News

Iris Inks not Permanent After All; Iris Paper not Cheap

Despite the fact that Iris Graphics' inkjet inks had been described in a trade publication as permanent (see Abbey Newsletter for November, p. 76a), a company representative said in January in response to a phone inquiry that none of their inks were. The three-page price list that he sent to the Abbey Publications office listed "Longevity Ink Cartons" in several places, but not even these inks are permanent. Each carton has four 6- or 8-oz. bottles, and costs $125. Four cartons (magenta, yellow, cyan, black) have to be bought if you want to print in full color. The paper is large (24" x 24" or 36" x 18") and comes 25-100 sheets to a box. Cost of a box of paper ranges from $90 to $625. This makes the cost of inkjet paper about $1 to $12.50 per sheet.

However, someone close to the industry said in a meeting a few months ago that Hewlett Packard and Canon now claim their inks are permanent. This does not mean that they are; it only means that this is another rumor to track down. If a supplier is not knowledgeable about testing for permanence, the buyer cannot take seriously any statement by the supplier that the material has passed their test for permanence. At least in the beginning, the most reliable information about the permanence of any material usually comes from sophisticated and well-equipped users. And so far no user has tested the permanence of any inkjet ink.