Suggestion for mounting and framing large prints

Hi, this is the first time I post so please forgive me if I don't

phrase the question properly. I am looking for advice on framing and

mounting large format Epson color prints on archival paper (not sure

the exact spec.) for gallery showing purpose. The prints are high

resolution (200 PPI) digital shots at about 48"x96". My original plan

where simply to spray mount the photo onto 1/4" plexi glass and

sandwich it with another layer of 1/8" plexi on top. But after doing

some reading on this forum, I am beginning to worry about my

approach. Mainly if the reflection from the plexi will prevent proper

viewing, and if having plexi touching the top of the prints will

damage the prints. Also, are there alternatives to spray mount since

I would like the prints to be removable so that they can be frame and

mounted in a more traditional manner for sale. I am also looking for

cheaper source of large sheet plexi in the New York area, are there

any source for sheets larger then 4'x8'?Any suggestion will be

greatly appreciated.

Hi, Hsiang,

 

I wonder if it may be good for you to also post over in the "B&W Photography - Printing & Finishing" forum? At this link...

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/forum?topic_id=1542

 

As for plexiglass, I found the best price in the windows department at Lowe's and Home Depot stores, (..although their products were only clear plexiglass, were typically scratched, were not as large as 4' x 8', and you probably already checked those suppliers).

 

Good Luck, and welcome to the Forum!

Thanks for the response,

I forgot to mention also that they are color prints. Yes I tried the hardware places like home depots but their stock usually are scratch in various places. I am planning on using Canal plastic at about $120 for both sheets. I would also like to hear from some one who have experience mounting somthing of this size (4'x8') and what method they used.

Excellent!

 

Please pardon my earlier suggestion of the other forum, since I misunderstood your topic. In this "Large Format Photography" forum, I usually see this forum concentrating mostly on the use, care, and accessories of View/Monorail Cameras and Field Cameras (with large format negatives of 4"x5", 8"x10", etc). But there is some printing discussion, too...

 

Robt.

Hsiang,

 

Try searching the archives in the yahoo group for Epson large format printers:

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EpsonWideFormat/messages

 

You probably have to sign up to see the messages. Anyway, there have been some recent discussions there about face mounting to plexiglass - how to do it, who does it (there are NYC companies who do this), what the effects are, what to avoid...

 

This group, BTW, is primarily about large format cameras - not large format printing. The group I'm pointing you to is about printing and finishing.

Thank you Hogarth, I'll definitly try that group. I must apologies again for any mistake as I am not familiarize with the posting etiquette here. I consider posting at the digital darkroom forum but most of their discussion is related to smaller print size. And I thought that perhaps its more appropriate to ask the question in the forum where people deal with larger print on a regular basis i.e.. the large format photography forum.

I think you should go to some photo lab, and they should be able to give you some ideas. 48x96 is large. And Plexi is a pain to work even with small sizes.

 

Why add plexi or glass? Why not get the print mounted on Gatorboard, and also get the print laminated at the same time. Then you can hang the print with Velcro!

Hi, thanks for the response. I chose plexi because I was a little bit worried about the bowing effect from having such a large piece of Gator board. I also really like the print mounted on plexi look, although I cannot afford the face on plexi mounting method (I have 10 prints.) I have never sold any photos before, and so I can not justifing spending too much money on the showing not knowing if it will work, but at the same time I would also like to look as professional as possible. But with out going off topic, I would like to hear more experiences with mounting work of this size. Thanks.

Consider inkjet printing on canvas. Prints that size are easy to display on stretcher bars in a floating frame. That is, exactly as if it were an oil painting on canvas. Coat the surface with something to protect it and give you the surface you want, from flat matte to high gloss (check archives of the yahoo wide format groups for endless discussions on coatings).

 

Doesn't look the same as face mounted plexi, but it is much cheaper and much easier to hang and display.

Sounds interesting.

 

A lot of the people on the B&W Printing forum have experience with prints of this size, and can probably offer some good advice. I had a previous thread (about four months ago) referring in part to such a project, but with B&W silver-based prints.

 

The methods of mounting should be pretty much the same, whether for B&W, Color, or digital - except for the fact that you must avoid any adhesive that would cause the ink to run.

Hello Hsiang, I print my work 40x50" and mount the prints on gatorfoam. The framing people construct a wooden cross-brace on the back of the gatorfoam, so the gatorfoam stays perfectly flat. This produces an excellent result, and is very lightweight and much less expensive than plexiglass. Make sure to use gatorfoam, and not foamcore-- gatorfoam is much higher quality, flatter, and more rigid.

 

Good luck with your large prints,

 

~cj

 

www.chrisjordan.com

Sintra is another good substrate to use for this kind of thing. Comes in sheets up to 4x8 or larger, and in different thicknesses and colors. kind of expensive though...expect to pay about 80-120 for a 4x8, quarter inch type sheet. we do quite a few murals where I work, and output on trad & digital type materials. we've made 4x8 sized inkjets and lightjets and had them mounted to "gatorboard" (we call it this, think the trade name is gatorfoam), Sintra, even aluminum and MDF for that matter. Sintra works the best, but has a bit of flex to it and is pretty heavy. Gatorboard is okay--lightweight, but can get dinged up and dented. Aluminum is real tough, and MDF is great, but it's heavy as all and offgasses some nasty byproducts....same is true for most of these boards though. Sintra is great for large prints and murals because it's flat and smooth and you can do all sorts of creative mounting with it.

 

If you go with a surface mount--I suggest a lab that handles murals and tradeshow work. have the plex corner rounded--it can be real sharp on the edges otherwise. Surface mounting is totally permanent though, and the print can get screwed up rather easily if someone decides to key it for example.

 

Since you're using inkjets--there are papers and some kinds of vinyl for printers that are re-positionable. The material has a cold mount adhesive built into it, and you can apply it to a substrate and it stays until you peel it back off again. Ulike Scotch PMA, or some other cold-mount, you can reuse the panels without screwing them up. BUT--I think you probably realistically might have a 10-15 yr lifespan on this sort of material. But then again, displayed inkjets are sorta problematic in that way anyways.

 

Another way to protect them is to use laminate overcoats. Usually we get a lustre laminate--which is sort of a pebble, pearl type coating. It works good for protection against handling & fingerprints. You can get this for both inkjets and trad. photo papers. It gives some UV protection as well.

 

my advice is to skip the spraymount (messy, PIA to use) and have a lab do this for you. There are machines that will do this type of mounting. we almost bought one where I work, and it would handle a 4x8 substrate up to an inch and half thick. Did cold & heat mounting, and applied the laminates as well. Cost on a sheet of sintra is really about 80 bucks or so if you buy it by the case in a large quantity, so paying 100-120 or so from a lab isn't that bad really....same for those big sheets of plex (and you can get sizes above 4x8--as custom). You have to buy alot of this stuff to get any sort of discount. We're sending alot of these murals out on bids , and the cost for us comes in around 200-350 or so for a 4x8 sized print mounted to quarter inch sintra with a laminate overcoat. Which is a great price--but one that realistically the average person won't get in a lab. It's probably more like twice this. Still, if you find a good lab, it's worth it considering the amount of work that goes into it and the high screw-up factor.

 

fwiw--done the canvas thing to. we did a 5x9 foor mural on canvas, and our shop stretched it to a frame like a painting, with a sheet of plywood for a backing. The surface got a spray lacquer. cost was about 300 bucks for the print, the rest was done in-house. Of course--all this is done for short & mid term exhibitry. For long term, I wouldn't use any kind of permanent adhesives and would probabaly avoid long display times as well. None of this stuff lasts on display.

 

BTW--there's always scotchprint. 300 dpi or so, ready to mount as tiles. only your prints would look like billboards....

 

 

Hope this makes some sense. my opinions/not my employers.