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Author Topic: Bend in paper  (Read 2544 times)

marvpelkey

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Bend in paper
« on: November 19, 2012, 04:36:44 pm »

I was recently moving some 28 X 40 inch prints in stacks of ten, in a rather confined space (and through a narrow door and turn down a hallway - it's a long story!) and unfortunately caused one stack to twist a bit beyond what it should. As a result, each print now shows a "V" (about 1- 2 inches across) shaped dent or bend. The mark is about a third into the print and, depending on the angle of the light, can be quite noticeable.

Anyone know if this is correctable or are the prints now garbage. The only thing I can think of is to lay them flat under some heavy weight or pressure, but have never tried this sort of thing. And, due to their size, space is an issue. I even considered mild moist heat, but expect that would do more harm than good.

I have never handled prints this large, nor have ever been faced with this problem so am looking to some of the experts for help.

Marv
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Richowens

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Re: Bend in paper
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2012, 04:50:50 pm »

Marv,

 I have ironed a print, wth a warm iron, on the backside to remove ripples. Rolled it out on the ironng board to iron, iron set on low to medium, spritzed with a little water.
 The print was rolled up, laying on a table and a box was set on it, flattening the roll.

 This was matt paper with dye inks, don't know if it will work with pigment inks or not.

 A mounting press might do the same thing.

Rich

 
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Colorwave

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Re: Bend in paper
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2012, 07:09:13 pm »

Yes, I think finding a framer with a drymount press is your best bet.  I'd put your odds at better than 50/50 if it is not a really hard kink.  Keep us posted with what you try and your results.  Best of luck, as that sounds like a big loss if it is not recoverable.
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marvpelkey

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Re: Bend in paper
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2012, 08:42:49 pm »

Rich,

Thanks for the reply. However, I'm a bit confused. Are you saying that you had a rolled up print that was flattened by a box, so it had to be ironed?/ If so, that would be way worse than what I am experiencing. And by "ironing board" do you mean a regular household ironing board? As noted in my post, the prints I am dealing with are 28 X 40 inches and am quite certain I would have further issues if I tried to iron them on an ironing board. I am also uncertain of the ink that was used as I did not print them.

Colorwave,

I will have to give your suggestion some further thought.

Thanks

Marv
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davidh202

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Re: Bend in paper
« Reply #4 on: November 20, 2012, 08:50:10 pm »

  As a custom framer, I have saved many paper articles, artwork, and photos that are creased. Many people mishandle art and grab it and pick it up with one hand between the thumb and forefinger which bends the paper causing these V marks.
The natural moisture levels in the paper and substrate will sometimes soften the crease enough to flatten it under heat, but you cannot apply it to just one area on a large print as it will cause expansion and buckling of that one area.The entire sheet needs to be sandwiched between two pieces of matboard in a heat press at the same time. It will depend on the nature of the paper and just how serious the crease is. If that doesn't work the only other solution is to see if drymounting to a hard (not foamboard), substrate will "iron them out". Sometimes it works if the kinks are not too sharp or the print surface itself is not 'wrinkled'(rough looking) in the tip of the V of the  bend. If the bends are sharp and the crease at the V is rough looking, part of the crease will flatten but not the rough looking part, and chances are the prints are toast sorry to say.
It may be more cost effective to just reprint them.
 If you post a close up of one, I can tell you what your chances of success are before you invest any money or time.
David
« Last Edit: November 20, 2012, 09:00:42 pm by davidh202 »
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marvpelkey

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Re: Bend in paper
« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2012, 04:30:55 pm »

David,

Thanks for the info and offer. As to the reprinting, I doubt that is possible. I think the only options are either trash the prints or try to soften the crease. I will try some angled light photos and see if they come out sufficiently for you to take a look.

Thanks again,

Marv
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Ernst Dinkla

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Re: Bend in paper
« Reply #6 on: November 22, 2012, 06:36:01 am »

Would decurling, against the bend and after that reversed, on a thin core solve the best cases? Not the 3 seconds per decurl but leaving them for several hours in one state then the other. A real kink/dent will not disappear but you still call it a bend.

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davidh202

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Re: Bend in paper
« Reply #7 on: November 22, 2012, 11:41:49 am »

Ernst,
  Decurling will usually work pretty well to flatten an entire sheet. Reversing the appearance of a kink or bend in a specific spot needs pressure with heat (and some natural moisture in the paper kicked in). This will not be sufficient if there has been physical degredation the the fibers or 'emulsion' of the paper especially if visible at the surface. As I said earlier, trying to moisten and heat a specific area only, usually results in the expansion and buckling of the area in question, deforming the entire sheet, (usually irreversable unless permanently mounted to a substrate).

David
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Richowens

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Re: Bend in paper
« Reply #8 on: November 23, 2012, 02:25:04 am »

Marv,

 In my case the print was 8x40, a pano. I had it rolled in tissue and taped. I put it on the table and someone sat a box on the rolled up print flattening the roll, putting a soft fold in the print evey 3 to 4 inches.
I was able to put it face down on an ordinary everyday ironing board, lightly spritz the back side of the paper then run the iron set on a cotton setting to relax the fibers.



 Rich
P.S. I agree with David, a print that size needs a press.
« Last Edit: November 23, 2012, 02:27:03 am by Richowens »
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darlingm

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Re: Bend in paper
« Reply #9 on: November 23, 2012, 03:39:22 am »

. . .As to the reprinting, I doubt that is possible. . .

Why's this?  Are there unusable negatives or no longer existent digital files?
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marvpelkey

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Re: Bend in paper
« Reply #10 on: November 23, 2012, 11:04:56 pm »

Thanks to everyone for the comments and suggestions. I am going the heat press route and have already had some preliminary discussions with someone in my area who may be able to help in that respect and will be taking one print to him to give this a try. If successful, I will take the others in for the same treatment.

Ernst, prior to deciding to heat press, I tried your decurl method and after a couple of hours, the crease was less noticeable, but still noticeable.

Darlingm, the story is: I have a number of images marketed through a local company, which both markets, prints and supplies to various customers. About a month ago, a rather large and heavy package arrived by courier to my house with, as it turned out, 60 28 X 40 prints (ten each of 6 images) of my work (apparently they send out 10 samples of each image yearly to their "stable" of artists - however, this is the first time for me). All the prints were quite damaged due to a corner of the box being dropped, so I had to send them back. Upon receipt of a new batch, I was moving them around to get a look at them and, due to tight elbowroom in my house, I damaged a stack of ten and put a crease in every one. As they were free and I had already returned the entire flat of 60, I was not prepared to ask for ten more.

Marv
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