I just printed out some stuff on canvas at 17x36, which I intend to use as examples of my work. As I said, it's just something to give people an idea of what my work looks like on canvas, sort of a big portfolio, if you would. But the point is that these 17x36 canvases aren't intended for sale or display, so my main interests aren't presentation or archival properties. However, I don't want to show people loose canvases and I don't want them to be damaged by handling. So, I'd like to coat them to protect them from surface damage, and I'd like to mount them on some sort of not-too-terribly-expensive board, so they can be easily handled and shown to people.
The prints are done on BC glossy canvas (which I really, really, like), and I've used a custom profile, but I didn't profile targets that had a coating applied. So, I'm looking to coat with something that doesn't affect their appearance too much. Also, the BC glossy cannot be coated with a roller or brush, so I need to spray it.
In the future, when I do larger canvases, I intend to profile with something like Clearstar applied and spray the canvas prints with a HVLP gun. But, for the moment, I don't want to get into the HVLP thing quite yet, so I was thinking of using the aerosol version of Print Shield. And I was wondering, does Print Shield have a relatively minimal affect on the print's appearance? I tried coating a proof print with Golden acrylic varnish, but not only did it dissolve a big of the ink (which had cured for 2 or 3 weeks), but it also darkened the print more than I wanted.
I think I remember hearing that the Print Shield goes on in a relatively fine layer and doesn't alter the print's appearance as much as a thicker laminate. Is that true?
Also, I was thinking of using mounting adhesive and mounting the canvases on some type of board, just something rigid that would allow them to be easily handled. Gatorfoam or something similarly expensive would be a waste for this type of non-critical application, and regular foamcore always seems to get dinged, so I was wondering if anyone could suggest a decent, not hugely expensive mat board or the like that would be relatively thick and durable though not too expensive?
Thanks and Kind Regards,
Mike