I have printed out an album on Kodak inkjet photo paper. Is there a product that will protect the pages from grease, etc. and will extend the life of the photo?

-- Tennent Houston (tennent@merryland.com), June 19, 2000

Answers

I don't know about extending the life of the photo, but to protect mine I go to the huge monolithic shopping store which begins with W and I buy Krylon clear spray. This will at least protect against water splashes, fingerprints, etc. Just be sure to either use it outdoors or in a very well ventilated indoor area since it is extremely flammable. You can buy the same thing at a photo store for about three time the price. Don't see the point myself!

Fred

-- fred (fdeaton@hiwaay.net), June 19, 2000.

You may be able to spray the photos, but unless you're printing on archival paper with archival inks....you might be in for a very rude awakening shortly down the road. That's the nature of ink jet prints. There are a few papers out there that are claiming to be archival, but I personally haven't heard of any ink that is even promising.

Just keep watching the market....it's going to change with the amount of digital cameras in grandma and grandpa's hands. They want to be able to look at little Joey with cake all over his face....three years from now. These are the people who are going to start screaming for the change towards archival - fixed incomers who don't want to have to keep reprinting.

-- Sue Bald (destiny3@ix.netcom.com), June 25, 2000.

I posed that very question to a Kodak technician, because inkjet prints will fade muck quicker than developed photos. She said that they laminate them. Of course the beauty of computer saved images is that when the photo starts to fade, you can just print another!

-- Mary (muri98@primary.net), July 03, 2000.