I made some fresh prints for my recent show, and had them framed within a few days of printing on my Epson R2400 on Epson glossy paper.
By the end of the show, which lasted for a month, I noticed what appeared to be a faint negative version of the images, on the inside of the glass. Wherever the pigment was darkest on the image, there was the most haze on the inside glass.
Under normal conditions, how long should one wait before framing ?
This problem is the ink carrier -- the glycerins and glycols used to keep the pigment particles in the suspension in the ink, and to keep the ink from clogging the head. Unfortunately, these chems take a long time to evaporate out of the print.Originally Posted by Ken Lee
The easiest solution I've found is to "dry" the print with a hand held hair dryer (don't forget to use hearing protection -- these things can very loud). Low heat, high fan. Work the dryer over the surface of the print slowly, with your other hand behind the print. The hand on the back of the print will feel a couple of changes. First, you can feel the water go. If you leave the print for a few hours the water will already be gone however. Then, you'll feel the rest of the ink carrier go and the back of the print will warm up rapidly. When this happens, just move along to the next part of the print. Just takes a few minutes for your size print. You can do this with a print that's been "curing" for days and still smell the glycerins and glycols come off the print.
I ran a test before starting this technique. I went from my 2200 to fully framed and on the wall in 45 minutes. The print was in position to catch some morning sunlight -- same place that a framed print was giving me outgassing issues. The print dryed with the hair dryer as described above and framed in 45 minutes never showed any outgassing at all. And I've never had an outgassing problem since, and it's been at least five years.
A lot of people will argue that this isn't necessary. But my reading of these chems is that you need at least two things to get them out of your paper. One is heat, the other is air movement. So you can hang a print in your studio for weeks before framing and still not be safe (not enough heat). And you can leave it framed in the sun and not cure it (it vaporizes when it's hot which is what forms the oily smear on the glazing, but is reabsorbed into the paper when it cools). Gotta have both IMHO.
Bruce Watson
I have a lot of experience with Epson 3800 prints and the curing time depends on the paper. Matte 100% cotton rag papers require little to no curing time and I've never had them outgas (Moab Entrada Natural). Ceramic-coated papers (like Epson Photo Luster) need 1-2 weeks to cure depending on ambient heat and humidity.
Thanks. I will experiment with a hair dryer.
How best to remove the goop from the glass: standard glass cleaner ?
As I live in the SW with different conditions, low humidity etc.......I seem to do fine (ie no outgasing) if I let the print cure in the open air for a couple of days either with mat or baryta type prints.
Thanks,
Kirk
at age 73:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep"
I also let my prints sit for a minimum of two weeks before framing, and have never experienced hazing (Canon large format printer and inks... normally Hahlemuhle papers).
As for cleaning glass... I would suggest cleaners without ammonia and not "standard" Windex. I personally use TruView's cleaning solution as I use TruView glass for all framings.
Glenn
How appropriate. We were just talking about out-gassing !
Hoping for a new solution here, because unfortunately the commonly dispensed advice does not work in all environs.
Even when I let an Epson R1800 print air dry in single digit humidities for several weeks and then dry mount with tissue (i.e. baking it for a long time in the press), if it is then displayed in a gallery with high humidity, it seems to draw moisture back into the paper. As soon as the sun hits it, it outgasses and the greasy film appears on the glass.
I'm using an R1800 with Epson inks (color), Premium Glossy Photo paper, with Gloss Optimizer.
Anyone tried packaging a silica dessicant in the frame?
I'm a darkroom printmaker rather than a digital one, but might have some analogous ideas. Glass per se is a poor insulator so tends to attract condensation on
the inside surface more than acrylic glazing. In many cases it also helps to have a
good insulating board like fomeboard behind the print. Commercial settings and some galleries tend to use excessively hot lighting during the day, but then things
cool down significantly at night, making surfaces especially susceptible to condensation. I also live on the CA coast. In fact it's foggy and windy right now. Dessicant strips for placing along the rabbets of metal frames used to be available from Light Impressions. But they won't be good in the long term unless the entire frame assembly is hermetically sealed. This is something I've often done but it's tricky and expensive. I haven't researched the patents for inkjet components much except for pigment/dye content. If glycol is present it is something which really doesn't want to dry out. The question is, just how much is there. In water-based architectural pigments for house paint and so forth, glycol is a major component to keep the pigments moist until dispensing. So here seems to be one more thing that isn't sufficiently discussed in digital workflow. You might contact my friend Joseph Holmes at his website (under his name); he's Epson's main large format consultant and quite knowledeable technically. He lives in the fog zone too.
That's one thing I like about printing on canvas.....no glass !
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