Digital BW, The Print

glemasurier wrote:
> Do either Hahnemuhle FineArt Baryta 325 or Gold Fibre Silk need a
> spray sealer to protect the surface? If so, which one do you
> recommend? I'm assuming a solvent spray is best?
Prints on paper destined for a stacking in drawers or display framed 
under glazing don't *need* to be overcoated or laminated. In fact, 
unless done well and throughly dried an overcoating can cause prints to 
stick together when stacked, even to stick to interleaving papers. This 
can be a quick way to destroy lots of prints all at once if you aren't 
exceedingly careful.

But if you decide you *want* to do it anyway, please do it responsibly. 
The volatile organic compounds (VOC) in solvent based sprays are bad for 
both your health (and everyone else's) and for the environment. The VOCs 
are so bad that solvent based paints and inks are being outlawed in most 
countries around the world because of the damage they do. Europe leads 
on this; already in the USA solvent based paints are hard to find. IIRC 
they'll be illegal in a year or two.

What I'm saying is, if you are going to spray, at least use a water 
based spray. HPs gloss optimizer, for example, is water based, as is 
Epson's GLOP. Most popular overcoats are water based. Breathing Color's 
Glamor II, Clear Star's Clear Shield Type C, etc. are water based.
--
Bruce Watson