Originally Posted by
Drew Wiley
Release paper is siliconized. Never use wax paper or other kitchen papers; and never use silicon paper adjacent to the face (emulsion) of the print. Both mounting board and the print need to be briefly pre-dried in the press, with the press closed but not tightly locked. Two sheets of appropriate dimension museum board (in addition to the mount itself) should be on hand for all steps of the sequence, and themselves first pre-dried about 30 sec (depends on the amibient humidity - you'll typically see steam going off). Be careful not to overdry the print itself or the emulsion might get brittle. After that, my proven protocol, which I've taught others, is significantly different than what you'll read in Picker, AA, or the traditional mfg manuals on the subject. I happen to prefer Colormount, which needs a press temp of around 200F. Allow ample warm-up time, and always keep the press closed to retain the correct amount of heat. After pre-drying the print, which will somewhat flatten it, I take a trimmed sheet of Colormount, which is sold oversized, slightly larger than the image area, but a tad smaller than the full nominal paper size. This is briefly tacked to the center back of the print at just one point using a tacking iron at the medium heat setting, with a bit of release paper between it and the tissue, for about 15 sec. Then take a sheet of siliconized release paper distinctly bigger than the print, cover the tissue tacked onto the print, place these between the two sheets of matboard previously mentioned, to cushion the print from the hot press platen above and the foam rubber below. Put the sandwich in the press and close it to full tightness (assuming the tightness knobs on the top of the press have been correctly adjusted in advance - things will feel film if this is correct, without the press being too hard to close shut). After 30 sec pull out the combined sandwich. Allow the print to cool for several minutes before peeling off the release paper from the tissue. After this, trim the print to the exact size or composition you have in mind. When that is done, precisely place the print in the position you want it to be on the mounting board (itself pre-dried). Measure if necessary (it will be necessary). Briefly tack the print at the center into final position using the iron, onto the face of the print itself, gently with no release sheet in this instance. Then put your mount and print between the two larger sheets of board, insert them in the press, and clamp it firm for 40 sec or so. Pull it it out and place your mounted print under a flat weight for awhile. I use a large heavy sheet of plate glass. Colormount achieves its permanent bond while cooling, so this is a vital step. After a bit of practice, you develop a rhythm doing this and it becomes second-hand. But it's actually easier, more precise, and more predictable than the ordinarily published method.... What Interneg just posted previously is also important, so I won't repeat it myself. "Dwell time" is the time the print sandwich
remains in the press: slightly low temp, and you use a little longer time, slightly high less. Colormount can be used from about 180F to around 250, but that upper range can be risky to some emulsions. Other types of tissue might
have different temp parameters. Old presses might need to be tested for thermostat performance or thermometer accuracy; or just practice on unimportant prints to see if things work predictably.
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