Hot mounting glossy photo

[WelshFramer]

What's the best substrate for mounting a glossy photograph in a heated vacuum press. It's printed on Fuji Crystal Archive paper which looks very glossy.

I have to get this right as the customer is very important (she's my wife and she paid £40 for the photograph).

[markw]

Best results for me are from precoated boards - the board is much denser than say standard mount board - you therfore avoid the orange peel effect that you get when dry mounting onto a board that crushes slightly under pressure.

[Bill Henry]

Glossy photos present more problems than with those with a matte finish.

Unlike Mark, I haven’t had any experience with the precoated boards like Artcare or SpeedMount, but, in my experience, most glossy photos (like the Fuji papers) bond well with Colormount Dry Mount tissue and a smooth substrate. However, to protect the glossy surface, one cannot use the standard silicone coated dry mount release paper. If you use the standard cover sheet, the glossy surface of the photo can become blotchy.

Instead, you must use a glossy cover sheet like Seal Colormount® Coversheet. That will protect the glossy surface. A suggestion, trim the excess dry mount tissue from the photo before using the Colormount Coversheet because the tissue can stick to it.

Another suggestion, pre-dry the Colormount Coversheet in the heat press before using it. The slightest amount of moisture on it can stick to the glossy surface of a photo and leave you with matte areas on the photo.

Pay attention to the “photo”, too. If it feels like a plastic substance, it may be Cibachrome/Ilfochrome. (Once you’ve seen one, you will immediately be able to tell the difference between it and a regular glossy photo – they have generally very rich, saturated colors.) Cibachrome/Ilfochrome reacts very badly to heat. As Mark has pointed out, if you try to dry mount one of these you will most likely end up with the “orange peel” effect which is very distracting. When faced with Cibachrome/Ilfochrome, I suggest using a cold mounting technique like Positionable Mounting Adhesive.

[kaptain.kopter]

I always use Hotpress' clear mounting film onto their clay covered white display board. If the photograph has a lot of white in it, use their white mounting film.

I can't recommend the Hotpress training courses enough. I've been using presses for years and Steve Goodall demonstrated so many more applications than I'd even considered before.

[WelshFramer]

Thanks to all for the advice. Looks as if Colourmount Speedmount with some Hot Press Glossing Foil would be the way to go.

In view of the discussion on curling board I guess I should go for the 1mm rather than 2mm board - at least it's cheaper.

Unfortunately it does mean that I'll need an initial investment of £85 if I buy the stuff from Lion -- such a shame that this job isn't for a paying customer.

[osgood]

Mike,

I have no idea what this 1 and 2mm board is that you are referring to, but I would be very wary of using anything as thin as that to mount anything to. I don't have a hot press, but I mount photos using sticky foamboard and a ringer and I can't imagine there being enough rigidity/stiffness in 1 or 2mm boards.

I wonder what these thin boards are made from? Is it a wood pulp board, full of lignin??? If so, I wouldn't accept it for free, let alone pay 85 quid for it!

[Roboframer]

If you are going to lay out £85 - get yourself a box of artcare restore instead - board and adhesive in one - 5mm thick - full artcare protection and fully reversible - great for gloss photos - 15 second dwell time.

Check it out

[WelshFramer]

Thanks Robo. I was planning on ordering some Artcare Restore on Monday in any case. If you reckon that's smooth enough for high gloss photos then I can save a lot of money -- and storage space.

[beth]

Hi Robo

Is art care restore a foam board, if so is dense so it does not crush under the press