mounting questions Blue prints

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DawnStendin

DawnStendin

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Sep 13, 2006
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Spokane, WA
I have a couple of blue prints (copies) to frame. Do not want them permanently mounted so Im trying to decide what mounting method to use...they are both rather large...about 38 x 40. They have been rolled but are not creased or wrinkled. My preferred method is strips as I like how most art lays in the frame with these...but perhaps for this large and thin paper hinging might be best. Single mat with about 1/2 inch covering the edge. Any suggestions what works best with large thin papers? thanks
 
"Blue print" long ago became a generic term referring to several types of drawing reproductions, most of which were (are) very heat sensitive. Some of them actually turn solid blue (or green, or black, as the case may be) when heat is applied. Be careful -- you are wise to avoid heat, I think.

I would probably hinge them, unless the paper is too deteriorated and fragile to support itself that way. And in that case I would suggest edge strips. And if the paper is very fragile, very wrinkled, and very valueable, a fine-mesh fabric overlay would be least invasive, most supportive, and shows the edges.
 
I second the heat-sensitive part! In a former life, I used to print blue-prints in a large, windowless room. Now and again, one of the architects would leave a blue-print out in the wrong area (conference room in late afternoon by the window, for example), and part of it would either turn all blue, or fade to white.

Of course, the whole blue-print technique may have improved in the last 20 years....
 
Dawn, the only way you should really frame blue prints is if they are being hung in a room with no windows and where they never turn on any lighting ...in otherwards, blueprints should be kept in the dark because they will fade in no time even with UV glass protection.

These prints were intended to be working drawings during the construction phase and were not meant to last.

What I do if I have blue or white prints or blackline drawings to frame is have a xerographic copy made with toner and frame the copy. Put the originals in a capped tube or flat file so they don't see the light of day if you want to preserve them.

Dave Makielski
 
Dawn ...I probably should have given you a little more information than I did on my last post ...sorry, I got interupted midway through.

Blueprints or whiteline drawings are the older style with a blue background and white lines for the illustrations. Whiteprints or blueline drawings are the more recent drawings with a blue background and white lines. We actually call both of them incorrectly but acceptably ""blueprints", which is a holdover from the times before they reversed the drawings onto a white background.

Blueline paper is extremely UV sensitive and is exposed by making a contact print of the original drawings or a blackline print. Exposure is for a very brief period of time under a UV light and then developed by passing it by ammonia fumes. When you order blueprint papers they are shipped in lightfast black thick plastic that is both opaque and airtight.

Regular photographic processes use an acid bath fixer to arrest development and are relatively lightfast compared to the continuing exposure and development process that takes place when a blueprint is left out in the light and exposed to the natural small amount of ammonia that is present in the atmosphere.

How long will it take to notice fading? It can vary greatly. I've seen blueprints in the sun fade away in a matter of a day or two. Where heat comes into the process is that heat speeds up the chemical reaction and hastens the fading process.

Make sure the customer understands that framing any blueprint is not what you want to do to preserve the document to last for any great length of time. If your customer wants the image to be as close as possible a good digital imaging center should be able to reproduce it with more light friendly materials.

There are very few blueprints made now as reprographic shops have converted over to xerographic or electrstatic reproduction processes and there may be even newer technologies that have developed since I sold the products and did reprographic services.

Dave Makielski
 
Dave said:
...These prints were intended to be working drawings during the construction phase and were not meant to last.

What I do if I have blue or white prints or blackline drawings to frame is have a xerographic copy made with toner and frame the copy....Dave Makielski
Click to expand...

This is like the self-destructive character of newspaper. Dave's suggestion of making a copy is probably the best way to go.
 
they are copies

Hi, thanks for all the advice. I think some of you missed the part where I said they were copies in my first post. Nonetheless, I learned a ton should the real deal ever walk in the door. So, unless I missed something you generally think hinging is the way to go on these...they are new copies in good shape. Thanks again.
 
Ahh, I thought you meant they were "copies" as in two prints of the blue-prints had been made. Didn't realize they were "copies" as in not a blue-print but an image of one.
 
Dawn, I can't help but laugh out loud over this. This was a classic case of Dave giving TMI!

So all the good advice you received about how to treat them in the frame package is what you needed.



Just a thought ...

The copies you have are copies of a copy because the blueprints were copies of the original drawings.

Copy that?

:icon21:

Dave Makielski
 
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