Timeless Glassless

[Mike Guilbault]

I was reading up on Timeless varnish from Breathing Colour and one of the stated advantages is that you can frame your print without glass. Is anyone doing this, and exactly how are you mounting it? 

[framah]

Just a note here.. if you decide to mat that print, then you will need glass or acrylic to protect and hold the mats flat against the print. Mats tend to bow away from the image without anything to keep them flat. Also if you do go without glass, then you need a mounting method that keeps the print in place... as in dry mounting.
Which brings us to your other post about mounting or not.

[dgberg]

I was reading up on Timeless varnish from Breathing Colour and one of the stated advantages is that you can frame your print without glass. Is anyone doing this, and exactly how are you mounting it?  

What type paper are you talking about?
Timeless for me anyway is not a sterile enough product to put over photo paper prints.
I use Clearjet solvent spray for fineart prints sprayed through my filtered Binks system with excellent results.
When spraying Timeless on canvas if you get small particles of crud or something else it is easier to get rid of it without anything showing.
On a glossier photo paper it really needs to come out perfect the first time.

[AFairley]

I am framing prints using the Tru-Vue AR anti-reflection glass.  It's almost (but not quite) like you cannot see the glass unless there is a light source reflected in it.  It's like night and day compared to ordinary framing glass.  Comes in UV and non-UV blocking options (but the non-US still blocks about 40% of the UV if I recall the specs correctly).  Another option you could consider.

[Mike Guilbault]

Right now I'm mostly using Cold Press Natural, but was more or less asking just to learn about it as an option. I don't have the facilities at the moment for spraying but was considering rolling it on.

And yes, that is why I asked the question on the other post about mounting.  I thought it best to keep the two thoughts separate but can see they're running together anyway.

I've been using the Tru-Vue AR/UV glass and it's quite nice and is my standard for my FA work. My thoughts were that the Timeless may provide a non-glass option to portrait clients that didn't like the mat/glass option, but I wanted to know how it was generally mounted and displayed. For my portraiture, I usually have my lab print/mount/laminate the image - but would like to move some of this more in-house.

So, if I'm using canvas, I'd probably just go the route of a gallery wrap, but didn't know what the options were for paper prints. 

[Ken Doo]

I have found that when it comes to coating, hvlp is the way to go with canvas.  But with fine art papers, I have found the opposite to be true.  Fine art papers, in my experience, are better applied with a roller and Timeless.  Much of the experience and tips I learned from rolling canvas years ago are inapplicable to fine art papers.  It seems that a good finish requires working the Timeless into the paper with a roller, whereas hvlp spraying just doesn't do as well.  So, hvlp with Glamour II for canvas, and hand rolling Timeless for fine art papers for me.  I started using Timeless on fine art papers in seeking alternative/unique display options without glass.

ken   

[Mike Guilbault]

So after rolling your paper, how are you displaying the print? I'm pretty much assuming the only option is to have it mounted but wanted to make sure I'm not missing anything.  Are you framing it with a mat then?  As framah mentioned, if you're matting you pretty much need glass to keep everything in place and that defeats the purpose.

[Ken Doo]

So after rolling your paper, how are you displaying the print? I'm pretty much assuming the only option is to have it mounted but wanted to make sure I'm not missing anything.  Are you framing it with a mat then?  As framah mentioned, if you're matting you pretty much need glass to keep everything in place and that defeats the purpose.

You can mat/frame traditionally.  But if I'm doing traditional (mat/frame/glass), I'd rather simply spray with Premier Art shield and call it a day.  Rolling Timeless requires more effort, although it does provide much more protection.  You can actually feel the coating after rolling----it's soft.

I've actually been stretching fine art papers like canvas.  This certainly isn't about being archival in the true sense of the term.  It's about displaying your work/client's work in a non-traditional way that might raise some eyebrows.   

[Light Seeker]

Mike. . . .

I coat Canson Rag Photographique (matte) with a 50/50 mix of BC Timeless Gloss/Matte. I spray that on using an inexpensive Wagner HVLP. That mix roughly matches the uncoated Dmax of the paper. It gives it a bit of a sheen, but it's relatively subtle. Prints like this are then mounted on foamcore and go directly into a frame w/o glass.

I tried coating Platine (gloss) but the silica in the matte clouds the print. When I tried Timeless Gloss it was way too shiny.

BTW, I use the same settings and coating methodology on Rag Photographique that I use when coating Lyve canvas.

Terry.

[Mike Guilbault]

Ken... does the 'stretching' of the fine art paper not crack the finish? I assume it doesn't or you wouldn't be doing it - but does it ever happen?

Terry... I guess you could mix the Gloss/Matte in different ratios to get more, or less, the amount of sheen you desire. 

[Light Seeker]

Terry... I guess you could mix the Gloss/Matte in different ratios to get more, or less, the amount of sheen you desire.  

I tried different dilutions of Timeless and the only mix that didn't "cloud" the print is 100% gloss. Adding even a small amount of matte would ruin the print. However, Clearstar ClearJet A 2000 seems to work very well. The level of gloss is almost identical to uncoated Platine. The downside is that it's toxic and expensive to spray using the small cans. Still, it's a solution that (so far) seems to work well.

Terry.