Face-mounting Ultrachrome prints to plexi

[chris jordan]

Hi guys, I've heard a few times that inkjet prints cannot be face-mounted on plexi, and I'd like to learn more. I use Epson RC paper (Semimatte and Luster), and hope there might be a way to face-mount these. I wonder if the no-face-mounting rule for inkjet prints is only for the matte watercolor papers, or does it apply to all inkjet prints (and if so, why)? If anyone knows the details of this, or can point me toward someone who knows, I'd appreciate it.

~cj

www.chrisjordan.com

[Ted Harris]

Chris,

I sort of recall a thread on this either herre or at photo.net sometime in the past few weeks.

[Patrick Donegan]

Chris,
We provide this service at Digital Eyes (www.digital-eyes.com). Although not mentioned on the website, yet, we have done this for a few artists who print on Epson Prem Luster and similar surfaces, as well as photographers who have their prints on Ilfoflex/Fujiflex/Duraflex-type papers.

-patrick

[Collin Orthner]

Hi Chris,
I have also had this done via:

ABL IMAGING GROUP
100, 238 11 Avenue SE
Calgary, Alberta
T2G 0X8
phone: 403.266.6300
fax: 403.263.3017

[tim atherton]

Chris,

Yes, I have had it done at ABL as well - they generally do a good. On 2 or 3 lightjet prints, but I did get one epson ultrachrome semigloss done.

I'm pretty sure they use Seal Optimount, a two sided optically clear adhesive that is supposed to work with RC type inkjet prints.

Diasec seems to be most likely problematic/difficult with inkjet prints I think

[julian_4860]

Hi Chris I had it done on the ilford paper too. After advice from the list, I asked them to use silicon in between the acrylic and the image. works fine. Had a great effect on the shadows too for some reason. If you check out thatprint I sent you, on the right hand side there is some shadow, after the mounting it had a real glow, lovely

[george jiri loun]

The reason is that the adhesive sometimes dilutes the ink - in a very long term but enough so that it's not "archival". After all, there is hardly any adhesive without diluting component in it -and the same is valid for inks too.

[Andy Eads]

Greetings all! I ran a large format printing business for a few years and we face mounted various kinds of prints to plexiglas. Please be aware that even a high quality material like Seal Optimount is designed to adhere to plexiglas and other acrylics by means of an acrylic adhesive that has a pH (acidic) chosen to assure a good grip. Face mounting is not for the sloppy operator either. Your facility has to be spotlessly clean because one bit of dust ruins the appearance. Face mounted prints cannot be considered "archival" because the pH may be detrimental to the all the components of the final sandwich.

[bryan_5289]

can face mounting be done by the average person or does it have to be sent in to a lab?

[dmorse523]

Hi,

I think the thread Ted is referring to is on photo.net (I've been researching diasec, as we've been getting a lot of requests for it).

With respect to face-mounting inkjets, I think your best option might be to print on outdoor vinyl material, as the facing is waterproof and durable (if you test it first, you can actually get some very good results with color, resolution, etc.).

Standard ink jet process and papers may react poorly with the clear adhesives traditionally used to face-mount--especially if heat is used (i suspect that your print needs to have a smooth, water-resistant surface to avoid problems)

Does anyone know if Diasec refers to the optically clear adhesive which is used for the fine art face-mounting and/or if it is synonymous with the entire process? (all of the results I found for Diasec on google were in Dutch and translated to English very poorly).

Thanks!

Dan

[chris jordan]

Hi guys, this is a pretty old thread that probably needs updating. Since posting my original question, I have done lots of research and experimenting with face-mounting, and now I have all of my large consumerism prints face-mounted. The prints are made on the Epson RC papers (Luster and Semi-matte) and are face mounted in Los Angeles at a place called Finishing Concepts. The results are great and archival experts say this is the way to preserve a print the longest. The drawbacks: it is expensive and the prints end up very heavy, which makes them expensive and unweildy to ship around. They also can be scratched, but it's rare that it happens and most scratches can be buffed out.

[Ed Kelsey]

It sure is an old thread. I just noticed that West Coast Imaging is now offering acrylic face mounted prints using several papers including Fuji SuperGloss and Fuji Pearl. I want to try it soon on a smaller size print.

http://www.westcoastimaging.com/wci/page/services/presentation/facemounts.htm