Digital BW, The Print

Joost,

Matte fine art prints coat very well with Breathing Color Glamour II
coating, which gives them a little extra "pop" and Dmax in the
process.  Glamour II is ultra thick and needs to be diluted.  If you
roll it on, you will need to dilute it about 25% to 30% with water
before applying.  Warning....it will probably cause some waviness and
curl in your matte fine art prints, but if you plan to mount them it
may not be a problem.  I use an HVLP spray gun on those prints I
spray, and this applies the coating more evenly without the curling
problem.  When spraying, I dilute to Glamour II half and half with
water.  Dries quickly too.  

I found it very interesting that very often, coated matte fine art
papers look better than uncoated ones.  They have more snap and
presence, perhaps due to the coating laying over the top of the ink. 
BUT....when those same two prints are put behind glass, I usually find
the uncoated print looks better than the coated one.  Go figure.

So, if you want the extra protection and like the results from
coating, I'd recommend the Glamour II applied with a spray gun.  Of
course, it is cheaper to try rolling it first to see if you like the
look.  Coated prints provide protection against fingerprints, UV,
sampness and other environmental factors.  You can even wipe them with
a damp sponge if you have a substantial enough coating.  (not that I
recommend doing this).    

The Glamour II comes in both matte and gloss versions, and you can mix
them in any combination to go from matte, to gloss, or anywhere in
between.  I personally like a mix in the 50/50 vicinity, +/- about 15%
either way.  Generally, I only coat canvas, which remains exposed to
the environment, but have experimented with matte fine art prints,
mostly out of curiosity.

Of course, you can also buy canned sprays (Krylon, PremierArt
Printshield, Lyson Print Guard, etc, and try them).  Cheaper if you
don't have a spray gun and don't have too many prints to coat.  I'd
experiment with the cheap solutions first.  

Lou



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Joost Horsten"
<j.h.j.h@...> wrote:
>
> In a few months I have an exhibition that would benefit from 
> displaying the photos unframed. I plan to stick the photos on 
> foamboard or plywood. But there's no way that my favorite Photorag 
> will survive the several weeks of the exhibition if left totally 
> unprotected. So either I need to apply some kind of coating or I need 
> to divert to another paper. 
> 
> So my questions are:
> 
> 1) Any chance a coating would suffice? And if so, would would work? 
> What I have at hand is acrylic paint base (tough, waterproof and 
> archival) including a means to apply an acrylic matte surface 
> coating. But I'm happy to invest in something that's better suited.
> 
> 2) What matte paper would be tough enough to decently survive and 
> still good enough for fine art? I'm willing to accept if I can't use 
> fibre based paper and have to use some kind of synthetic/RC paper. 
> But it should be matte.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Joost
>