Some Terminology:

Archival Quality, Museum Quality, Conservation Quality…

All of these terms refer to a quality of materials that are designed to last for around 100 years when it comes to any kind of art print. “Museum Quality” tends to utilize more costly material such as 100% cotton rag; while “Conservation Quality” utilizes alpha-cellulose wood pulp which is processed and refined to be archival. What it ultimately means is that EVERYTHING that comes in contact with the image must be, among other things, acid-free, OBA-free (optical brightening agents), and lignin-free (organic polymer that gives a woody structure) in order to be considered “archival.”

Mystic Wander Photographic Art uses the following:

Archival Quality Ink

Archival pigment-based ink is a type of ink used to color paper and other surfaces. Pigments are tiny particles of solid matter suspended in a liquid or gas medium, such as water or air. This type of ink has been around for centuries and was originally made from natural pigments like those found in plants, animals, and minerals. Unlike dye-based inks, pigment inks are water-resistant and more fade-resistant. Mystic Wander uses only archival pigment ink with an expanded color gamut on ALL paper, canvas, and card prints.

Archival Quality Paper

Cotton rag, also known as rag paper or simply "rag," is made using cotton linters or cotton from cloth (rags) as the primary material. Cotton paper is superior in both strength and durability to regular wood pulp-based paper and also absorbs ink or toner better. Images printed on cotton fiber paper will last longer and hold up better under repeated handling and various environmental conditions than images printed on regular wood pulp paper. Generally, given reasonable care, you can expect one year of usable life for every 1% of cotton contained in the sheet. Mystic Wander uses 100% cotton rag for paper prints and prints them in-house. (Note: Cards are printed on 100% archival grade alpha-cellulose paper.)

Archival Quality Canvas

Canvas prints are produced by an outside photo lab using archival quality canvas. Archival canvas is generally made of 65/35 poly/cotton canvas topped with a UV-protectant coating. These prints will be stretched and wrapped on a hardwood frame.

Archival Quality Backing, Matting, Tape, etc.

Foamboard Backing: Acid-free paper liners, no clay coating made of 100% High Alpha Cellulose virgin pulp-free with extruded closed-cell polystyrene core free from damaging pollutants and harmful gasses. They are engineered to be warp resistant.

Window Mattes: 4-ply mattes made from 100% archival purified wood fiber (alpha-cellulose pulp). They are acid/OBA/lignin-free.

Archival Tape: A long-fibered white paper (50 gsm) is an acid-free and buffered tape with calcium carbonate for a long lasting archival quality.  The permanent acrylic adhesive is age resistant (non-yellowing) and solvent-free to remain permanently elastic.