IPI’s state-of-the-art imaging and microscopy lab uses a variety of techniques to document everything from test samples to works of art. Imaging techniques include use of axial light to document surface gloss, raking light to emphasize texture, and UV to induce fluorescence. Images made here are used in creating publications, lectures, and didactic materials in various formats, most notably IPI’s online resource, Graphics Atlas.

IPI’s incubation laboratory contains thirteen temperature/humidity chambers and two dry ovens that provide controlled conditions for a variety of tests. The lab also has a walk-in chamber that can maintain a wide range of temperatures and humidities. This chamber is used for conditioning test samples prior to incubation, and sustainable environmental management research projects.

Activities in the chemistry lab include solution preparation and a wide range of tests to support research in imaging material stability and material testing services. This includes film base acidity testing and testing of enclosure materials such as paper.

IPI’s pollution lab houses two custom-built, 21-cubic-foot chambers for studying the effects of air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and ozone on imaging media and enclosure materials.

IPI’s instrumentation room is an area designated to prepare samples, measure color and gloss, analyze images, and test the physical properties of materials. To maintain standard conditions, this room is climate controlled with a temperature of 70°F and a relative humidity of 50%.

IPI has assembled an impressive reference library through generous donations from Eastman Kodak Research Laboratory, the Society for Imaging Science and Technology, and many others. Library items, both historical and modern, range in subject from the history of photography, photographic science, motion-picture film, and applied photography to the preservation and conservation of photographs. On May 20, 2010, the library was dedicated in honor of Dr. Peter Z. Adelstein for his many valuable contributions to IPI.

A classroom within the center serves as a multi-functional space dedicated to photographic materials research, collection storage and small group instruction. This room incorporates and centralizes IPI’s study collection, which includes a Gift of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met donated a collection of mounted art reproductions and architectural photographs to IPI in 2005.