Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: DLP Graphics on October 12, 2008, 11:55:11 pm
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When I print my pictures they are coming out great (z3100) but when I frame them the glass seems to dull the contrast. I am currently using Red River UltraPro Satin or Gloss for paper. I am using non-glare glass. Regular glass doesn't dull the prints as much but the reflections are pretty distracting. Is this something I just have to live with? Any solutions to this problem?
Thanks
Steve
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Non glare glass is basically glass with a slight texture on one surface. It scatters the reflections very well but blurs the image and causes a loss of contrast. The better alternative is anti-reflection glass, but it is very expensive. One big producer is Tru View. truview.com
Here is a link to a thread that discussed your issue.
http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00FXrC (http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00FXrC)
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It is probably better to use clear glass or a glass cleaned up with lead acetate taking out the green aspect, than going with non glare glass.
There is no way to regain the contrast with frosted glass.
There is a way to gain contrast however I recently say, which is a spray varnish. Hahnemuhle now have it listed. Some told me it is the same as Lyson spray in nature so that might be worth a try. Still it doesn't make sense to use matte for it's velvety quality then spray it to make it something it is not. But, since you're printing on Satin or better it will make a big difference.
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I would consider TruVue glass.
They make 2 grades CCRC. Consevation clear reflection control and RC reflection control.
Both will give you nice results and IMO not cause the issues you are having. Their style
of non glare is not as harsh but still controls reflections.
Paul C
It is probably better to use clear glass or a glass cleaned up with lead acetate taking out the green aspect, than going with non glare glass.
There is no way to regain the contrast with frosted glass.
There is a way to gain contrast however I recently say, which is a spray varnish. Hahnemuhle now have it listed. Some told me it is the same as Lyson spray in nature so that might be worth a try. Still it doesn't make sense to use matte for it's velvety quality then spray it to make it something it is not. But, since you're printing on Satin or better it will make a big difference.
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It is probably better to use clear glass or a glass cleaned up with lead acetate taking out the green aspect, than going with non glare glass.
I was using clear glass in the past but since I live in "glass house" I had a lot of reflections so I started using non-glare. Back then my pictures weren't as good so it wasn't that big a deal. Now that I am learning more about optimizing images I am back to wondering what to do.
Do most people use clear glass for exhibition prints?
There is a way to gain contrast however I recently say, which is a spray varnish. Hahnemuhle now have it listed. Some told me it is the same as Lyson spray in nature so that might be worth a try. Still it doesn't make sense to use matte for it's velvety quality then spray it to make it something it is not. But, since you're printing on Satin or better it will make a big difference.
How would this spray be used? Instead of glass?
I would consider TruVue glass.
They make 2 grades CCRC. Consevation clear reflection control and RC reflection control.
Both will give you nice results and IMO not cause the issues you are having. Their style
of non glare is not as harsh but still controls reflections.
I found some TruVue Reflection Control glass to try. It seems marginally better than non-glare but still not near as good as clear glass in good lighting. I will stare at my samples over morning coffee for a few days.
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I've used Museum Glass extensively, which is a type of Tru-Vue glass. It is very expensive. I only use it with cotton mat papers. Since cotton mat papers don't have their own reflection to start with, the Museum glass works wonders. When looking straight at a photo printed on cotton mat paper, and framed with Museum Glass, it looks like their is no glass at all. Many people comment on that, and ask why it appears that there is no glass.
I also have several older high gloss cibachrome photos framed with Museum Glass. In those cases I see a clear reflection, but what I am seeing is not the reflection of the glass but rather the photo paper itself.
IMHO Museum Glass is worth it if you print with cotton mat paper, but a waste of money on any photo paper that has its own glare or reflection.
When I last investigated this, I looked very carefully at sand-blasted (frosted) regular non-glare glass, comparing it to regular glass -- with a single mat between the photo and the glass. I could not see any difference with regards to seeing detail in the photo. The critical issue is to only use one mat. If you use two layers of mats, as in dual color double mat, then non-glare frosted glass WILL obscure detail, because the frosted glass has been raised too high above the photo. The difference of two mats rather than only one is enough to make a difference.
IYou should look at non-glare frosted glass with a single mat in framing store and compare it to regular glass. I doubt you'll see a difference up close.
But non-glare will still have a reflection from a distance -- it is just a frosted reflection -- and is not up to the standard of Museum Glass.
Finally, if you printing with photo papers, be sure to place them between regular paper or tissue paper for at least several days. Photo papers and their inks "out gas" and the out-gassing will fog glass if framed immediately after printing. I leave prints between regular or tissue paper for about a week to play it safe. I don't know if this applies to cotton papers or not, as I learned about that from the Epson web site, and if memory serves, they only referenced the problem with photo papers. But I do it with both types of prints just to play it safe.
If you have been framing photo paper immediately after printing, and have gradually noticed the problem, take the frames apart and see if a film of out-gassing has formed on the inside of the glass. The problem is very real -- when I interleave with tissue paper, the paper literally becomes quite wavy as it absorbs the gas from the ink.
Hope that helps.
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I have seen samples of Museum Glass on prints compared with plain glass and anti-reflection glass, and there is absolutely no comparison. If you can afford it, Museum Glass is miles ahaead of anything else. It has been too expensive for my budget, so I have used either plain glass or regular anti-reflection glass for exhibits, the choice depending on the lighting in the exhibition area. This has been OK, but if someone gave me a million bucks just for presentation purposes, I'd redo everything in Museum Glass in an instant.
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trueview.com is a software site.
http://www.tru-vue.com/ (http://www.tru-vue.com/) wiil be more "transparent".
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IMHO the best non-reflective glazing is Tru Vue Optium acrylic.
Much lighter than glass. *Brutally expensive.* A lot of museums are using it to cover high value art, you can pretty much attack the 1/4" version with a sledge hammer without much luck, although there will be a bit of marring. Basically invisible, but if you look really hard you can still find faint light bulb reflections, they are eerily purple. I got a quote for a 24" x 60" sheet about a year ago...$400.