Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Steve Kale <
stevekale@b...> wrote:
Does anyone know the rating of
> archival matt board (on its own) - I could not find info on Nielsen
&
> Bainbridge1s site. 
 
AFAIK, the  "archivalness" of matt board is not lifetime-rated by
monitoring some continuously changing variable  (such as done in
tests for 
image fading or color-shifting). Matt board quality is a matter of
the material's 
tendency to damage (or rather to 
_not _ damage) the print beneath it, which is implied by ther board's 
composition and pH.  Hence, the "archival" rating tends to be sort of
a "go, no 
go" situation, determined by the board's having (initially) a neutral
pH and a 
fiber type that has stability against decomposition and pH change
(non-lignin, 
rag composition being good). I supppose that  the so-called
"buffered" matt
boards have some limited capacity to neutralize acid components from 
decomposition or air-borne contamination, and so the 
matt's capacity to do that could diminish over some period of
time--depending on the environment, etc. 
Beyond that, I would expect that the practical lifetime of good,
museum-quality matte will be limited by damage done to it--like
abrasions, 
gouges, yellowing, fingerprints, etc. 
All of these will tend to be accelerated when there's no glazing
used. The use of a protective spray on the matte is an interesting
idea, but I 
have doubts that it can be effective when applied to such a porous 
(absorptive) material.
BTW, Steve, I hope you won't take offense at my saying that the
framing costs 
you mentioned seem rather high (although I'm sure your framers do a
nice 
job). However many (like myself) find it
to be a simple matter to produce print framing _with_ glazing using
excellent
quality matting and mounting (employing aluminium channel frames )
for just 
a _small_ fraction of what you're  paying for mounting with
_unglazed_ 
framing.  It requires a modest-size workspace (kitchen table?) and
acquiring some skill (pretty easy) using an inexpensive matt-cutter,
etc. Do I 
understand correctly that your framers are actually  stapling the
print mount to the print frame? Why, I wonder? That, and the use of
edge-
taping seem questionable, IMO, especially considering that the face
of the 
print is essentially unprotected (i.e., no glazing is being used). 
Of course,
if a custom-cut wood frame is what you demand, then you must pay the
piper, 
I guess.

Phil


>What if the matt is also sprayed with PrintShield? (I
> currently spray the front matt but not the sheet that sits between
the back
> of the print and the backing board.)
>