Aardenburg Adhesive-Free Picture Framing

[Tin Can]

https://www.aardenburg-imaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Aardenburg-Imaging-Adhesive-Free-Picture-Framing-Technique.pdf

[Drew Wiley]

That's old old kindergarten methodology, and outright looks like hell unless the print is matte and relatively small. It's fine for DIY instructional purposes; but I can't imagine any pro frame shop charging for something that half-baked. Our own shop volume-cut entire pallet loads at a time of backer board for a particular art venue that did TEMPORARY exhibitions that way year after year, then removed the prints themselves afterwards. Waves and wrinkles just don't go with the aesthetic territory of bigger glossier prints, or with serious art sales.

Then there are so many myths involved in terms of what constitutes "archival" and what does not. A layer of neutral acrylic adhesive foil is an effective barrier itself; and if the print happens to be on polyester medium (Ciba, Fujiflex), the base itself is an even better barrier than something slipped behind. And appropriate mounting boards are themselves inert - Gatorboard has paper liners, but these are solution impregnated to make them permanently pH inert; Dibond is aluminum; Ultramount is inert ultra-smooth plastic. I've done all kinds of experiments and long-term observations. Tested yet another acrylic sheet adhesive method just a few days ago; eighty bucks down the drain, but now I know the truth about it. It worked, but was visually so-so. It was a scrap print anyway; I always save a few of em for such purposes.

[MHMG]

That's old old kindergarten methodology, and outright looks like hell unless the print is matte and relatively small. It's fine for DIY instructional purposes; but I can't imagine any pro frame shop charging for something that half-baked.

Wow. I've been schooled and taken to the woodshed. Thanks for that Drew. To be clear, larger sized traditional wet process fiber based silver gelatin prints will probably never be made flat enough without dry mounting to work well with what I proposed in this article. And RC photo materials will be quite limited in size as well with an adhesive-free method. I guess I should have put a whole lot of caveats up front in the article. But you learned nothing of value in this 40 page article? Then shame on me.

kind regards,
Mark
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com

[Oren Grad]

Much appreciated here. Virtually all of my darkroom printing is RC at this point. On the rare occasions when something gets framed, I've been corner-mounting. But I'm happy to see other adhesive-free approaches spelled out in detail.

[jon.oman]

Well, I'm impressed. I learned something. Better than what I was doing. I will give it a try.

[Drew Wiley]

RC and poly print mounting has been done up to forty feet wide using permanent adhesive foils. My own capacity is just up to four feet. It's routine for some pro framing shops. Not easy without proper machines unless you're talking rather small, especially for full gloss presentation. But there are quite a number of alternative methods for medium-sized work. I don't have time to get into detail of tips now - getting ready to go out and shoot before another storm arrives. Didn't mean to be rude, though I admit I often am a bit ornery. I've had more than my own share of bellyflops along the way due to endless testing of options - never sold anything I wasn't certain about, but did keep "seconds" on hand as gifts and so forth. I worked in Ciba for a long time which was the litmus test of smooth mounting.

[Sal Santamaura]

That's old old kindergarten methodology...Let's see, to whom ought one pay attention on the subject of framing inkjet prints. Drew (who knows everything about everything and regularly denigrates inkjet prints on forums) or Mark McCormick-Goodhart, who spent ten years as a Senior Research Photographic Scientist at the Smithsonian Institution and has dedicated the last 23 years to digital imaging, printmaking and color management, photographic conservation, museum display and storage environments. Decisions, decisions. :)

[FotoD]

I learned something from the article. Thanks for sharing!

[brucetaylor]

MHMG thank you for sharing! Great step by step instructions. I look forward to trying your methods.

[Drew Wiley]

There's an entire small industry that keeps atop this kind of subject, with their own workshops, trade journals, tutorials. Lots of manufacturer tech info out there, numerous suppliers with their own tip sheets. There are way more options than 75 years ago. That linked method still sorta works (I've done hundreds of small prints in that vein of framing), but there are all kinds of tweaks to even that which can significantly improve the outcome. I apologize for spending thousands of dollars and decades of my own sorting out the pros and cons of various options that some of you obviously never heard of. Conservators often have different opinions due to what their main priority is; passive archiving vs attractive display, for example.

Aardenburg is an excellent resource because he homed in on some of the specific idiosyncrasies of inkjet which Wilhelm didn't. But it's still a very adolescent medium with a short track record; and most dicey of all, it represents all kinds of potential ingredients and is steadily evolving, which is precisely the reason why making blanket generic ink lifespan predictions is unrealistic. It's also deceptive to call them pigment prints, like many galleries do.Those inks are complex blends of tiny pigments, lakes, and dyes. Different hues have potentially differing levels of permanence. There is also an inherent outgassing issue of glycols for awhile, which can get trapped be behind the glazing. Again, a known category of problem in analogous colorants long before inkjet became commonplace.

As far as this particular method of mounting is concerned, it's been known about for decades, but generally in a somewhat more sophisticated form. And there are certain do's and don'ts,
as well as size limitations related to the expansion/contraction coefficients of both the substrate and print medium itself. I see even big inkjets done this way all the time at local printing labs. The look is so-so; but top-end display framing is not the forte of remaining labs these days. The posted article is attractively presented but not well researched. Like I already suggested, any competent local frame shop had that in its bag of tricks during the middle Paleolithic. If I have time, I might add some specifics that make a real difference. Or I might not if people are not appreciative. I've got better things to do, like mounting my own prints.

The problem in this case is the suggestion it's a new idea from a specific provider. It might indeed have been thought up independently and sincerely. I'm not questioning the ethics. But a bit of background research into common trade practices would show it's old hat known by many, including for inkjet applications. "Archival" has been a hot topic for over four decades now, and is a frequently abused term without due consideration for the many many variables involved. What works in one instance or climate or storage plan or display scenario might not be ideal in another. Any potential display idea has to be farmed out to a number of real-world scenarios for time testing to learn the full truth. What works well in dry Arizona might backfire terribly in humid Florida or Hawaii. No one shoe fits all.

[Tin Can]

Good to know Sal

I like Smithsonian acknowledged experts

Show and Tell

Works


Let's see, to whom ought one pay attention on the subject of framing inkjet prints. Drew (who knows everything about everything and regularly denigrates inkjet prints on forums) or Mark McCormick-Goodhart, who spent ten years as a Senior Research Photographic Scientist at the Smithsonian Institution and has dedicated the last 23 years to digital imaging, printmaking and color management, photographic conservation, museum display and storage environments. Decisions, decisions. :)

[bob carnie]

I just finished the Article.. I am very suspect of having prints touching any glazing, lots of good info, PE foam is it Inert? is coraplast inert?, does acid free foam board Out gas?. What kind of paper for backing? How does one paper the inside rabit of the wood frame as this article suggest ? if it is just the back wood of the frame then whats the Point? Lots of un answered questions.

My method is AR70 Glass, Petoboro museum Rag 4ply matt, 2ply Petoboro museum rag where the images are corner mounted, then Acid free foam , then paper backing.
We use to use framers tape(inert) to provide a seal around the glass and 2ply backing board.


I quite like corner mounts as they do not damage the print IMO.

Bob

[Sal Santamaura]

...RC photo materials will be quite limited in size as well with an adhesive-free method...I've only used it in 8x10 and haven't framed any of those prints, but suspect that the new Multigrade RC Portfolio paper might be able to go a bit larger than other RC products. It's a very beautiful paper base, quite flat and rigid.

[MHMG]

As far as this particular method of mounting is concerned, it's been known about for decades, but generally in a somewhat more sophisticated form. And there are certain do's and don'ts... The problem in this case is the suggestion it's a new idea from a specific provider.

Excuse me Drew, I clearly touched a nerve with you. But to be clear, I didn't claim to have invented anything new or novel in this article. I know full well that borderless prints in particular have been put directly into picture frames for decades if not centuries, and I even showed an example of one done 45 years ago by a professional photography studio. I simply referred to the methods I shared in this article as the Aardenburg technique because they are methods I evolved over time for my own personal use here in my studio. Various friends and colleagues now associate the method with Aardenburg Imaging, and to my surprise (which got me thinking about writing this article) they have been intrigued by my use of PE foam and by the wide margin printing I do when framing with an overmat because they haven't seen this approach before. And some are professional picture framers. But that doesn't mean I can claim no one anywhere ever before hasn't approached a picture framing project from a similar if not identical approach. So, please forgive me if you felt I was making some grandiose claim of novel invention.

That said, while borderless framed prints are done all the time, with and without spacers, I don't believe the wide margin print-to-frame size approach is so common that it wasn't worth writing about. because as I said in the article, professional framers basically have to frame what the client brings to them, after the print has been made, so few if any are likely to say, "hey, you could have printed it this way, and then I could have framed it like this".

Again, my goal was just to share some picture framing ideas with my audience and justify my reasoning, knowing that others might still disagree. No good deed goes unpunished.

cheers,
Mark

[Sal Santamaura]

My inkjet printer is capable of a maximum 13 inch paper width. For display in a 14 x 18-inch frame, I made a vertical print on paper 13 inches wide and 18 inches high. Then, near the top of the paper I used a strip of this tape


https://www.hollingermetaledge.com/3m-double-sided-415-tape/

for securing it centered in the overmat. So far, so good. :)

[Tin Can]

Just skimmed that catalog, they have a lot of great stuff


My inkjet printer is capable of a maximum 13 inch paper width. For display in a 14 x 18-inch frame, I made a vertical print on paper 13 inches wide and 18 inches high. Then, near the top of the paper I used a strip of this tape


https://www.hollingermetaledge.com/3m-double-sided-415-tape/

for securing it centered in the overmat. So far, so good. :)

[Drew Wiley]

Good call ! I've been using it for many years in narrow 1/4 inch rolls when I want suspension of small prints from one point. I won't go into the more advanced uses of it here. What one wants to do is center the tape near along the top edge, preferably outside the image area along the margin. An 11X14 print, for example, if intended for horizontal display, should have only about a 4 inch strip of the tape involved. That allows each side to expand and contract somewhat like the wings of an eagle without as much risk of wrinkling as multi-spot tacking. But it's better to attach the print to a more dimensionally stable backer board than the unstable overmat. Inert types of board are readily available, with no need for a plastic slip sheet behind. This kind of tape is also available from bookbinder supply companies and even B&H. It's a very dependable product. Helps to have a little brayer roller to pressure it down. If the print needs to be removed later, just slip a razor blade behind it and clean off any adhesive residue with a film cleaner like PEC.

Another essential tool to this kind of methodology is a burnishing bone. As the print itself inevitable expands and contracts many many times due to humidity and temperature cycles, the sharp edges of a window cutout mat are going to cut into the surface of the print coating or emulsion, creating either visible edge scuffing or a polishing effect, depending. So that sharp beveled mat edge needs to be gently relieved just a tiny bit by carefully running the burnishing bone over it. These are available from any decent picture framing or bookbinder supplier, as well as all serious art stores.

Hi Bob- I can specifically answer all your questions in private one of these days. I have zero interest in posting advanced information here on the general forum. I basically made a career out of sorting out who was worth seriously discussing technical details with, versus who was a waste of time. We both know how to handle big color prints anyway. Direct mounting under plastic always involves what kind of specific climate, HVAC issues, and wall insulation are involved. Generic answers just don't work. Hermetic sealing is in another league; but I've done it.