Anyone making backlit inkjet prints?

[bob carnie]

TRANSMISSIVE includes duratrans dura clear and trans .. this product has been profiled since the beginning..Inkjet shops are new to backlight...

I think the OP is used to working with shops that can cater to his needs.

[jnantz]

hey cheris

have you thought of waxing your work with beeswax it might make it easier for
the light to pass through,
and encaustic images have been around since the renaissance ..

have fun!
john

[invisibleflash]

I used backlit film for small projects. Same longevity you get in prints more or less as far as fade resistance.

[vinny]

HP sells several varieties of backlit film, both reverse print and front print. I haven't tried any of it.

[Graham06]

hey cheris
have you thought of waxing your work with beeswax it might make it easier for
the light to pass through,

I tried printing into copy paper. The colours were all washed out when you looked through it. Then I printed the mirrored image on the reverse of the paper, and the effect was like two photoshop layers multiplied together. The effect was quite attractive. You could make something that would look nice on lamp or on a window.

Next steps for me: scan the waxed print or colour ramps in transparency mode and see if I can derive custom profiles. experiment with getting the ink to soak into the wax somehow (it's water based so not likely)

[paulr]

I tried printing into copy paper. The colours were all washed out when you looked through it. Then I printed the mirrored image on the reverse of the paper, and the effect was like two photoshop layers multiplied together.

This makes sense. Transmissive media generally need twice the image density of reflective media, since the light only passes through once. When you look at a print, the light passes through the image, bounces off the paper, and passes through the image again. You get twice the bang for your buck.

I wasn't 100% sure inkjet would work the same way, since most modern inks use pigments. Some pigment inks (like the Pantone printing inks) are opaque; light bounces directly off their surface without passing though to the paper. But your experiments suggests this isn't the case with inkjet. Needless to say, if inkjet inks were opaque, transmissive printing would be a problem.

[Tin Can]

I read about this new Kodak product recently. The review said it was good as it would hide rear film supports better.

I guess Kodak has time and cash to develop something...

http://www.brandmanagementgroup.com/...-vibrant-color

[koraks]

Looks like it might be a good candidate for digital negatives, unless a UV blocking agent was added to the base.