Photographic Activity Test (P.A.T.)

Photographic Activity Test (P.A.T.) according to ISO 18916

Materials for the archiving and presentation of cultural objects should be subject to the strictest criteria. Wherever you see the information "P.A.T. Certified" on our website, we guarantee that the requirements of the following tests and standards are met: DIN ISO 9706, 1995 Paper for written and printed matter. Requirements for resistance to ageing (with the exception of the required buffer substance, which is not always useful, especially when archiving photographs). Photographic Activity Test (P.A.T.) according to ISO standard (ISO 18916 - 2007, and its predecessor standard 14523 - 1999) and ANSI/NAPM Standard Test (ANSI NAPM IT9.16-1993), currently the most important and strictest standard for assessing the effect of archive materials on the ageing resistance of photographs (films and photographic paper).

We now have our own materials tested by the Papiertechnische Stiftung PTS (Munich/Heidenau) in accordance with the Photographic Activity Test (P.A.T.); our manufacturers are partly tested by the Image Permanence Institute (IPI) in Rochester, N.Y. The ISO 18916 standard (P.A.T.) describes a test method in which material samples are brought into close contact with special detector materials at 70° C and 86 % relative humidity over a long period of time. The metrological evaluation of the detector materials before and after incubation then provides a reliable statement as to whether or not a material is suitable as archive material for silver halide photographs. The Photographic Activity Test (P.A.T.) has established itself as a worldwide standard.