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September, 2006
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Over the course of the past year, we have been lucky enough to print many custom large format posters and displays for museums and traveling exhibits.
This past spring and summer we had been doing ongoing Digital C Prints and Duratrans signage for a traveling display for Reptiland, which is a traveling display of Reptiles that goes from museum to musem and this summer was at The Museum of Natural History, here in New York City.
Over a few month span last winter we had printed similar images but with insects for the Staten Island Children’s Musem.
All in all doing this type of printing is rewarding, but knowing that children and their parents really get to enjoy them and learn from these types of applications is it’s own reward.
If you have a project like this, please contact Dan Morse.
Filed under: Proofs, Products, Design, Education, File Preparation, Technology, Digital C Print on September 15th, 2006
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There has been an interesting surge of interest (is that redundant?) amongst our customers regarding the process of face-mounting (also known as “second surface mounting”) digital prints to plexiglass or acrylic equivalents.
FYI, digital c print is the generic name for Lamba, Chromeira and Light-jet prints (among other trade names for digitally recording images onto photographic media)
it’s apparently become an extremely popular means of preserving and displaying photographic or any digitally printed artwork—one might go as far as to call it a fad! That is where the REALLY interesting part comes in….(okay, I need a life-but bare with me).
Face-mounting film or prints to plexiglass as a finishing process, in the world of commercial large format imaging, has existed for years. It has been used most commonly for sandwiching duratrans or duraclear prints for installation in backlit display situations, such as lightboxes (you’ve seen them everywhere forever—bus shelters, airports, museums, stores, etc.). Why has it suddenly taken off as a popular finish for artists and photographers? Because it looks VERY cool when used with opaque prints as well, and it’s a good means of protecting and displaying artwork as well.
If applied properly (no bubbles,no dust, no hairs, no sandwich bits), face-mounting to plexiglass provides a very rich, clean and visually striking means of showcasing your imagery (be certain your lab uses a high-grade “archival” adhesive like Optimount Ultra to prevent acid decay). Typically, a backing is also used to protect the rear of the print and to facilitate display mounting (you can attach them to a wall without damaging the back of the print).
Backing substrates can be as simple and inexpensive as illustration board on the low end, plexiglass or sintra on the medium side and aluminum or other metallic composites on the high-end. Don’t get too carried away here though, as the backing adds weight which will increase shipping costs and even rip out large sections of your dry wall, yuk-yuk.
After snooping around and checking out some of the relevant blog sites which are great sources of real world information and feedback (www.largeformatphotography.info and www.photos.net), it seems that the only explanation I could find to describe the face mounting process is that it is basically the same process as traditional face-mounting to plexi: Print, clear glue plus plexiglass, except they guarantee that it will be very clean and dust free (as any good lab should be able to do, if you ask me-I didn’t know you could patent cleanliness, otherwise my Mom would’ve been rich!)
If anyone out there wants to knows more about this mysterious process, feel free to e-mail me at dmorse@printpromotion.com.
I’d also be curious to know who started adapting this process as an artistic vehicle, as it is indeed a very cool twist on the old.
Thanks for baring with me…
Cheers!
Dan
Filed under: Proofs, Questions about active job or job status, Products, Design, Education, Technology, Digital C Print on September 14th, 2006
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This is a special production method is used to glue the Photo, the production process. In this way the image is protected against scratching, dirt and premature aging. A unique way to preserve photographs and for the presentation of photographs in a museum or gallery environment.
People mainly want it because it looks great by adding a dimension to your photography based or digitally mastered graphic artwork and preserves the image at the same time. The mounting process to a thick material gives the appearance of a museum or shadow box.
While standard framing provides great flexibility, by choice of materials and colours of frame and overmat, to optimally match a picture to your home decor, face-mounting behind plexiglass (acrylic glass) is by far the most impressive way of presenting a photograph.
This technique has only recently gained wide acceptance among museums and art galleries. Mainly because it seems to add a third dimension to the two-dimensional image and provides a brilliance and intensity unobtainable by any standard framing.
Process Production technique:
The end product contains mainly three parts:
*A digitally printed photograph,
*A 100% clear adhesive
*1/4” piece of plexiglass or other acrylic glass.
This production technique involves a digital C print or a permanently elastic, smooth fusion of paper print and acrylic glass. By using a special adhesive, an airtight bond is created with no air bubbles, fixing the print with its front side to the back of UV-resistant acrylic glass or plexi-glass.
By directly gluing the front side of the photograph to the back of a sheet of plexiglass, any light reflections between the photograph and the glazing of an ordinary frame is eliminated, thus increasing image sharpness, contrast, and colour saturation.
When light penetrates the layer of acrylic glass, the light reflection on the print’s surface is completely different from the effect when a print is framed with a passe-partout and ordinary glass. With this unique production method the diffusion of light diminishes because of the homogenous quality of acrylic glass. As a result the colours seem sharper, more brilliant, more intense and more immediate.
The assembly of plexiglass, photograph and protective back layer is attached to a recessed aluminium frame which serves as a spacer between picture and wall, providing the impression of the photograph to be hanging in the air.
Although face-mounting provides a spectacular way of presenting photographs, it’s virtually not more expensive than “classic” framing using window mount and a good wooden or metal frame.
Filed under: Uncategorized, Products, Design, Education, Technology, Digital C Print on September 14th, 2006