New and Coming ISO Image Permanence and Durability Standards and How They Promote the Photo Fulfillment Industry

Abstract

Recently published ISO permanence and durability standards, along with soon-to-publish standards in progress, will provide standardized testing and reporting of image permanence and durability performance. By using standardized methods for testing and reporting, companies can assess and promote product performance in a way that is easily comparable by both professional fulfillment laboratories and consumers. In addition, a new ISO joint working group has been formed that will mirror the ongoing convergence of printing technologies covering both the traditional photographic and graphic arts based printing. This paper will provide an overview of the new standards, the new joint working group, and the benefits these will provide in promotion of hard copy printing throughout the photo fulfillment industry. Introduction As noted in the goals of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the purpose of standardization is to help make industry more efficient and effective, with standards used as strategic tools for business to level the playing field and facilitate free and fair global trade. In the context of ISO Technical Committee 42 (TC42) on Photography, Working Group 5 is involved in the development of standards relating to the physical properties and image permanence of photographic materials. These standards are aimed at providing test methods for the measurements of stability of the photographic as well as the physical durability of the substrates and materials used to produce the image. With the growth of digital imaging and new digital print materials in addition to traditional silver halide materials, new tests methods were developed to cover the new print technologies of ink jet, thermal dye transfer, and electrophotographic media. Further, these new technologies, especially electrophotographic, have resulted in the convergence of the production of images from the traditional photographic sources with those using graphic arts technologies. A detailed discussion of standards published in 2011 and 2012 was reported in a previous paper [1]. This paper will provide a brief discussion of standards published in 2013 and those nearing publication, as well as the benefits to the industry of all the recently published standards on image permanence and durability. 2011-2012 Published Standards ISO 18930:2011 – Imaging materials — Pictorial colour reflection prints — Methods for evaluating image stability under outdoor conditions Published in September 2011, this standard provides standardized test procedures to evaluate image stability both in real-time outdoor weathering tests and in accelerated laboratory simulations of the weathering process. ISO 18936:2012 – Imaging materials -Processed colour photographs -Methods for measuring thermal stability Published in April of 2012, this standard provides the methods and procedures for measuring the long-term dark storage, i.e., thermal stability, of color photographs. In the long term, the vast majority of photographic images ultimately end up stored in the dark so the importance of this standard cannot be understated. The standard looks at the two common paths of thermal degradation of an image, colorant loss and D-min increase. ISO 18937 – Imaging materials — Photographic reflection prints — Methods for measuring indoor light