HP Supplies print permanence and durability

Trust your memories to Original HP

Whether you’re archiving documents for your business records or printing photos of your family and friends, HP designs its printers, cartridges, and papers so that your prints will last.

  • Permanence refers to how well a printed document or image lasts over time—whether it fades when exposed to light, heat, humidity, or airborne pollutants.
  • Durability refers to how well a document resists accidents—such as spilled water or smudging.

Business documents

The documents you print for business demand a high level of print quality for professional marketing materials as well as the permanence and durability required for stored files.

  • Dark storage: When documents are stored in folders, drawers, or file cabinets, they are not exposed to light. Documents printed on plain paper with Original HP inks for the office can last for over 100 years.2
  • Fade-resistant: Preserve documents that maintain black text and color quality for decades when on display, resisting fading, with all-pigment Original HP inks for business printing.1 View fade resistance information
  • Durable: HP pigment inks are designed for the office, allowing you to print professional documents that resist smudges and water.3 And HP pigment inks are specially formulated to produce fast-drying documents when using HP papers with ColorLok® technology.
  • HP OfficeJet Pro and HP PageWide systems have all pigment, rather than dye-based inks. Since they are all pigment inks, they are water resistant on plain paper, plain paper with ColorLok®, and coated photo paper.

Original HP pigment inks are certifiably permanent under the ISO 11798 standard, concerning fade-resistance and durability of writing, printing, and copying on paper. This is a rigorous industry standardized test method proving that plain paper prints made with HP office printers using Original HP inks will withstand harsh exposure to light, water, abrasion and handling, and long-term storage and heat, and still be legible in the future.

Photos

HP’s portfolio of Original HP inks and photo papers print your precious photos so they stand the test of time.

 

Fade-resistant: When you choose Original HP inks and select HP photo papers, your high quality photos can last for decades when displayed under glass.1

 

Durable: Using Original HP inks with HP Advanced Photo Paper and HP Premium Plus Photo Paper enables your photos to withstand rain and water spills,1 and dry quickly, so you can share them immediately without the fear of smudging or smearing.

 

Each ink and paper combination delivers a different level of permanence and durability. View the fade resistance of specific combinations of Original HP inks and HP photo papers.

Testing standards

HP conducts internal testing-and contracts independent testing-to ensure validity of claims related to print permanence and durability. Original HP inks and papers must meet rigorous tests.

 

For documents: HP adheres to the ISO 11798 Permanence and Durability standard. Original HP cartridges which pass the ISO 11798 standard are provided with a certificate verifying the printouts will be legible in the future. This standard predicts if pages can withstand exposure to light, water abrasion, handling, long-term storage and heat. HP conducts accelerated dark storage tests on plain paper to determine if a document will retain its black text and color quality for decades.

 

For photos: HP uses established, independent test labs such as Wilhelm Imaging Research to test ink and photo paper products. HP participates with industry standardization bodies, such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which develops procedures used to test and compare products. HP also develops its own set of tests based on extensive experience in photo printing technology and knowledge of how HP customers use photo prints.

 

For certifications: The Research Institutes of Sweden, an independent organization, test printed page samples following ISO standards and issue certificates for specific cartridges. HP submits page samples for many ink, toner, PageWide, and DesignJet cartridges in order to document the fade, water, and smear resistance of the printed pages.

 

You may search for ISO 11798 durability certificates on HP products at the RISE web site for black ink, black toner and color toner.

Related links and resources

Learn about Original HP supplies

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HP toner archivability overview

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Dark storage document permanence statement

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Disclaimers

  1. Based on HP internal testing and testing by Wilhelm Imaging Research.
  2. See http://wilhelm-research.com/hp/WIR_Dark_Storage_Permanence_Statement_for_HP_2017-11-07.pdf. Updated in 2021.
  3. Based on HP internal testing and Wilhelm Imaging Research testing. Prints made with HP OfficeJet, Envy and DeskJet are water resistant when printed on HP glossy photo papers. Prints made with HP OfficeJet Pro and PageWide are water resistant.