Picture mounting materials

[ana_negri]

Hello, dear all.

 

I live in Peru, where art shops have a short range of materials available. So, believe it or not, it's not easy to find foamcore boards that are big enough to mount a 150 x 100 cm photo. (actually found one but it's absurdely expensive)

 

What alternatives to foamcore could you suggest that keeps the picture firm and smooth?

 

Hope I'm being clear enough. Many thanks in advance!

 

pd: didn't know which forum to place this question in, so admins feel free to move it.

[DavidTriplett]

You should be able to obtain acid-free 4-ply paper mat or mounting board. I typically use this instead of foam core anyway. I don't care for foam core as an archival substrate. If your art shops offer hot-mount, the substrates they use should suffice. For short-term mounting where archival preservation does not matter you can use almost anything, but don't expect it to last very long, and the photo could easily be damaged. There are a number of good tutorials on photo mounting techniques available on YouTube..

[Sandy Vongries]

Actually I have mounted large, non archival monochrome prints on untempered masonite with wallpaper paste. Those that weren't exposed to direct sunlight lasted for several years. Those were conventional darkroom generated photo prints, not from a modern printer. I have used mat board and spray mount with those -- no idea on their longevity as yet.