Flatening

Information on shipping, storing and repairing your art, plus your reviews on products for art collecting, making, storing, etc..
smittynm
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Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:22 pm

Real Noob question here....

Many of the posters I have are still in tubes, several for 1+ yrs, and am getting ready to frame and/ or store properly. I was wondering what are some of the better ways to flatten them, and about how long does his take.

Thanks for any and all help...
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sunsetbrew
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Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:27 pm

books work well. not too many at the same time and cover a little pf the surface as needed and buffer with a plain paper in between.
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grande_mono
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Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:55 pm

smittynm wrote:Real Noob question here....
and about how long does his take.
depends on :
1) how long they have been in the tube
2)how large a diameter the tube has, the bigger the tube the less time it normally takes
3)how think the paper is, the thicker the paper the longer it will take
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morst
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Fri Oct 01, 2004 5:39 pm

sunsetbrew wrote:books work well. not too many at the same time and cover a little pf the surface as needed and buffer with a plain paper in between.
the heavier the books the faster it will go.

also, i think it depends on paper humidity. . but I do not know HOW.

let us know how it goes.. .I often need several years to press posters truly flat. .

I have also heard that a framing store can use their vacuum press to flatten things but I would be VERY CAREFUL and specific with them and DO NOT LET THEM VACUUM MOUNT anything to matte board. . . that is called DRY MOUNTING and, although it will certainly flatten things, it is destructive and not reversible. All archival techniques should be 100% reversible, and dry mounting is not. . but I digress. . the vacuum machine might be able to flatten things without any foreign materials being added. .

MORE RESEARCH is needed!
:roll:
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smittynm
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Thu Oct 07, 2004 3:59 pm

I was thinking of using 2 acid free mats, kind of like a press. Possibly placing acid free paper over the image side of the print. Is this a no-no? It seems like it may work the quickest.....??? Any thoughts, comments ???
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watersbrad
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Thu Oct 07, 2004 4:41 pm

smittynm wrote:I was thinking of using 2 acid free mats, kind of like a press. Possibly placing acid free paper over the image side of the print. Is this a no-no? It seems like it may work the quickest.....??? Any thoughts, comments ???
That would work too, you can lay books on top of the mattes (which are on top of the prints). Just be careful that the mattes are 100% archival and not "buffered". Or you can just use foam core with weight on top of the foam core.
piemel
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Thu Oct 07, 2004 6:41 pm

quickest... roll the poster against the curl
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watersbrad
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Fri Oct 08, 2004 1:29 am

piemel wrote:quickest... roll the poster against the curl
Just be careful about creasing when you're working the edges. Always handle the paper in two spots or you might get an indentation/stress crease in the middle.
smittynm
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Fri Oct 08, 2004 11:09 am

Got two large foam core mats the other day and will go this route. I am concerned that if I try to roll against the surl that I may end up creaseing the print... Thanks for all the advice and comments
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mmotorcycle
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Sun Oct 10, 2004 9:03 am

I found a bunch of coop posters recently that I rolled up in around 1995 or so and I just stuck them in a portfolio with a bunch of other posters and they flatten out pretty well after just a little while.
I'm not really poster freaky like SOME people though. I don't care that much. I hang the ones that I like with alligator clips on my wall in my office covering old ones. They are 5 to 8 deep in some places. :lol:
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ercodeblue
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Sun Oct 10, 2004 5:39 pm

Lest we not forget....these are posters.....not the ebola virus.
piemel
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Sun Oct 10, 2004 6:44 pm

xoxo
Last edited by piemel on Thu Nov 25, 2004 1:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
ercodeblue
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Sun Oct 10, 2004 7:38 pm

But if they use the ebola virus to in the ink you could end up exsanguinating from your ass and mouth.
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marshhouse
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Sun Oct 10, 2004 9:32 pm

piemel wrote:though paper is an organic material, you have to realize that it consists of nothing more the fibers... thousands of little strands of fibers... once you roll paper it will affect some of the fibers BUT the paper will not deteriorate over time... in other words you can leave a poster as long as you want in a tube.... it will have no effect. The issue that you DO want to take into consideration is acid transfer if the poster is stored in a highly acidic tube... but even for that I have no worries as acid transfer is something I havent seen happen yet and probably takes YEARS... even then, the current papers used are such high quality that I doubt you'll notice any difference at all if you keep a contemporary rock poster in a brown tube for 10 years

it is very easy to get too anal about this stuff... plus remember, the people that scream at you to protect your posters are usually the ones that sell mylar or poly sleeves
Isn't there an issue with "ink crinkle" or something to that effect? It's where the print developes cracks and stuff.

I thought I read something about it someplace......maybe a mylar site.
drowningcreek
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Mon Oct 11, 2004 11:36 am

I would not recommend reverse rolling. It can and will cause creases with certain papers, and inks. Especially if the ink is thick, or if the paper has absorbed a lot of humidity and has lost some of its rigidity. And it only takes one slip to fark up a print.

I've got some prints that have been rolled for a while here. I'm going to try a few different methods with them to see what works best with little harm. I'll post the results here.

I do not sell mylar sleeves, either.
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