HP Matte Litho Base Going Yellow?

[William Chitham]

I have put a fair amount of HP Matte litho realistic paper through my z3100 in the 2 years I've owned it and it is a favorite paper of mine. Recently a client brought in some prints I'd done for her about 18 months ago along with some more recent ones - she had noticed that the page white on the early ones was noticably yellower than the recent ones. A rummage through piles of test prints in my studio showed a considerable variation in colour. Her prints have been kept in a portfolio interleaved with acid free tissue so not yellowed by exposure to light - in any case, this paper is supposed to have archival qualities so shouldn't have yellowed in that timescale anyway. Has anyone noticed yellowing in this paper or a noticable colour difference batch to batch?

William Chitham.

[Ernst Dinkla]

I have put a fair amount of HP Matte litho realistic paper through my z3100 in the 2 years I've owned it and it is a favorite paper of mine. Recently a client brought in some prints I'd done for her about 18 months ago along with some more recent ones - she had noticed that the page white on the early ones was noticably yellower than the recent ones. A rummage through piles of test prints in my studio showed a considerable variation in colour. Her prints have been kept in a portfolio interleaved with acid free tissue so not yellowed by exposure to light - in any case, this paper is supposed to have archival qualities so shouldn't have yellowed in that timescale anyway. Has anyone noticed yellowing in this paper or a noticable colour difference batch to batch?

William Chitham.

With the yellowing of Epson Enhanced Matte in mind I planned to purchase HP Matte Litho instead. It is a more natural white so I assumed less OBA aboard. Woodfree which doesn't make it archival yet. Heavier than EEM and with a lower price than EEM over here. The only flaw being the smaller maximum width = 36". If it yellows at a slower rate than EEM it still will be a good choice for me, it shouldn't compete with the Photorag etc papers. As I understand it it is a good proofing paper for the last.


met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst Dinkla

Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/

[Colorwave]

Mark, from Aardenberg Imaging is probably the one to say more definitively, but it certainly sounds like gas induced yellowing of OBAs.  I'd be rather surprised if they had changed the paper brightness overall without others taking notice, and batch to batch irregularity of the order it sounds like you are describing sounds unlikely too.  Plus, it is consistent with the age of the prints, in your observation.  As Mark has posted here, paper brightness is not really on the radar of Wilhelm's testing regimen, as they are looking almost exclusively at ink fading results.  I'm sorry to hear about this, but it certainly seems like, now that ink fading has become much less of an issue, that this is one of the more significant print permanence issues to be wary of.

[Roscolo]

I just looked through some prints on HP Litho Matte and compared recent ones to some older ones (2 years old). I don't see any difference. I did see a couple that at first appeared to be more yellow, but it turned out to be dust where these prints where, well, gathering dust. I have a sheet that has been lying in the basket of my printer for at least a year and a half or more and put it next to prints I made yesterday. Again I can't see any difference.

Are you sure all the prints you are comparing are on Matte Litho? Could those prints be on HP's Photo Matte? At first I laid some prints I had done on HP Photo Matte on top of the Matte Litho prints and thought I had the issue you describe, but the HP Photo Matte is much whiter than Litho Matte.

I hope there is no issue because I print on Litho Matte the most and what I like about it is that it is not a super white, but more of a natural white.

[rdonson]

I haven't seen any yellowing of my HP Matte litho-realistic paper prints over the last 1.5 years.  The prints I'm looking at haven't been protected in any special way, in fact they're not behind glass at all.  Many are just hanging on the wall or sitting in piles.  I'm still printing from rolls I purchased last year though not any new batch.