I am starting to use epson's ultra smooth fine art paper which is really nice and I was wondering would it be better to dry mount the print or use tape to mount it to a board? trhanks for your help, John
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
That's akin to putting low-octane fuel in a Ferrari. I don't see why you'd spend the money for a high-quality archival paper and then slap adhesive tape or glue on it. I'm not into dry mounting either, either with heat or spray adhesive.
I posted this on DPReview a while back, and I'll paste this updated version of the post here in its entirety. I hope you find this useful:
There's really only one way to do archival mounting, and that's a technique called hinging. And you must use archival quality (acid-free) hinging tissue. You must mount the print at only two points and essentially let it hang from those two points (hinges). If you attach at multiple points (top and bottom, for example -- or use a spray adhesive), your results over time may not be satisfactory because the thick mount board and the print react to changes in humidity at different rates. The board may warp or the print may buckle.
Start here by learning about the "hinging" technique:
[a href=\"http://www.framedestination.com/picture_frame_mounting.html]http://www.framedestination.com/picture_frame_mounting.html[/url]
I use a long piece of Lineco Self-Adhesive Linen Tape (Lin-533-1055) to attach the window mat to the backer board. Then I use Lineco Self-Adhesive Hinging Tissue (Lin-533-1055) to mount the print to the backer board at two points.
See those products here:
http://framingsupplies.com/ToolsTapesGlues...sTapesGlues.htm I cut all my own mats but have my wooden frames made to order with Acrylite UV glazing (no more real glass). Why do I cut my own mats? Because simply getting a hole cut in a mat triples or quadruples the price of the mat -- a total rip-off. I have a 48" Logan Framer's Edge mat cutter and cut thick 8-ply mats. An 8-ply looks much better than an ordinary 4-ply mat. I buy mat blanks at
http://www.redimat.com.
To hold the assembled mats, print, and mount board in place in a wood frame, you use a Fletcher FrameMaster gun and framer's points:
http://framingsupplies.com/Fletcher/FletcherPointDriver.htm Then you apply a layer of Scotch ATG Gold #908 acid-free adhesive transfer tape (NOT #924, which is not acid free) around the rear edge of the frame:
http://framingsupplies.com/3M/3MATGTape.htm You use a 3M ATG 700 gun (the yellow one) to do this:
http://framingsupplies.com/3M/TapeDispenserGuns.htm Finally, you attach a sheet of acid-free backing paper to the adhesive transfer tape you've just laid down. I use the black paper shown here:
http://framingsupplies.com/BackingPapersandPlasticBags.htm And I trim it using the trimmer knife shown at the top right of that same Web page.
And your wood frame hangers are here:
http://framingsupplies.com/FrameHangers.htm Followed by the hanging wire:
http://framingsupplies.com/HangingWire.htm If you're serious about this, I strongly recoomend that you use only archival acid-free mats, backer board, backing paper, and adhesives everywhere. The incremental cost is not much.
I don't have any connection to Framing Supplies, Frame Destination, or RediMat, I just buy most of my supplies there.
Good luck. This is possibly overkill for you. But for me, after spending $5,000 on just my camera body (don't get me started on lenses!) and $6,000 for my printer, this is short money well spent. After all, the only thing people see is the print and framing job hanging on the wall, not the camera and printer you used.
