images
look continuous tone. If you look at Iris prints on gloss or the proofing paper
you can see the dithering pattern. Irises lost market share to the current lot
of inkjet printers Roland, Colorspan, and even Epson because a years service
contract on the Iris could buy at least one if not two of these printers.
Tom
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