Laminating images

[coops]

I saw some large prints recently at a show that were mounted in a frame without glass. The prints were laminated and the photographer said the process does not change the color, contrast or appearance of the image in any way. In fact with no glare, they looked pretty good, and of course negates the need to use glass, acrylic or matts. I was thinking about trying this on some color Fuji Crystal prints. Anyone have any experience with this? Good or bad. I am sure there will be some downside to it.

[Drew Wiley]

Laminate overlays are generally pressure-applied nowadays, but some are heat applied.
They are permanent in the sense of being nonremovable, but are really engineered for
things like trade show displays and advertising. Many types available, but certainly
nothing which will take UV for extended periods. In other words, they break down in
certain circumstances, and some types of vinyl will yellow and potentially attack the
color dyes. These films are difficult to apply without special costly equipment. But they
can be cheaper than traditional framing with acrylic or glass sheet. Do your homework and talk to a lab or framing shop with plenty of experience doing this. I think of this kind of protection as more suitable for casual decor than expensive prints. It certainly
isn't "archival", but might be appropriate for certain markets.

[percepts]

I had a demo of :

http://www.hotpress.co.uk/jetmounters.htm

It was the JM26 which is not very expensive. I was very impressed and the guy doing it was able to do it very quickly. Its a cold mount pressure system which can be used for dry mounting or laminating. You can laminate to plexi for those plexi displays or any other substrate you like such as mdf, foamboard, aluminium etc. Its really not that difficult and they provide a video tutorial on the different techniques. You just need to get the correct mount/laminate material for the job at hand.

But once you get bigger than the 26 inch unit the price goes up considerably. Length can be whatever you like but width is the limiting factor.

[Greg Lockrey]

I use GBC hot press mounted laminate on Epson Enhanced Matt paper. I like the "look" when I use glossy as it seems to make the print "pop". It looks similar to Harman FB AI but without the duller white area. I also use a matt version for a client that does trade show displays. I don't care for it since it sees to "dull" the print down. Now having said that, I can not comment how laminates will work on your Fuji Crystal being not all laminates work on all types of papers. As for permanance laminates are made to protect the print. I personally have prints hanging in harsh factory enviroments that have been there for nearly 10 years but I won't claim that it is "archival" in the fine art sense.

[coops]

Perhaps Lyson spray is a good alternative?

[Greg Lockrey]

Lyson is good and so is MacDonald (the brand I use), but they are expensive compared to laminating. There is a product called Frog Juice that you roll on that's very good too.

[Jim Becia]

I saw some large prints recently at a show that were mounted in a frame without glass. The prints were laminated and the photographer said the process does not change the color, contrast or appearance of the image in any way. In fact with no glare, they looked pretty good, and of course negates the need to use glass, acrylic or matts. I was thinking about trying this on some color Fuji Crystal prints. Anyone have any experience with this? Good or bad. I am sure there will be some downside to it.

I have been using this company for some mounting and laminating for several years now - www.colorbox.com They use a laminate called mattex that I use on my work and is pretty nice. It reduces glare on photo (as opposed to glass), is water resistant, (I clean them with glass cleaner), and are frameless. I send them prints from my Epson 9600 and there has been no problem with their process. The pieces come back looking nice and clean. I've done hundreds of pieces with them with very few problems. Also, have done pieces at 36x45 and 30x75 with absolutely no problems. I like the process because it's clean and striking.

Here are a couple of pieces hanging over my sofa. Each piece is 32x40 and has a depth of one inch. The edges are black. Jim Becia

[Jim Becia]

In the previous post, I made a mistake. The company is Colorplak and the website is www.colorplak.com. The type of product in the photo is called a colorbox. My apologies for the screwup. Jim

[shadow images]

They make UV laminates, I use them all the time for commercial customers. I would not called it Archival though Jmho. Nice looking prints Jim.

[Jim Becia]

They make UV laminates, I use them all the time for commercial customers. I would not called it Archival though Jmho. Nice looking prints Jim.

Actually Colorplak does not make any laminates. In this case they are using laminating films from Drytac. No, the process is not considered archival. They are mounting these on MDF board, however, the mounting tissue they use gives it some protection against the mdf board (The info I received from them tells about this.) That being said,I have seen some of these that are over ten years old with no visible effects (for what it's worth). The laminate does provide about 80% UV protection also. And like I mentioned is waterproof and I can even add fairly scratch resistant. (My dog actually jumped on one after I had opened a package and placed it on the floor with no resulting marks, although I highly recommend not making this regular occurrence.)

I have been using them (ColorPlak) for several years and think it's a nice reasonable way of frameless exhibition. And my customers seem to like the frameless look also. Jim Becia

[Frank Petronio]

What would be appropriate for making placemats? I think that is the answer for my work, I could sell sets of placemats through Umbra or at Ikea...

[coops]

What would be appropriate for making placemats? I think that is the answer for my work, I could sell sets of placemats through Umbra or at Ikea...

Good idea, give it a try.

[Stephengeorgee]

Best place for laminating http://nevex.co.uk/laminating.html

[erie patsellis]

Lyson is good and so is MacDonald (the brand I use), but they are expensive compared to laminating. There is a product called Frog Juice that you roll on that's very good too.

There's a name from the past....in a past life I worked as a designer/hand letterer/pinstriper in a sign shop. Pre solvent printers, we often used Krylon on vinyl to paint fades, etc. Butch "Superfrog" Anton formulated a clear that would protect yhe paint from fading and give a consistent gloss.

[Drew Wiley]

You'd be better off selling them at a street fair. With Ikea you'd be lucky to get two cents royalty apiece, and you'd have to make thousands of them. People pick
up laminated 40x60 framed prints in that kind of place for two hundred bucks apiece. A place mat would have to sell for two bucks, probably far below your overhead.
They egage some incredible mass-production equip. Non-acrylic print varnishes are downright hazardous, basically specialized lacquers. Nothing you want to mess with in volume. Otherwise, you've got to choose between cold laminating and hot laminating, with the latter being potentially more damaging to the print itself.