Henry Wilhelm is the founder and director of research at Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc. Through its website, the company publishes print permanence data for desktop and large-format inkjet printers, silver-halide color papers, and digital presses. WIR test methods have become the worldwide de facto standard for print permanence evaluation and are currently being used by HP, Canon, Epson, HP Indigo, ChromaLuxe, and other OEMs.

Wilhelm Imaging Research also provides consulting services to museums, archives, and commercial collections on sub-zero cold storage for the very long-term preservation of still photographs and motion pictures.

In 1979, Henry Wilhelm was one of the founding members of the Photographic Materials Group (PMG) of AIC.

Wilhelm has authored or co-authored more than 30 technical papers that were presented at conferences sponsored by the Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T) and the Imaging Society of Japan (ISJ) in the United States, Europe, and Japan

With contributing author Carol Brower, he wrote “The Permanence and Care of Color Photographs: Traditional and Digital Color Prints, Color

Negatives, Slides, and Motion Pictures,” published in 1993. The complete 758-page book is available in PDF form at no cost from . Since the book was posted in 2003, more than one-half million copies have been downloaded worldwide.

In 2011 Wilhelm received an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from Grinnell College.

In 2024 Wilhelm will publish a free eBook in the PDF/A format in English, Chinese, and Spanish titled:

“The Modern Era of Digitally-Printed Photographs: Print Processes, Print Permanence, and Long-Term Preservation for Photographers, Galleries, Museums, and Archives.”