Digital BW, The Print

I use commercial spray fixatives to help the pigments stick on the paper and
make them more resistant to scuffing.  It really seems to work well.  (Some
one asked about these recently, but I forgot who -- sorry.)

My interest in these sprays is due, in part, the de facto endorsement of the
products by Ross Merrill, Chief of Conservation at the U.S. National Gallery
of Art (at least in 1997) in Washington D.C.  In a 1997 speech regarding
pastel conservation he said as follows regarding fixatives:

"Today there are a number of alternatives. Krylon Acrylic Varnish B72 is
used by conservators. This product will remain unchanged for 400 years, but
does have a tendency to saturate the surface. Grumbacher B77 varnish or
"tough film" is the same as B72, but will not saturate. Krylon workable
fixative and Sennelier fixative are both good products. One should stay away
from Grumbacher's "blue label" fixative." See
<http://www.bmi.net/knapp/iapsmerrill.html>

He was basically saying that any pastel that was bought by a museum would be
sprayed with one of these fixatives to avoid the pastel from being damaged.
It occurred to me the our pigments may not be much different.

Rolm & Haas's Paraloid B72 is very well accepted in the conservation and
preservation industry.  It has apparently been used by major world galleries
to coat old masters for about 40 years with good success.  The only spray
version of it that seems to be available now is Lascaux's Fixativ.  This is
a rather expensive and hard to find product.

The Krylon B72 is gone.  I suspect when the company was acquired, the new
parent decided to stop paying royalties and came out with it's own
formula -- the Krylon Kamar.  This is supposed to be archival and
non-yellowing, but Krylon will not give any specific information.  So ...

I recently found that the Grumbacher B77, know as "Tuffilm" is readily
available at art stores and fairly cheap.  So, I'm going to try this product
next.

With these products my goal is to have no visible change in the print.
Three very light coats may be all that can be done before the dynamic range
actually starts to decrease.  So, these products are not for getting a
better dmax.  Also, don't expect a washable surface.  They are still
sensitive.  However, the snapshots that have been had fingers all over them
and been of the refrigerator for months still look perfect.  So, the
toughness of the surface has clearly been improved.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com