ILFORD, one of the oldest photographic brands in the market, have received the results from the prestigious Laboratoire national de métrologie et d’essais (LNE) which demonstrate that ILFORD GALERIE inkjet prints will last well over seventy years.  

Evaluated under strict scientific conditions, LNE tested the following GALERIE Prestige products printed on an Epson SP4900 using Epson Ultrachrome HDR inks.

GALERIE Prestige Gold Fibre Silk

GALERIE Prestige Fine Art Smooth

GALERIE Prestige Textured Cotton Rag

GALERIE Prestige Gold Fibre Gloss

GALERIE Prestige Cotton Artist Textured

GALERIE Prestige Smooth Cotton Rag

The evaluation took place in accelerated conditions with the prints placed under glass and then illuminated by a light source equivalent to sunlight being filtered through a window for up to 60 years and a further extension to cover a total of 100 years. 

“The permanence of ILFORD GALERIE inkjet prints is a question that our Technical team get asked on a frequent base,” said Arnoud Mekenkamp, joint Managing Director of ILFORD Imaging Europe. “We stringently test all our papers internally before adding them to the GALERIE range and so we are confident that the GALERIE products will indeed stand the test of time. We do appreciate however, that our customers are looking for a third party assurance that their prints are going to last. 

Max Angerbauer, Technical Specialist for ILFORD continued, “LNE is a well renowned laboratory that conducts stringent testing under controlled conditions and we approached them to undertake the testing on our behalf. Following a four month testing period, the results were verified and I was delighted that LNE confirmed that prints will still be satisfactory up to 100 years, depending on the product. 

Angerbauer concluded “The light fastness testing was done using Epson Ultrachrome HDR inks, and we always advise our customers to use the Original Equipment Manufacturer’s ink if they want to ensure that their prints will last. We provide a wide range of free ICC profiles built using Original Equipment Manufacturer’s inks at www.ilford.com.”