Protection for a naked ink print

**paulr** · 24-Sep-2014, 08:35

In a stroke of luck, my printmaker damaged one of my 60" prints while mounting it for a customer. The damage is slight, but it's unsellable. So I get to keep it. Happy days.

Since I don't have a budget for framing, it's going to hang directly. It's on dibond (aluminum laminate) and my printmaker is going to glue on a wood subframe so it can hang from a cleat on the wall.

This means there will be no glazing or laminate protecting the print. I'm wondering if there are any protective products that can be sprayed on, with minimal risk, archival detriment, or effect on the way the thing looks. The print is on Canson baryta gloss paper.

Thoughts or recommendations? I'd be spraying it myself, so a product that requires no skill or experience is much preferred.

**Tin Can** · 24-Sep-2014, 11:16

I sure like naked prints, Seriously, all coverings ruin it for me.

**Drew Wiley** · 24-Sep-2014, 12:02

You paid for Dibond mounting but can't afford to frame it???? You could try either an acrylic or butyl acetate print lacquer from the art store. Depends on if all the
PEG has outgassed from the print or not, which can take awhile. But obviously test anything on a test scrap of analogous inkjet media first, and watch what happens the first few weeks.