Mounting printed photos

[pierrebo]

Hello all. I'm new to this forum and the few searches I made got me more confused! I am a woodworker and photographer and I have many photos I want to mount on a rigid backing. I am looking for the best backing material (masonite, ACM, ???) as well as ideal adhesive product to use. I have all the tools necessary to cut material, and I am open to buy a small vacuum press that I could also use for other woodworking projects. What do you recommend?

 

[Mary Beth van der Horst]

It's all going to be a balance of cost and longevity.

On the low end, there is foamcore of many flavors. For mounting photos, self adhesive or heat activated adhesive board is super convenient. I use mountcor with a heatpress quite often. Strong adhesion, low cost/footprint and with a clam-shell press, you can mount a really big print in bites if necessary. Of course, foamcore is easily bent and dented, so this would be most appropriate for framing with glazing for protection. If you opt for a heated vacuum press instead, it would need to be as big as the largest thing you plan to mount, as it doesn't have the capacity to do things in bites.

Masonite is a popular substrate in Europe. I'm dubious due to it being wood-based, so I would suggest the need to seal it before using adhesive or else it could potentially leak acids into your print long-term, but it's certainly a more rigid, less dentable substrate.

ACM is kindof a gold standard. It can be hard to cut and obviously costs more, but Aluminum is not going to rust on you and doesn't have acids to degrade your artwork. I'm not an expert to ask about adhesives with this, as I don't have a way to cut it, so I just use foamcore in house.

I would imagine that wet adhesives would work with rigid panels, but porous drymounting tissue may also be a great way to mount photos to Masonite/ACM with a heat press. With drymounting tissues, you just have to make sure there is a way for air to escape to avoid bubbles--films come in porous and non-porous varieties, and same goes for the various substrates and photo papers. Make sure if you are using a solid panel like ACM, the tissue and photo paper are breathable. That's one more reason I like MountCor--the foamcore and adhesive have tiny little holes to allow for air to escape so I don't have to think about the properties of whatever I'm mounting as critically.

 

[wpfay]

Cautionary note: ACM panels have a solid polypropylene core and are not suitable for high temperature dry mounting.
Normally ACM is used with cold mounting roller presses.

The Competition Plates from Kool Tack are ACM with a low heat activated adhesive applied.
https://www.kooltack.com/products/kool-tack-products/ Kool Tack Products | KoolTack (Scroll down).

Masonite has issues besides the acidity. The bonding agent is a formaldehyde based glue.

But, you are the artist, so you can do as you see fit. You also can easily reproduce the image should something go wrong with a mounting technique.

If you are planning on matting these and installing in frames with glass or acrylic, the coated mount boards like MountCor and Kool Tack work very well. Old school technologies with dry mount film or tissues and smooth rigid substrates, 4 or 8-ply rag board, work well too.

Another cautionary note: Stay away from spray adhesives. They are all bad for your health and don't do what they were designed to do especially well.

 

[Prospero]

Generally, matboard is as good as anything for mounting photos up to a certain size. For big stuff you can
beef it up by using two layers which also gives it more stability as the board in the center is not exposed to
the atmosphere so won't tend to curl and therefore supports the outside layer to some extent in humid conditions.
Fair enough, you are using double the materials but it makes a good job of it.

* A note on Hardboard/Masonite/MDF. Yes, it is loaded with nasty stuff but I still have some prints that I laminated on
hardboard way back when and they are still as good as they were when they came out of the press nigh-on 40 years ago.

 

[pierrebo]

Thanks for your responses! If I may add a question: Once mounted, since I do not plan to put protective glass, do you use something to protect the printed photograph once mounted?

 

[Finest Fabric]

Consider Sintra board (extruded PVC), its been used for years for
higher end photo mounting

 

[Nikodeumus]

This comes up somewhat frequently.
"I have prints, now what's the" best" way to deal with them? "
Then list factors that limit your options.
Size, print media, framing restrictions, etc.
It is better to determine your specific critteria for display, then have your images created in a method that meets your specific requirements.

There are plenty of options for having images printed on all kinds of substrates, with a wide range of surface treatments that would fulfill your needs.

Direct print on Sinatra and other strong lightweight and durable substrates, with or without a laminated or liquid surface proctectant will answer your two main stated concerns, rigidity and no glazing.

Specialty print shops and sign shops in your area likely provide these services.

Look around your local shops to see what print products they offer. You may find that a standard RC photo print isn't "the best" way to start the process.

If you prefer to do it yourself, then look into different methods of laminating your photos. Lots of methods. Some are done before mounting to a substrate, some after, some are done in a single process. All require an investment in specialized equipment.

It may be worth saving your creative energy on the photography and woodworking aspects.

 

[Ylva]

Thanks for your responses! If I may add a question: Once mounted, since I do not plan to put protective glass, do you use something to protect the printed photograph once mounted?

None of us would probably ever recommend framing work on paper without glass. There is no way to truly protect it without glass.

 

[wpfay]

I have to add a cautionary note about using Sintra.
It does contract and expand with changes in the environment and I have witnessed damage to photos that were shipped because of this.
A fairly good sized photo, ~24” X 48”, had developed small but very visible undulations in the paper that could only be attributed to the Sintra reacting to environmental changes. Shipped from NYC directly to me for a client.

 

[Nikodeumus]

I have to add a cautionary note about using Sintra.
It does contract and expand with changes in the environment and I have witnessed damage to photos that were shipped because of this.
A fairly good sized photo, ~24” X 48”, had developed small but very visible undulations in the paper that could only be attributed to the Sintra reacting to environmental changes. Shipped from NYC directly to me for a client.

Good to know. I haven't experienced that yet. But also haven't had anything larger than 18x24 done on Sintra.

 

[Corbin Dallas]

Extruded PVC boards like Sintra or Palight are lightweight, durable and convenient but PVC wouldn't be a material you would want to use for artwork of high monetary or personal value. I believe an aluminum composite board like Dibond would be a better option in those cases.

 

[Prospero]

Thanks for your responses! If I may add a question: Once mounted, since I do not plan to put protective glass, do you use something to protect the printed photograph once mounted?

There are films that you can place over them which are heat-activated in the same way as drimount tissue/film.
You can do the whole mounting process in one go. I used to laminate prints this way. I 'cooked' them for 20 minutes or so.
The films can be got in various textures. I used a lot of a heavy canvas textured one to give prints taken from oil paintings
a canvas look. There are gloss versions as well as matt and satin. I should say that I think satin looks better on photos than
gloss as gloss can look very 'orangepeely' depending on the mounting substrate.
It makes them very durable and resistant to atmospheric dirt. You CAN clean them with liquids.
Table mats are made this way.