Breathing Color® is a highly visionary company that is passionately devoted to the endless pursuit of finer print quality. Our standout products are a result of the extraordinary level of care, quality, concern that we put into every specific attribute of every paper or canvas in our line. Our commitment – our promise – is to deliver “The Most Advanced Inkjet Papers in the World”. The most advanced inkjet paper in the world must provide a measurably significant technical advancement and advantage to its user. Our unwavering commitment to this highly technical and ambitious standard is the essence of Breathing Color products. Advancement and leadership through technicality is what defines and differentiates us.
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Technical Superiority
Breathing Color® is committed to developing and delivering a proprietary product line to our customers with inherent technical competitive advantages. By providing a clear quality advantage to the users of our products, Breathing Color® has garnered an extremely loyal following of fine art, photography, and printing enthusiasts worldwide.
In order to develop a technically superior product, we first perform an objective print quality evaluation based upon the ISO 13660 (International Standards Organization) criteria, on a broad selection of popular branded media, currently available on the market. Using highly sophisticated instruments, we collect a wide range of numerical measurements that assess very specific attributes as set forth by the ISO 13660 standard. These attributes include Visual Optical Density, Tone Reproduction (Graininess), Tonal Range, Mottling, Brightness, Line Quality (Blurriness), and Line Optical Density. We then determine where each product ranks quantitatively, in relation to each attribute.
After completing this analysis we set very specific, attribute-focused goals for our products that are in development. We then create an individual action plan for each product on how we are going to improve every attribute to meet these goals. Tirelessly, we troubleshoot and adjust our strategy accordingly. Our collective goal with every product is to achieve a minimum of a 20% technical superiority advantage within each measurable attribute.
Once this objective numerical advantage is confirmed, the new product will undergo extensive print permanence testing inside our state-of-the-art Atlas Weather-O-Meter Ci5000. For more information on this process please see below.
After the confirmation of acceptable results, the product is considered for release. The product is then sent out to a select group of highly respected and influential artists, photographers, and printmakers for beta testing. Upon approval the product will move into production and public launch.
For many years, understanding our comprehensive commitment to Technical Superiority has provided Breathing Color® customers with great long-term comfort and confidence. Our customers know that they are using the highest quality materials available and by working together with Breathing Color®, they have put their businesses in a position to compete on the forefront of the industry.
Print Permanence
Analyzing and ensuring the print permanence of every fine art canvas or paper within our product line, prior to their release into the marketplace, is a top priority at Breathing Color.
Using a state-of-the-art Atlas Xenon-Arc Weather-Ometer Ci5000, we undergo intensive accelerated testing for lightfastness and humidity response. Our investment in this highly advanced equipment and methodology goes far beyond the industry standards of manufacturer longevity/print permanence testing and further demonstrates our commitment to excellence at Breathing Color.
In order to backup our own internal findings, at our own expense, we also perform further longevity testing with third party UKAS accredited laboratories. Perhaps the most widely recognized is the Blue Wool Test performed by the Fine Art Trade Guild (FATG). FATG tests each product individually for pH and lightfastness. Breathing Color then obtains a rating and approval from FATG for each approved product.
When one of our products has met the above standards, we issue it an Archival Quality Certificate which our customers are free to download, print, and freely use with their own customers and in their own marketing materials. If you do not see an Archival Quality Certificate, it is either because the product has not yet been approved. For any product, you can download an Archival Quality Certificate on its individual web page.