That’s true. One hundred years is a long time. And these terms are a bit theoretical in that testing is done in an accelerated fashion. It’s done mostly for comparison and marketing I feel.

That being said, some of the dye based inks and paper combinations aren’t known to last longer than 4 to 7 years before signs of fading begin. That may be a bit short lived for some users. And some papers will yellow in short order as well. It seems that if one wants to have the greatest longevity vis-a-vis fading from any printer, dye or pigment ink, it is advisable to use the paper and inks provided by the printer manufacturer as opposed to some third-party products. These papers are often higher priced than third-party papers, and are usually available in limited surface styles and sizes.

With research, one can find certain third-party papers which were considered during the development of OEM inks and possibly have the best of both worlds. (Some OEM papers are thought to be simply re-branded products from the third-party paper manufacturer.)

This is not aimed at you, but it does take a certain amount of chutzpah to assume that one’s photographic work needs to be saved for a hundred years. Everyone isn’t Ansel Adams although I guess it never hurts to try.

Prints produced on my Canon iPF5000 (pigment ink printer) on satin finished RC paper are far less resistant to scratching than those produced on the same paper on the Canon i9900 (dye ink printer). For wall hanging this should not be an issue, but for projects such as note cards and calendars it may not be desirable. If one is to use a pigment ink printer for such projects I’d suggest testing the final prints with an eye to durability. Some paper and ink combinations may prove more durable, but it seems that the dye based inks will still prove to be more resistant to marring than the pigment inks.