Handling Prints

[Mike Guilbault]

Just curious...  When you sell your fine art prints, are the prints protected from handling, ie. placed in plastic bags of some sort, or are they left bare for customers to feel the paper?

[Schewe]

Clearbags.com

You never want to touch the final print surface and you want to wait to put them in until after outgassing.

[FrankG]

How long before inserting them in the bags - 24 hrs ?
What if I use their newer bags which are open ended - no flap.
They should still allow drying/'outgassing'

[neile]

Basically what Jeff said. Leave them overnight to do their curing thing then into bags from Clearbags. Make sure you order the "PC" (protective closure) bags so the sticky part is on the back of the bag, not the flap.

Neil

[Damir]

Firts of all I do all prints handle with cotton gloves. Never wait for outgassing (HP inks) but immediately after de-rolling wrap them in some kind of protective paper "envelop" like the oversized sheet of HP vellum paper, or HP tracing paper with printing side of protective paper in contact with printed surface. I just band paper and put print inside, at the end it looks like huge book with prints inserted in between sheets of book. That way I got print separated by material that is archival and let the print "breathe".
I watch out for cheap inkjet printing paper sale which I than use for print protection sleeve.

[Colorwave]

Clearbag sleeve (which I never buy from Clearbags directly, as they are more expensive than other vendors that sell their products) and a foamcore backing.  For prints that I know are going straight to a frame shop, I sometimes use plain corrugated cardboard instead of foamcore.  I would not want to sell prints without some sort of rigid backing, unless they were quite small, as it is just too easy to put a kink in an unsupported print.

[bill t.]

Also make sure that inside the bag or envelope the print is backed up by something that is somewhat larger than the print.   Avoids dings to the edges.  The handling prints receive in even the best galleries is absolutely appalling.  There is no gallery on earth that can be trusted to safely handle bare prints or even mounted prints with only cover sheets, or even prints in a portfolio box.  You really want some kind of clear envelope in every case.

If you plan to display your prints in a bin, make sure the corner/corners that are wrapped so that the folded corner is on the bottom of the print.  If it's the other way around the taped edges will hang up on adjacent prints when somebody tries to put the print back in the bin.

I think the "feel of the paper" thing is ridiculously over stated in the sense that it's supposedly important to buyers.  When a print is framed or mounted you can't tell if it's 800gsm Magnum Grande Artissimus paper or 10mil Enhanced Matte.

I think it's best to just avoid the envelopes with the adhesive flaps.  INVARIABLY will grab some part of the print when the unwitting client tries to remove the print.  Best to use tape and tell the buyer to completely remove the tape before removing the print.  (I'm so glad I use canvas.)

[Mike Guilbault]

I'm not so sure that the 'feel of the paper' is ridiculous.  Basically, I have the prints in bags from Clearbags.ca with a backing board, but I do have a few 'samples' out of bags just so that people can feel the paper. This is when I explain about the archival quality of the paper and inks used. When they feel the difference (from a typical photograph that they're used to), it seems to make more sense to them and the tactile experience generates a very positive response. That's also why I like the textured papers... just reinforces the experience, visually as well as through touch.

[bill t.]

I concentrate on selling the image.

I am loathe to redirect my customer's muse from buying my ethereally beautiful image to buying a really nice piece of physical inkjet media.

But if they ask about the media, OK.  If necessary I would then play the "when it's framed it doesn't matter" card.  And I will truthfully tell them how long I think the piece will last, if they ask.

I think print weight only matters if you make it matter.  Once they come down to Earth, most customers are a lot more interested in how the image will look above the sofa, than in how much it weighs.  That's where I want to keep them focused, on issues of how buying the image will benefit them, rather than distracting them with somewhat abstract issues like weight.  Or put simply, "you'll get a lot great remarks about this piece" trumps "it's on 450gsm paper."

But I stopped selling prints-only a long time ago, so maybe I'm out of touch.

[CoyoteButtes]

If not from Clearbags, where do you get your Clearbags?

Thanks

[Mike Guilbault]

I concentrate on selling the image.
But I stopped selling prints-only a long time ago, so maybe I'm out of touch.

Good point Bill (on selling the image), however, I find that people either like an image or don't. But isn't the type of paper used a selling feature, a direct benefit to the client?  Otherwise why not print on regular (cheap) photo paper? 

So.. if you're not selling prints-only, what are you selling?  I believe I read somewhere framed prints only.  Is that correct? 

[bill t.]

I print on whatever gives me an image I like.  I'm kinda skeptical about how much the real or imagined nuances of the latest, greatest paper really adds to an image.  I know personally that when I find a piece I like on a wall somewhere, I rarely give the media any thought at all.  The image works or it doesn't, and I doubt a little extra d-max or a little more whiteness matters a hoot in those cases, or that I could even detect such things visually.

Most of my sales to end buyers are framed pieces.  A "reasonably priced" framed image to which a potential buyer has some emotional attachment (read local interest) is a hugely attractive for purchase.  A lot of those kinds of buyers tend to think they can't afford to have a print framed, but hey, if there's a nice deal on an already framed print, wow!

Almost all my print sales are to framers who usually frame or at least mount the print right away.  They actually like lighter papers because of price.  Their customers will usually never see the naked print at all, it's all a matter of markup.

You know I could be wrong about the really high end print buyers, maybe paper weight would make a difference to some of them.  But those are rare birds.  There's a much larger and more reliable market of folks who just like the idea of art they find exciting and can also afford.

[Colorwave]

If not from Clearbags, where do you get your Clearbags?

Thanks

I bought my last order from Frame Destination, but many places sell them for less than the manufacturer does.  Cheaper shipping, too, which is exacerbated for me here in Hawaii, where everybody puts extra markup on already higher shipping costs.

As an example, the 24" x 36" 100 pack is $60 at Frame Destination, and on "special" for $72 right now with Clearbags.

[Mike Guilbault]

As usual Bill... excellent points to consider.