Rather, ink jet is being used in organisations that still rely on paper archives and will continue to do so in the future, such as businesses, public institutions, advertising agencies, and many more. In view of this fact, the scope of ink jet hardcopy preservation widens considerably. Take for example any hospital, police, government, or business archive which aims to preserve documents. It is helpful to note how early advertising is now considered collectible. It will remain to be seen if today's advertising prints will be deemed worthy of preservation measures in the future, but to rule this possibility out from the start would seem premature.
Preservation needs to be one of the key factors in the production process of a print.
If taken into consideration from the very beginning, the longevity of a print can be planned and become part of the print production process. A glance through magazines dedicated to printing and a look around trade fairs will show that image permanence is an important issue among manufacturers and that it plays a dominant role in their advertising. In trying to give an overall yet detailed account of the printing technologies, chemistry of materials, and preservation issues, I have come to recognize the variety of ink jet products and their exponential effect of combinations as very broad. The further I progressed into this field, the further I understood the need for a selective concentration on a few promising processes, which might prove interesting for the conservator. At the same time I realized that, in order to make this selection with some authority, the market as a whole must be examined and sifted.