Can I really make it acid free?

mattinerie

Grumbler
Joined
Mar 29, 2006
Posts
23
Loc
Erie, PA
We have used sprays to neutralize acid found in newspaper since I started working here in 1988.
Back in the day we used Wei'tu (sp) and then moved on to Archival Mist ($$$ & clogs a lot).
Now we've tried "Make it Acid Free" (in United catalog- seems to work).
Of course newspaper is GOING to yellow and short of doing tests over several years can we really know if any of these sprays work???
We tell customers about the inevitability of yellowing but we should do something to slow down the process.
 
There is a term that I like to trot out with the customer , because it makes me sound smart. It is "Inherent vice" which simply means that the very nature of the item causes its own destruction. For newspaper items, we simply go to our local copy store and have them run a color copy. It looks so much like the original that no one can believe that it isn't the article itself. Except it doesn't age like the original does.
 
To add to what Ellen said, the real issue is...
"Can I make it lignin-free?". It is lignin that darkens in UV and causes most of the visible change that we see, and nothing that is added to
a newspaper can remove the lignin. The simplest
thing to do, is to follow Ellen's advice and store
the old newspaper in the dark.


Hugh
 
For $30 our local paper prints an entire page on photo paper. There isn't a more stable or better looking way to display a newspaper to my knowledge. You may offer this as a service if the article is recent and the paper offers it.
 
Two observations about newspaper articles:

1. Deacidification treatments work by introducing a liquid-borne buffer by soaking it into the paper, which is an invasive process. If the paper is soiled, soaking may leave tidelines. If the paper's fibers have suffered some kind of previous stress, soaking may make it cockle. Even if dried under weighted blotters (which could soak out some of the buffer just introduced, by the way), it may cockle later, at some elevated level of humidity.

Buffers work for a limited time against discoloration from the inherent vice mentioned, lignin. Years later, when the buffer is exhausted and acid burn from inherent lignin resumes, disoloration may be spotty. That is, the buffer of a deacidification liquid may soak into the fibers inconsistently, so that some areas would discolor sooner or later than other areas of the same sheet. But left alone, the paper would discolor relatively evenly.

2. Framing a copy of the newspaper is advised, but first obtain permission from the copyright holder, usually the publisher. Most newspapers have a streamlined process to grant that permission quickly, often within a few days. Kinko's and other professional copying companies generally will not, and should not, reproduce copyrighted material unless it is accompanied by permission in writing.
 
Except the two terms "Personal use" and "in the public domain" come to use.

And when those two terms are in play, Kinko's for all their high and mighty policies and CYA attitudes, can go pound sand. So sayith the Supreme Court way back in the 80s when photocopy started gaining popularity and stopped being a fad.

It was also when there was a dramatic jump in the compensation media paid us freelance writers.
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Originally posted by Baer Charlton:
Except the two terms "Personal use" and "in the public domain" come to use...
Thanks for that helpful insight, Baer. I'm not here to defend copyright laws, but we probably should abide them.

If the newspaper is old enough to be in the public domain, then copyright is not an issue. Most newspaper articles I have framed are still under copyright law.

I guess we could say we're having it copied for ourselves and not for resale to a framing customer, but the kid behind the Kinko's counter probably wouldn't buy that lie, anyway.
 
What if the customer had it copied? It's for their use and we don't have to get involved.
 
I understand the legalities behind it and no offense to anyone, but I think it will be a cold day in he** when I go and get permission to make a photocopy of an article written in the 50 cent local rag.
 
I posted the original question about the various sprays available- any other comments about those ?? Customers ARE interested in getting the originals framed. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by Steph:
I understand the legalities behind it and no offense to anyone, but I think it will be a cold day in he** when I go and get permission to make a photocopy of an article written in the 50 cent local rag.
I would agree with you, Steph, but it is not a matter of choice.

Around here there are three places to have it done, and all of them require permission from the copyright holder. Maybe our local newspaper took somebody to task in the past.

David, you may have it right legally, except that we're dealng with never-take-a-chance company policy applied by high school kids who don't care what you do with the copy. The rule rules: no permission, no copy. How could a customer prove it is for personal use?
 
Originally posted by mattinerie:
I posted the original question about the various sprays available- any other comments about those ?? Customers ARE interested in getting the originals framed. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Would more comments about the sprays help your customer decide? I think the important stuff is already on the table here.
 
Perhaps all this nonsensical trouble is because the newspaper won't print a gorgeous copy for you.

I find it very hard to believe that a little 40,000 copy paper in Owensboro is that far ahead of the curve.
 
Jay, are you saying that your local newspaper publisher will provide a good photo-quality copy? The Columbus Dispatch will do that, too, for a reeeeally pretty price that is about three times what a local copy shop charges.
 
The copy provided by the paper is a Velox made directly from the digital files. It is first generation image with good color, crisp print and the longevity of the best color photography has to offer. The local paper offers them in black and white for about $15.00/page and in color for about double that.
I have yet to see a "good" color copy from Kinkos, Office Depot or any of the other office supply chains locally. I can get a good copy from the local color lab, but it is much higher than the cost for the Velox.
 
Ours is $30 a page. It is pricy but as Wally has pointed out its very well worth it. The photos looks like...well photos and not pixels. I would guess if its nice enough to frame it's nice enough spending way more than even $30....I'd say for a page it would be worth upward of a $100. After all, how much are they spending on the frame?
 
Our newspaper produces a re-formatted print of the article with black type on white paper. It IS the article but it doesn't LOOK like the article. Because I work with a local copy shop and they know that I am making a single copy for the customer to frame, they don't refuse to do it. I assure you the copy looks just like the article, with the sometimes 'bleed-through' of the ink from the back, the newsprint color and everything. Entirely different presentation from the newspaper 'reproduction'. But Copy Quick keeps their copy machine tuned to a gnat's eyelash, so their reproduction is second to none.
 
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