Dry Mounting and Inkjet Paper

This should really go under “The Gear” but there are no suitable sub-fora. (Thread moved by Asher 08/30/06)

I have an opportunity to purchase a Seal 500T dry mount press. I am just wondering whether there will be any problems using it with inkjet paper. Currently I am using Epson Premium Semigloss (soon to be discontinued, maybe?), Pictorico High Gloss White Film, Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl and Hahnemuehle Photo Rag. Maybe in time I will switch to something like the new Hahnemuehle Fine Art Pearl (though I have not seen it yet).

I found a few posts on the net that indicate that at a temperature of 180degF the 500T should be fine for paper-based media and may be OK for glossy and semigloss RC media (though these may require individual testing)..

Any opinions or experience of the suitability of such a press for this purpose?

Regards,
Murray

Hi,

I'm afraid that I can't speak from personel experience, however there is a good article about framing photos here:

http://www.framedestination.com/infoPage.php?action=display&infoPageId=17

And, on the subject of Dry mounting (nearer the bottom of the article) they have this to say:

"It is generally not recommended for Polaroid and Inkjet prints since both are sensitive to temperature."

Hope that helps,

Tim

Thanks for the link, Tim.

It does show a definite need for caution but other threads I have found indicate that dry mounting inkjet prints is possible in at least some circumstances:

This thread has someone reporting success in dry-mounting from Epson 7600 prints: http://www.photo-video-talk.com/detail-1611144.html and another post in this thread indicates a heat of 180-190degF “should not affect dye or pigment inks”.

This thread http://www.injprint-sign.com.au/newsletter/April_2002_Newsletter.html#5 has a newsletter from 2002 says “Thermal film … is incompatible to some degree with more than half of all inkjet ink and paper combinations. Using thermal laminating on inkjet requires a lot of luck or a lot of attention to identifying ink and paper combinations for your printers that are compatible with thermal film.” But further down it lists materials suitable for dry mounting as “Inkjet graphics printed on uncoated paper” and “Inkjet graphics printed on coated papers (after testing for compatibility)”

There is also a useful series of articles on dry mounting from another site:
http://www.pictureframingmagazine.c...EC01_HOTANDCOLD.pdf#search='seal 500t inkjet'

http://www.pictureframingmagazine.com/pdfs/mastermount/OCT04_DRYMOUNT.pdf

http://www.pictureframingmagazine.com/pdfs/mounting/May98_getstartbas.pdf

http://www.pictureframingmagazine.com/pdfs/mastermount/July98_mechvsvac .pdf

Overall, the articles show that it is definitely possible with particular ink/paper combinations but it is not clear which except perhaps in very general terms. Some of the articles are a bit old so the range of possibilities may have changed. Choice of adhesive material to allow lower temperature bonding is likely to be relevant and the printer used may be relevant as well (I have an Epson R1800).

Regards,
Murray

Hi Murray,


http://www.pictureframingmagazine.com/pdfs/mastermount/jun03_dpmastermtng.pdf

gives a temperature test for Ilford and mentions a low temperature film. Maybe email the author, who has probably more test data.

Best wishes,

Murray:
A few months ago I bought a 26x34" press for a hundred bucks. I couldn't pass it up since it takes two big guys to lift it. I figure the scrap value is worth more than I paid.

I'm using Bienfang Fusion 4000, which is a pure adhesive (no paper), to mount HP Premium Satin photo paper to foam board. It works just fine with no apparent damage to the print.

This HP photo paper, printed on my HP 130, has a swellable polymer surface and strikes me as being rather delicate. It certainly is sensitive to water and even when dry has a slight gooey feel, but perhaps that's because I live on the Gulf Coast of the U.S.

Because the paper surface is subject to damage, HP puts a plastic coating on the back covered with tiny little bumps so that subsequent prints don't damage the others as they stack up on the printer output tray. It's something like a miniature surface of a curling rink.

I have had poor results using several mounting sprays and I suspect it's this coating causing the problems. That's the main reason I've gone to hot mounting, and since then I've had no problems; however, I've only been doing this for about 4 months. On the other hand, my testing reveals a real tendency for the paper to stick to the foam board and once the adhesive is cool there is no getting them apart, that's for sure.

I've also successfully mounted prints made on heavy weight matte paper.

I think the heat sensitivity of other paper and ink combinations could be a real toss up, which is why I mount my prints but I'd never dream of mounting a print belonging to a customer, especially for fifteen or twenty bucks. It just isn't worth the worry for me. But with my own stuff I can experiment with an old printer calibration print and if need be, reprint as necessary.

Good luck.

Bob

Ray

Thanks for that link. I'd missed that one and it does contain some very useful and specifically relevant information.

Bob

Thanks for the feedback. I'm essentially an amateur fine art photographer so I don't have any mounting tasks for customers to worry about. It's not something I've ever done but I think it's clearly going to be worth my while to get the dry mount press and see how well I can get it to work with different papers. It also comes with dry mounting film and silicon release paper and if I'm really lucky that might be suitable for my prints.

Regards,
Murray

I use a dry mount press on Ilford paper with Canon dye inks. I have noticed that there is a very slight green shift - but that can only be seen when comparing prints side-by-side. I have not yet tried to mount images from my Epson 4800.

I do not use "release paper" . I use a sheet of teflon fabric which I have been using since 1975 for silver prints and now for ink prints.

I would like to see people continue to making note of any special precautions or new insights. Include using clear plastic front mounts fused to the print.

Asher

I picked up a Seal 210 dry mounting press off of Ebay a few years back and have been dry mounting my inkjet prints from my 2200 and my 4800 (more recently) ever since. I tend to use mostly matte papers to eliminate any glare behind glass, but have also mounted lustre paper with no ill effects. I use Seal Colormount tissue, and typically a temp of 185 deg F for about 45 seconds to a minute depending on the substrate used. After having a few prints buckle on me using hinge mounting - I am sold that dry mounting is the way to stay.

Mark