As a small business quality is key. We uses media from Epson’s Photographic & Fine Art Papers. These Papers are not only archival which means when cared for properly they are expected to last a very very long time. Light is one of photos worst enemies. Photos are meant to be kept indoors away from UV light. The other enemies being relative humidity, poor storage, pests, and improper care by the owner.
Speaking of handling with care, we take that very seriously. For starters we wear white cotton gloves when handling the photo paper at any point. This reduces on the oily fingerprints that get on the print. When oil gets on the print not only does it attract micro dust particles to that spot that then stick there because of the oil. But the oil can start the breaking down process of the paper to start, of course this is a very slow process. But we don’t want that. So when the print is coming out of the printer the gloves are on. The last stage is the finishing step, there it gets cut down to size if needed, we use canned air to dust the print of any paper particles from cutting. Next we use what is called glassine paper, which is glossy type paper use to wrap around the prints when shipping them as a protective moisture barrier, and to just protect the print from itself in transport.
How we save our customers money, while saving the planet at the same time. We use refillable ink cartridges in our printers. Most companies make cartridges one-time use, this has a huge impact on the Earth because the cartridges usually just end up in the land fills and take hundreds of years to decompose. So when we are running low on ink we jut fill up the cartridges from the bottle of archival inks we have. This in turn reduces the amount landfill waste. Now to the part where you save money because we don’t have to keep buying new cartridges every time one is empty. We refill the cartridges ourselves and you save money, because we save money. Who doesn’t like a win-win.
https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/photo.html
https://history.nebraska.gov/blog/5-things-damaging-your-photographs