uv protection

[eyesperspective]

Opinion for the group.
What is your preferred practice..and why.
1. Uv spray
2. Uv glass
3. Uv spray and glass
4. Uv roll on coating
Does your practice change if you are using pigment or dye inks?

best, Dave w

[dgberg]

I am only going to address what my business does. Primarily a canvas printer we spray all of our pigment canvas with 2 coats of Clearshield satin.
Although the uv protection is high on the list the primary reason for coating is protection from moisture of all types and to help keep the corners from cracking when stretching.
Without the 2 coats of varnish it can be a real task to keep those tightly folded corners like new. Later we have been selling more canvas mounted to gatorboard than gallery wraps.
We usually finish these with two lighter coats as the flat mounts need protection but not like the gallery wrapped corners.
We also run a 64" solvent s80600 and have been moving much of our canvas printing to that machine.
Printing a satin canvas with solvent inks produces one of the toughest prints.
Most shops printing solvent do not varnish anything. We do not spray the canvas gatorboard mounts but still give the solvent gallery wraps one coat. 
In our tests we were still seeing small cracks at the corners with solvent so I decided to apply one coat and that works.
We sell no glass (Thank goodness) and coat no paper prints so I can only respond to canvas.

[eyesperspective]

Thanks Dan.  We are just starting down the print road. Some framing shops dont spray at all, they use UV glass only. While spray would be less costly, we have concern about UV damage to inkjet prints, even pigments. What kind of life have you seen from your output by using just the spray?  TY.  dw

I am only going to address what my business does. Primarily a canvas printer we spray all of our pigment canvas with 2 coats of Clearshield satin.
Although the uv protection is high on the list the primary reason for coating is protection from moisture of all types and to help keep the corners from cracking when stretching.
Without the 2 coats of varnish it can be a real task to keep those tightly folded corners like new. Later we have been selling more canvas mounted to gatorboard than gallery wraps.
We usually finish these with two lighter coats as the flat mounts need protection but not like the gallery wrapped corners.
We also run a 64" solvent s80600 and have been moving much of our canvas printing to that machine.
Printing a satin canvas with solvent inks produces one of the toughest prints.
Most shops printing solvent do not varnish anything. We do not spray the canvas gatorboard mounts but still give the solvent gallery wraps one coat. 
In our tests we were still seeing small cracks at the corners with solvent so I decided to apply one coat and that works.
We sell no glass (Thank goodness) and coat no paper prints so I can only respond to canvas.

[dgberg]

To clarify I am only referring to canvas. Been spraying canvas since 2009 and have had no returns or even calls so it must be holding up. We are anxious to get away from spraying, especially for the big batches.
The 10 ink solvent is really the ticket for hospitality canvas prints. However that being said I have at least a half dozen artists we print for that want the archival print on canvas which of course is pigment.
If you are printing fine art and photo papers then glass is the best option. I have sprayed matt and photo papers to test with mixed results. Some work, others not so much.

[eyesperspective]

TY

To clarify I am only referring to canvas. Been spraying canvas since 2009 and have had no returns or even calls so it must be holding up. We are anxious to get away from spraying, especially for the big batches.
The 10 ink solvent is really the ticket for hospitality canvas prints. However that being said I have at least a half dozen artists we print for that want the archival print on canvas which of course is pigment.
If you are printing fine art and photo papers then glass is the best option. I have sprayed matt and photo papers to test with mixed results. Some work, others not so much.