Digital BW, The Print

Hello Steve,

Welcome to the forum.

>hi, i'm new here. it seems to me that the best way to archive frame 
>an inkjet print is to use those little plastic corners that 
>self-stick to a mounting board. is that right?

That is one way to do it, but it has two disadvantages.  First, when
the print is attached to the backing board (however the attachment is
done), it must be precisely placed so that it is properly positioned
in the window mat opening.  This requires great care and takes more
time.  A much quicker and easier way is to hinge the top of the print
to the underside of the window mat using acid free hinging tape.  It
can be done quickly and ensures that the print will always be properly
positioned.  The window mat is then hinged to the backing board in the
usual manner.  This arrangement still allows lifting the window mat
and inspecting the print, including it's hidden edges.

For hinging tape I like the self-adhesive acid free linen hinging tape
made by Lineco, Inc.  It has a peel-off paper backing and comes in
several widths.  It can be purchased on-line from various sources,
just Google it.  They also make a linen hinging "tissue", which is
extremely thin.  It's harder to work with and not as strong, but is so
thin it's translucent and nearly invisible.  I use it for very small
prints.

The second disadvantage of corners is that, depending on the width of
the print border, the plastic corner may be close enough to the window
mat opening to raise the edge and create an unsightly bulge.


>if so, the next thing is, i should be leaving at least a 1" border 
>of paper around my print so that the corners don't come in contact 
>with the printed ink. 

I like to leave as large a border as possible.  One reason is that it
keeps the hinging tape further away from the image area.  It also
allows a comfortable "reveal" around the image.  I use up to 3/8" on
11x14 prints with 4-ply matt board.   It looks just like the float
mount technique of dry mounted silver prints and has the advantage of
keeping the signature on the print, rather than the backing board. 


>now basically when assembling a frame, matt and mounting board, 
>these things are just sandwiched together without any special 
>gluing or sealing?

Other than hinging the window mat to the backing board, I use nothing
else.  I suppose if it's going directly into a frame even that isn't
necessary.  But I more often sell the matted print in a sleeve
unframed, and I want it to hold together when people pull it out to
look at it.

A final thought - some people prefer to use the corners, in spite of
all the above, because they don't want to put hinging tape on the
print.  Seems to me that the tape would only become an issue if
someone wanted to remove the print from the mat for some reason.  At
that point the choice would be to peel off the tape and leave a rough
surface, or cut the tape at the edge and leave the remainder on the
back edge of the print.  This is just personal preference of course -
you'll have to make up your own mind on that one.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Clayton


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