Seeking advice on large print presentation

[terjes]

Hello,


I have recently bought a Canon IPF 8300 inkjet printer that will allow me to print 44" wide. I´m a landscape photographer who is new to the process of printing/presenting work, and I seek advice.

I enjoy the work of artists like Peter Lik, Rodney Lough and Michael Fatali.

They mostly use halide process with Crystal Archive Paper, giving the prints an almost backlit sensation to them. I´m trying to get as close as possible with this printer/my prints, and therefor I´m seeking advice on the following:

1. What type of inkjet paper would you recommend me?
2. How should the prints be mounted, would you recommend behind glass, acrylic or without?
3. What machine will help me complete the "lamination" process of large prints up to 40x60". Am I looking at Dry Press, warm/cold or cold roll lamination?
4. What adhesive would be recommended to start with?

And I know this is the artists self interest to experiment and figure out the exact technique to present his prints. But I am a beginner in this field, so any advice at all would be greatly appreciated and would help me find my way in this vast field of equipment, products and styles.


Thank you very much!

[williamtheis]

very good questions. As to inkjet papers, there's new ones out ... Canson Baryta Photographique seems to be the winner ATM with Ilford Gold Fibre Silk. you can do searches but here's a link

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/re...ers/tale.shtml

for fine art, a consideration should be made for archival so see Wilhelm's and Aardenburg Imaging sites (I can send links if you need them)

there is some thought that the prints NOT be laminated (e.g. dry mounted) ... I'll be interested in responses to this question

[terjes]

Thanks Bill. Will test them both.

Archival is important to me. I´ve heard good and bad things about lamination. It seems to be that most successful galleries in southwest region have had great success with mounting prints to acrylic sheets.

Is Dry Press the most common way of facemounting photos to acrylic sheets? Or lamination rolling?

Cheers

[williamtheis]

I'm afraid I don't know myself. For true paper products (non-RC), I would think dry mounting with a press would be good but I went to a Weston exhibit and the matte boards were very bad but since print was dry mounted, they could not be removed without damage. Now if people were to test archivalness of matte boards...

but I am no expert, which is why I wanted to see what others respond to your post... but so far, no one but me has

[bob carnie]

Hot Drymount to acrylic will not work well, cold mount with optically clear adhesive is the way to go.
Face to plexi is a very hard process to make perfect and therefore very pricey.

Thanks Bill. Will test them both.

Archival is important to me. I´ve heard good and bad things about lamination. It seems to be that most successful galleries in southwest region have had great success with mounting prints to acrylic sheets.

Is Dry Press the most common way of facemounting photos to acrylic sheets? Or lamination rolling?

Cheers

[Marco B]

Now if people were to test archivalness of matte boards...

but I am no expert, which is why I wanted to see what others respond to your post... but so far, no one but me has

Museum quality mats should be fine and last at least as long as the print itself, as they are of lignin free and buffered purified wood pulp (the same for most digital papers), or even better 100% cotton rag, as an even slightly higher alternative. Cotton rag historical documents have lasted for centuries.

As for acrylic: you have to wonder how long that will last... a friend of mine made the good remark that acrylic, especially when under stress, may develop cracks with time. Just look at some of the HybridPhoto threads about drums of drumscanners showing cracks... and they are just maybe a 1 or 2 decades old.

Just imagine your print in 100 year covered with a fine cobweb layer of cracks over it.

I am not saying this will happen, and a flat piece of acrylic is probably one of the least "stressed" configurations into which the acrylic maybe cast, just that it might.

Marco

[Loris Medici]

Marco, I think the OP question about acrylic wasn't longevity-oriented. Prints mounted between acrylic and dibond (the latter for extra stability/rigidity) are great presentation-wise; very neat / sleek and gives considerable depth to the image. (No surface scattering / reflections -> colors & shadows sing...) I've seen a couple of shows with images mounted that way and the presentation was great/top-noch. (See Diasec for more info... Definitely check the sites in the References section, BTW.)

As for longevity of Diasec or similar stuff, I'm pretty sure it will be OK in 100 years time-scale; people often confuse other plastics with acrylic. It's a pretty strong material, in terms of chemical stability - not talking about physical strength, OTOH, remember, the dibond sheet on the back helps much to provide rigidity...

Regards,
Loris.

[Don Bryant]

Hello,

1. What type of inkjet paper would you recommend me?
2. How should the prints be mounted, would you recommend behind glass, acrylic or without?
3. What machine will help me complete the "lamination" process of large prints up to 40x60". Am I looking at Dry Press, warm/cold or cold roll lamination?
4. What adhesive would be recommended to start with?

Okay I've not read any responses in this thread so my answers may repeat what others may have written, apologizes in advance.

1) If you like Fuji Crystal Archive then I would suggest evaluating some of the new baryta coated papers though they may not be glossy enough for your taste. I particularly like Harmon Fiber Gloss AL, but there are many papers on the market now and I suggest purchasing samples and making test prints. In addition to that I hope your are using a fully color managed workflow. Your inkjet printing life will be much happier if you are doing so.

2) I prefer glass for framing and I use inexpensive float glass to boot. If your work gets placed in a museum or gallery then they will use the expensive stuff. For really large prints acrylic helps reduce weight. Some cover should be used just to protect the print, irregardless of material.

3 I don't recommend laminating prints for a number of reasons. It's not archival and detracts from the beauty of the print IMO.

4) Absolutely no adhesive, it's really not needed, IMO. I use clear corners and over mat.

I've just seen Kodak's new metallic paper for inkjet. It has an interesting look to it.

Don