Digital BW, The Print

Hello Brian,

>When matting with a reveal so that the mounting method must be
>concealed, how are you folks attaching your prints to the mounting 
>board? Linen tape hinges? Some other method? I'm used to mats which 
>conceal the edges where I can use tape flat right at them margins or 
>acetate corners.

In dry-mounting days, by necessity the prints were fixed to the mount
board.  This required very precise positioning so the reveal would be
even on all sides within the window mat.  Without dry-mounting it
becomes much easier because the print can be attached to the back of
the window mat.  Getting the reveal just right is quick and easy.

I position the print face up under the mat (with the top edge sticking
out over the edge of a table) and fasten it temporarily in place with
two small pieces of white artist's tape (similar to masking tape but
peels off easily without harming the paper) at the two top corners. 
Then I turn it over face down and use two pieces of 1.25" wide linen
tape (just 2 or 3 inches long) at the top of the print.  These are
placed more towards the corners to provide good lateral stability. 
Then the artist's tape is removed.  The print basically hangs from the
top edge and is free to adjust to any dimensional shifts that might
occur from changes in humidity, avoiding possible buckling.  Finally,
I use the linen tape again to hinge the back board to the window mat
(at the top). I trim the print borders enough so the print hinge and
the back board hinge don't overlap.  For smaller prints I use 1" tape.

For both the window mat and back board I use acid free 4-ply board. 
This makes a good supportive "sandwich" which fits very nicely into a
clearbag, neither too thick nor too thin.

I use a self-adhesive acid free linen tape made by Lineco (L533-1015).


Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm
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