Frans, I use the photo corner mounts for everything these days. "Light Impressions" has them in a couple of sizes.

Frans, I use an acid-free photo mount spray on both foam board and print, then join them with pressure using a hard rubber roller (cover with a towel first). The spray drys quickly and doesn't bleed through.

Ronk,

How do those corner mounts work for you for large prints like a 12x36" panorama printed on roll paper? I would think that they would not provide enough anchoring for the rather curly paper. I've also seen even small photos like 6x16" dislodge from the corners when packaged in clear bags like you see them in photo galleries.

Frans Waterlander
pixographer

Bill,

I'm just wondering how you can get any larger photo, say a 12x36" panorama, lined up exactly where you need it to be on the mounting board when both the photo and the board are sticky with adhesive? How do you prevent adhesive from getting on the wrong side of the photo, how do you prevent air bubbles? To me this is the stuff that nightmares are made of and is the reason that dry mount presses were invented. If only the Epson coated papers would work well with dry mount presses!
Also, what brand of spray do you use and where do you buy it?

Frans Waterlander
pixographer

Frans, the largest print that I have mounted is 16x20; the corners seem to work well when the photo is framed.

Frans,

The spray is 3M Photo Mount spray, which is pH neutral. It's available at most art supply stores like Michaels, and I think I've even found it at Home Depot.

The technique can be tricky, especially with larger prints. I have a small table set up for this, which I cover with butcher paper and then place a 3-sided spray screen made of taped-up cardboard on top of the paper at the table edges. I lay both the foam board and the print (face down, of course) on the table, and spray both simultaneously. Then, I take the print and lay it face down in my Logan mat cutter frame, using the cutter rails as a jig. The foam board goes down next. The combo goes next to my drafting table, where I cover it with a clean towel and roller it several times with a hard rubber roller. Then I set it aside to dry for about 24 hours. Incidentally, I place an old, clean mat board, cut to size, in the cutter frame first, to protect the face of the print.

Placing the print down first is critical, since it tends to flop around too much for accurate positioning and that's where accidental mis-alignment comes from (been there, done that, bought the T-shirt). The rigid foam board is a lot easier to maneuver into position, but care is still needed there.

If you don't have a mat cutter, you can make a simple jig out of wood that should work fine (make sure the rails are exactly at 90 degrees).

Using this method, I've never had a problem with spray getting on the front of the print. Even if it did, it would only be on the edges, and I always mat my prints, anyway.

Needless to say, you'll want to change the butcher paper, or turn it over for one more use, before the next spray job.

Hope this helps. All I can say is that it works for me!

Bill,

Thanks for taking the time to try to educate this dummie. I don't understand how you can align the photo with the mounting board if the photo is on the bottom, face down. It only makes sense to me if the photo and board are of the same size. If the photo is smaller than the board (which it is always in my case because of the mat border) then I don't understand how you can align things. Am I missing something here?

Frans Waterlande
pixographer

Sorry, Frans. I was assuming the print media and foam board to be the same size. (There's an old saying about the word "assume" which I'm sure you know, so I won't repeat it here.)

When the print size is smaller than the backing, I kind of work in reverse: First, I attach the print to the mat. This is done with the print face up on a clean work surface, using acid-free mounting tape under the corners. Then, lower the mat onto the print in the correct orientation (gets easier with practice) and press gently at the corners so the tape joins the mat backside. For larger prints (16X20 or larger) I'll turn the assembly over and add more tape on the sides. Not a lot of tape is needed, and leave it sort of loose to allow some shifting of the print during the roller process later. (BTW, I always cut my mats to allow for about 2mm overlap on the image all the way around.)

Now you have a print/mat assembly and your foam board backing at the same size, and you can do the spraying and mounting as I described before.

How does that sound?

I have just received thr new Light Impressions catalogue. On p42 are 2 tape products that are archival and seem to work nicely for the long pano prints.

Bill and Ronk,

Thanks for your feedback. I now understand how you align a photo when you use spray adhesive and a mat. Using spray adhesive for anything really large still seems pretty messy to me.
I found another solution to my problem. Epson has 17" wide rolls of Enhanced Matte Paper, my favorite Epson paper. It is also about 1/3 the price of the 13" wide coated paper for the same length. So, I will buy 17" wide rolls of matte paper, cut it down to size with my photo and/or mat cutter, save a bundle and get the paper characteristics I really want.

Frans Waterlander
pixographer

Glad you found a solution, Frans, but.....what's wrong with messy?