History
How did inkjet become a photographic print process?
Digital inkjet printers brought computer-made images into photographic output, with pigment versions offering a different material from silver prints.
The V&A traces artistic inkjet printing to improvements in digital printer technology and falling printer costs in the 1980s. Early art prints from Iris printers were sometimes called Iris prints; high-quality prints are also known as giclée.
Unlike a gelatin silver print
Unlike a gelatin silver print, an inkjet print deposits ink or pigment into a receiving surface rather than forming a silver image in gelatin. The surface and permanence depend on the printer, inks and paper combination.
Evidence: Wikipedia article · Encyclopedia; discovery and cross-check only
A digital photobooth may output through an inkjet or another
A digital photobooth may output through an inkjet or another printer, but its visual result does not identify the print technology on its own.
Evidence: Wikipedia article · Encyclopedia; discovery and cross-check only
The visible subject cannot identify a printer technology
The visible subject cannot identify a printer technology. An inkjet print may resemble a photographic print, but its image is deposited through a printer’s nozzles rather than formed through a silver or chromogenic chemical process. A useful archive record distinguishes the captured scene from the method used to make the print object in a collection.
Evidence: Wikipedia article
Sources & further reading
Sources for the specific facts and product descriptions above. Our worked examples, interpretations and practical suggestions are original editorial guidance.
- Inkjet printing — WikipediaWikipedia article
- Wikipedia — Gelatin silver printEncyclopedia; discovery and cross-check only