Coating paper What am I doing wrong?

[huguito]

I am using Glamour II to coat matte papers.
I am mixing 33% Matte and 66% Gloss
The resulting blend once mixed is then mixed with warm distilled water 25% water to 75% coating
I applied with a roller, one light coat, about 45 min to an hour of drying and then another coat.

Once the print is dried, even next day, it looks almost plasticky, very ugly, like something out of a cheap laminator

The finish is almost matte, barely a shine, and that's what I want. But the surface looks dull and all the life of the print is gone.

Instead of extending the dynamic range of the print as you would expect from coating seems to make it even less range between blacks and whites.

Is there any step on my description that sounds wrong?

Thanks

Hugo

[darlingm]

Glamour II has fantastic "leveling agents" in it.  I haven't done a lot of paper coating, primarily canvas.  On canvas at least, rolling it on gives a more plastic or laminate look to it -- a more physically flat surface.  Spraying it on keeps more of the original canvas texture feel.  It's a pain to make the jump, but then you'll never look back.  Try spraying.  Prints I spray are vertical, pinned to a 4x8 sheet of foam.

As far as the dynamic range, make two small prints -- half of the print bare white, the other half pure black.  Coat one.  See for sure.  Perhaps try using less coating?  Perhaps the layers you're creating are too thick?

[dgberg]

Mike has good info.
I personally find the Glamor and Timeless just not right for anything other then canvas.
Try a spray can of Clearstar FA-2000. A solvent finish. If you spray 2 light coats you should get the protection you are looking for.
It soaks in and your print stays natural looking. You get the protection you are looking for without touching the print with a roller and heavy bodied finish.

[huguito]

Thanks Dan
Some of the prints on matte paper will be embellished, the spray should be able to cover the embelishment as well?
Does the spray you recomend comes in choices of Matte, semi and gloss?
Thanks

[dgberg]

I do not buy a lot of the stuff but they have an FA and origonial versions.
Both solvent sprays and I know both have gloss and semi gloss.
I believe the FA version has a low gloss and although it is not a matte finish several light coats should give you a very nice matte finish.
Try a can and see what you think. Runs about $13.00 for a 13 oz. can.

[hugowolf]

For paper I use Hahnemühle protective spray, which I believe is the same as PremierArt Print Shield spray. It is about US$15 a can.

I use three coats, with about 4 minutes between each. I have never tested the claimed UV protection, and pigment ink prints are pretty water resistant by themselves*, but it does add a lot of scratch resistance.

*After seeing a video, perhaps linked from these forums, pushing the water resistance of Timeless and Glamour, I ran an uncoated Canson Rag, Epson 3K VM print under a water tap for 5 minutes, without any noticeable change. The print, after drying, looked no different than before.

Brian A