Can't Stand Wavy Photos!

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Luke D.

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Sep 14, 2008
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26
Well, I just took an order to frame a photograph, 13x19 inches, and my customer wants it framed with 1/8" plastic spacers, UV clear glass, A/F foam core, and a square white 3/4" wood frame. She really hates when photos are wavy. Who doesn't?!! I personally hate it. Why spend the time and money to frame something that looks horrible. The question is.....How do I frame it with spacers so it is not wavy? I have used spacers a million times and with glossy photos it always ends up not perfect, so I need help. Sometimes it looks perfect and then the temperature or humidity changes, and then it gets wavy...I know not to make the frame too tight or too lose, and to not put the points in too hard....the photo is valuable so she doesn't want it drymounted.....HELP PLEASE! Tricks? THANKS in advance...LUKE ps. even matting glossy photos is tricky with these issues, especially if it is a large photo...
 
If it's too valuable to mount it will just look ugly. It's just that simple. Ansel Adams mounted his photos.
 
This is one of those cases where I balance my preservationist tendencies against my practical ones. Unless this is a totally irreplaceable and historically valuable photograph, I would consider dry mounting it with a "reversible" method such as Artcare Restore or Kool Tack. That will keep it nice and flat with a minimum of impact to the picture itself.

(and if it WERE truly historical and irreplaceable, I'd offer to have it copied first, and frame the copy while keeping the original in a dark drawer in an archival envelope...)

Any other opinions?
 
Mix a thin starch paste and press without heat. It will pull off easily but not cause harm to an RC photo - FB would require advice from a conservator but it is reversible.
 
Artcare RESTORE from Bainbridge!?
 
Thanks!! I will let you know what I come up with. And by the way, no, it is not valuable in a historical way, just a personal way to the customer, which ends up being the same importance from the customer's standpoint...LUKE
 
Yep, call for Harry Potter again!

Your customer has only two choices.

Mount the photo by drymounting/cold lamination and use a spacer.

Hinge it with a matt but this will probably still cockle unless the photo has been kept perfectly flat and not rolled, unrolled and generally mauled about.

If the artwork is replaceable I really don't see any problem with mounting it. Most modern adhesives will not cause any damage for at least as long as the photo will last.
 
Well I can't agree that every photo has to be mounted to look good. I've seen many modern hinged and matted photos on fiber based paper that looked great, including Geoffery James's. (Who I love!)

If they come to you flat, are not oversize, are hinged and matted properly and kept in a stable environment, there's no reason they should ripple. Just because some past photographers mounted their photos (and this comes out of the tradition of mounting thin albumen coated papers which curl tightly if unmounted) is no reason that modern photos need to be.

I would be more inclined try and educate the owner as to why a window mat is a good idea, than to dry or wet mount. Less is more.
 
Rebecca said:
I've seen many modern hinged and matted photos on fiber based paper that looked great, including Geoffery James's. (Who I love!)
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The clue here Rebecca is the part where the poster mentioned the glossy photos. I have a ton of high end CibaChrome, IlfaChrome and Platinum photos come in and they look like carp. The only thing that would make them "Valuable" is that somebody charges a lot of money for them. They are produced in mass but printed on more expensive paper.

I have seen many of the very large pieces that a customer has paid a couple thousand dollars to purchase. The photographers offer these items mounted but the consumer does not feel they are valuable enough to pay the extra thousand dollars the photographer charges for mounting. They also won't pay the $500 to have it shipped from Vegas or other whimsical origination points. The owners hate to look at them with wrinkles in them since it is magnified by the glossy chrome papers.

The fiber based papers you are referring to are heavy art papers in the 325g to 600g range. Those papers need no mounting and should not be mounted. The glitzy high gloss photos on Chrome papers are about as thick as single ply toilet paper. I mounted one yesterday for a photographer that has been published numerous times. Adirondack Chairs with palm trees overlooking the ocean.
 
Luke D. said:
Sometimes it looks perfect and then the temperature or humidity changes, and then it gets wavy...
Click to expand...

I had never considered a solution to this, but thinking about it, I'm going to do a test on my own print by spraying the back to seal the paper. Obviously that's where the problem begins.
 
Rebecca makes good sense here. If a photo is in good condition when it is framed, then its condition should remain the same, so long as it is properly attached to a backing by hinges or edge supports, matted, closed up in a tightly-sealed frame, and kept away from hostile environments.

Probably the most common failing is too-tight fitting, which would restrict normal expansion/contraction of the substrate under the mat.

Jeff Rodier said:
... I have a ton of high end CibaChrome, IlfaChrome and Platinum photos come in and they look like carp...
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Are you saying you dry mount Cibachrome and Ilfochrome photos, or are you lamenting that you shouldn't? If you dry mount them, what substrate/adhesive/overlay/press combination do you use that does not produce orange peel on those wet-look surface textures?

According to several experts, the best way to mount these plastic substrate photos is by static cling to a sheet of acrylic, supplemented by top edge hinges or a sinkmount cut into the masking.
 
International Paper Brand Heat Activated Foam Core. Release sheet over the photo, smooth white matboard over the release paper, 500TX at 165 for 1 minute. The mat board needs to be heated in the press prior to the process. The mounted photos look good but the unmounted look like carp.
 
Jim Miller said:
According to several experts, the best way to mount these plastic substrate photos is by static cling to a sheet of acrylic, supplemented by top edge hinges or a sinkmount cut into the masking.
Click to expand...

Static mounts look good for a minute then the static changes and you might as well just hinge the things. When I have an Uber Particular photographer bring one in I tell them to send it back to the processor to have it mounted the way they should have in the first place. They cry that it costs a thousand dollars to mount and ship a 60 inch print. I tell them they should also clean all of the photographers fingerprints off of the print while it is being mounted.
 
Jim Miller said:
How do you clean fingerprints off a Cibachrome or Ilfochrome?
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Return it to the lab. My guess is that they make a new print. Mounting of these things properly can ONLY be done in a clean room. Many processors have the ability to produce one but very few possess the facility to properly mount it. They are expensive to print but much more expensive to properly mount which is the only reason the photographers don't have them mounted by the lab.

Consumers don't like the waves, ripples or bubbles when they are unmounted. Rarely do any of us see a museum quality photo. We see a piece that the consumer wants to enjoy and will never be worth more than the cost of printing.
 
I would recommend Kool Tack or Preserve.
Kool Tack can be done on regular foamboard or acid free.
Preserve is totally reversible.
You can got to the Kool Tack website and find a
distributor close to you.
 
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