Fuji Flex Paper and customer experience over time

[msoomro]

I have been researching Fuji Flex Paper to add it as one of the medium to sell my prints on. My research indicates although landscape images come out really well on fujiflex, it is a delicate medium to manage and very easily scratched. This is concerning to me. I am VERY sensitive to ensuring best customer experience I can provide to my clients for years to enjoy my art work. hence my questions from folks who have experience with this paper.

How does this Fuji Flex Paper hold to reasonable and normal handling like;

1. Transport images to art fair a few times before it is sold.
2. Customers or their house cleaners cleaning the prints with regular cloth or brush.
3. Other regular usage.


Thanks
msoomro

[ddolde]

Fujiflex is more like a film than a paper and only works in Lightjet or Chromira printers

[msoomro]

I didnt know that, much appreciated. So much to learn.   Lets say i get it printed from one of the labs; my concern is still valid.  Any thoughts on the managability of the prints?

[howardm]

You might want to check out the Mitsubishi 'Pictorico' film as a inkjetable media that is very similar.

[dkaufman]

I have printed extensively on Fujiflex, both in my own darkroom and having prints made in labs.
The Fujiflex surface is extremely beautiful, having excellent colour reproduction for a chromogenic paper, but it is very, very delicate. It fingerprints and scratches very easily. I joke that you cannot even breathe on the material.
After drying, the print should be subjected to an absolute minimum of handling. Even storing the print with interleaving tissue is bound to produce minute scratches from the weight of prints above. The best treatments after printing are: Immediate and careful placement in storage or immediate framing behind glass or acrylic. Shipping of a rolled print is difficult as any material used to interleave the rolled print could scratch. Experienced labs should know how to package the bare print but flat shipping would be best. If the print is mounted, dibond is an absolute must for flatness or face mounting to acrylic. It is not uncommon to get very fine scratches in the mounting process unless the lab is truly expert.
So a beautiful material but quite difficult to handle.

David Kaufman
www.davidkaufmanphotography.com