Adventures in Laminating large prints...

[disneytoy]

Greetings!

In my never ending pursuit to find cost effective display options for larger size prints (24x36, 40x60"), for galleries and exhibits, I have been experimenting with matte lamination.

I print on an Epson 9890, and have been using Epson Premium Glossy 250 gsm. I have an entry level cold laminator and a sample of Drytac's Interlam Pro Matte and Lustre. As well as Coda's Matte Lam.

I liked the finish of the Interlam. My initial problems have been in silvering where the adhesive leaves micro air gaps that give an unwanted shimmer. i find more with the Coda than the Drytac.

Also, even though i am using a silicon roller on the print prior to lamination, I am finding tiny bubbles.

Can i get reliable quality results from cold lamination, or do I need to go hot lamination? It is my understanding the heat assist laminate has tiny holes to let air escape?

I also print for a living and would like to offer lamination to some of my clients, but that would have to be at a very high standard.

Any advice?  How long should I allow from the print leaving the printer until I laminate? Also after I have mounted the laminated print, I read somewhere not to trim the print (bleed) for 24 hours because the adhesive needs time to set or I may have peel up from the cut edges.

I'm just trying to determine if I could only have gallery quality results from a heated lamination workflow, Or I just need more practice with cold lamination and i can achieve equal quality?

Thanks

maxi

[Randy Carone]

It's been a while since I've done any lamination but I used to sell it and laminate every day. Silvering should go away after a day or two. Extra pressure is not a solution to the problem. Try a different brand and use cast vinyl rather than calendered vinyl. If the supplier doesn't specify the type (cast/calendered) get the lam with the longest outdoor life as this will be cast. Cast is more 'supple' and usually thinner, with fewer stresses due to the method of extrusion. This should give you less, or no silvering. I've printed on white polyester film and laminated with gloss polyester, which yielded amazing results, kind of like Cibachromes.

[disneytoy]

Thank you Randy!

Yes, Drytac is "calendered," which I did not know what that meant. I will look for matte cast laminate next.

Thank you

Maxi

[Garnick]

Greetings!

In my never ending pursuit to find cost effective display options for larger size prints (24x36, 40x60"), for galleries and exhibits, I have been experimenting with matte lamination.

I print on an Epson 9890, and have been using Epson Premium Glossy 250 gsm. I have an entry level cold laminator and a sample of Drytac's Interlam Pro Matte and Lustre. As well as Coda's Matte Lam.

I liked the finish of the Interlam. My initial problems have been in silvering where the adhesive leaves micro air gaps that give an unwanted shimmer. i find more with the Coda than the Drytac.

Also, even though i am using a silicon roller on the print prior to lamination, I am finding tiny bubbles.

Can i get reliable quality results from cold lamination, or do I need to go hot lamination? It is my understanding the heat assist laminate has tiny holes to let air escape?

I also print for a living and would like to offer lamination to some of my clients, but that would have to be at a very high standard.

Any advice?  How long should I allow from the print leaving the printer until I laminate? Also after I have mounted the laminated print, I read somewhere not to trim the print (bleed) for 24 hours because the adhesive needs time to set or I may have peel up from the cut edges.

I'm just trying to determine if I could only have gallery quality results from a heated lamination workflow, Or I just need more practice with cold lamination and i can achieve equal quality?

Thanks

maxi

Hi Maxi,

For many years I purchased my pressure sensitive adhesive and laminates from Interlam here in Canada, until they ceased to exist, or were bought out by Drytac(don't recall which).  When I first started buying from Drytac they had the Interlam products, which was exactly what I wanted of course.  However, after approximately a year they stopped offering the Luster Lam and then the Interlam adhesive as well.  As I was reading this thread I thought it must be Drytac US you were referring to, so I immediately checked the Canadian site and there they were.  I guess it's time to update my catalog and give them a call.  Before all of this happened I was using a lot of the Interlam Luster Lam and it's good to know I can get it again. 

I agree with Randy that the lams need a couple of days to really "cure" properly after application, and it's an interesting bit of info you offered about not trimming immediately after the coating.  That kind of makes sense, and a routine I will adopt as well.  Another thing I might suggest is the smoothness of the mount board.  I always found that applying lams to a print mounted on Gatorboard produced the best results as far as silvering is concerned.  However, since I have very little call for Gatorboard mounting, I always try yo get the smoothest mount board I can find, usually Crescent Board.  I'm sure this is likely something you know already, but thought I would throw it in regardless.

Also good info from Randy concerning cast vs calendared vinyl, a term I had never come across.  I'll be considering that from now on. 

Gary         

 

[Wayne Fox]

I"m not sure of the technique you are using, but you may find you get better results laminating the print using a hard and smooth sled.  I use 1/4" plexiglass coated with Double sided mounting adhesive but leaving the protective paper in place, so the laminate is easy to remove from the sled.  Also even pressure across surface is important.  Depending on the laminator and the material, it is relatively easy to "bough" the roller of lower end manual laminators if using too much pressure, meaning the middle won't get enough pressure.  If  you choose to use a sled, it's best to make one that's nearly the same width as the rollers.

Here is a video from drytac that shows using a sled to apply facemount adhesive, to apply a laminate you would use the same technique.

Heat assisted laminators do help as they soften the adhesive.  They usually only work at about 105 degrees or so.   But you should be able to get decent results without the heat.

Sometimes the silvering will get better, but in my experience it usually won't completely clear up unless it is very minor to begin with.

As far as the dust, you may find it works better to wipe across the surface of the print with a good glove to loosen those particles so they will actually stick to the dust roller you are using.  Sometimes the adhesion between the dust and the print is quite strong and it takes some work to free it up.  In the video (or the next one), you can see how he uses a flash light to spot pieces of dust, actually works pretty well.

[disneytoy]

Thanks Wayne!

I was using sintra as my sled, but I'd get some plexi. So not to have to re adjust the rollers I must admit I was using regular foam core. That is my trial material before I start using aluminum panels.

I was advised to laminate prior to mounting. In the even the lamination was screwed up you don't lose your panel.

I'm getting a sample of the matte cast vinyl lam 2mil from Kapco. It is half the thickness of the Interlam. We will see the difference. The Interlam Pro Matte has the best optics and surface finish over the Coda. I found the Coda produced more side glare. No glare on the Drytac.

Thanks guys!

Max

[Wayne Fox]

I was advised to laminate prior to mounting. In the even the lamination was screwed up you don't lose your panel.

I think you will also find it easier to get the laminate applied well if you laminate before mounting.

Regarding your dust roller, I forgot to mention their are several different ones out there, and the amount of "tack" varies between them. I don't know which one you use, but thought I'd add this for those that see the thread and wonder about these rollers.  I've found the SDI DRS rollers are the best.  They sell them in three versions light blue (low tack), red (medium tack) and dark blue (higher tack).  I use the red one to clean prints.  You have to be careful because it sticks more aggressively to any unprinted borders, but I've found if I start it correctly and keep good pressure behind it and push it through the border it works well.  Much better than the previous one I had.  The dark blue one is great to clean off any material you are using to mount on before applying the double back adhesive.  I have all 3 colors and bought them in the 18" size. You can buy them direct, but Drytac also has the 12" red one available, you can get it through amazon.

[bill t.]

You can evaluate the benefits of a low temperature, heated laminator by putting a 4 foot, dual-tube fluorescent shop lite above your top roller.  At about 50mm a pair of 40 watt bulbs will quickly get the temp up to above 100F / 38C, best to keep the roller turning at all times.  Remote temperature sensors are pretty cheap at Home Depot, etc, and are quite handy in these matters.

I haven't done this since my one test, but it did keep the silvering down.  The center of my roller got hotter than the edges, so a better scheme would be to build a rig with multiple, low wattage spots significantly wider than your roller, placed a few feet above the roller for working clearance.  Experiment to find a good compromise between speed and temperature depletion.  In any case bright light makes finding dust a cinch.

Of course even a hair dryer might provide a useful test.

Routinely heating the roller may or may not be good for longevity.  Can't comment on that.