Topic: Funky ways to display or print photos

[Francois]

I just had this idea while thinking about Indofunk's wood transfers last night while trying to sleep... I know, I should be doing something better when not sleeping but hey! 

So yeah, I got the idea of creating some sort of repository of all the funky ways we can think of for showing off our photos. Since taking and printing photos are one thing, why not extend the fun to how we actually show them? After reading the why we don't print our photos thread, I got thinking that finding ways to display images might be what is stopping many of us from printing. If making the presentation is fun, then it might get us printing more.

I know an archival black mat with a white pinstripe around might look nice, but I'm thinking in terms of different ways of doing things, different ways of printing things. Just get funky with the presentation.

So, to start with I went through my very old stuff and got a frame I made in the early Filmwasters days when one of us was looking for a nice way to present a single Polaroid print.

This is a simple deep frame on which I mounted the Polaroid print. The print is raised off the background by a small piece of foamcore. This gives a nice shadow around the print and since the integral films are so stiff, the print doesn't curl with time.

So what are the fun ways you found to show off your stuff?

[Indofunk]

I just had this idea while thinking about Indofunk's wood transfers last night while trying to sleep... I know, I should be doing something better when not sleeping but hey! 

Don't worry, I tend to keep a lot of people awake at night (mostly because I play loud music )

And just so that it's in this thread as well, here's my "wood transfer" method. First, you print a reversed image on a laser printer (has to be a laser printer and not an inkjet), and then you glue it to a piece of wood using a very generous coating of matte gel. Then after it's completely dry, you very carefully rub off the paper and leave the ink glued to the wood. I usually soak the paper in water multiple times during the hour-long procedure to help rub it off.

An example:

[Adam Doe]

As I mentioned in this thread, http://www.filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=8598.0, I use empty Fuji and Polaroid packs for frames for instant photos.

[jharr]

(has to be a laser printer and not an inkjet)

Is that because the laser print toner is water resitant/proof or does it soak into the matte gel better?

[Indofunk]

(has to be a laser printer and not an inkjet)

Is that because the laser print toner is water resitant/proof or does it soak into the matte gel better?

Laser print ink is "spat onto*" the paper, so it's a powdery coating that can be transferred off of the top of the paper. Inkjet ink is actual liquid and soaks into the paper, so you can't "lift" it off the top with matte gel.

(I think plain glue would work on a laser print just as well, but the dumb YouTube I watched said matte gel so I use it. Maybe the video was made by a matte gel manufacturer)

*technical term

[Francois]

I actually did a transfer with inkjet before for some of my collage work and it will work... sort of. Thing is that the matte medium is water based just like the inkjet, so the whole thing smears like crazy. Laser toner isn't water soluble, so it gives a much nicer, contrastier, sharper print.

[tkmedia]

i wonder if thermal wax prints can be used for something interesting. Ive used MicroDry and Tektronix Phaser printers previously.

[Francois]

This I really don't know. They are quite si ilar to the Canon selphy prints if I remember.
I know I've found more uses so far for the negatives in the cassette than the prints.
You can cut them, sandwich them and get a new image. I tried heat transferring them to regular paper only to discover that the magic lies on special paper and not the film.

[tkmedia]

Canon selphy is a dye sub based and uses rolls with individual CMYK 4 pass printing. What I'm describing is heated melted soild ink and can even print whites and metalic.

[Francois]

I don't know if it's dye based, but mine uses a weird CMY system (no black). The fourth pass is an all over protective layer. I think it's used to seal the image so that it doesn't gather all types of crap on it....

I remember the old Tektronix printers. From what I remember, they used a type of wax to hold the pigments. So maybe heating some scraps would result in something interesting?

[Francois]

OK, so after a very hectic week I tried doing a transfer like Satish. Mine didn't come out as well, but I might have gotten better results if I had put more matte medium.

I had a hard time with the copier at Staples which I discovered automatically enlarges any Jpeg to page size. So note to self, make the canvas the same format as the paper or else you get big images.
Also, I tried removing the bulk of the paper with a kitchen sponge and it worked surprisingly well until I discovered I was stripping the image off the backing (oops!)
So, for the finishing touch I removed all the finger prints I had while scrubbing the paper off (I'm talking about the prints on my fingers themselves!)

But I did experiment a bit and think I just stumbled onto something interesting...
What do you think?

[Indofunk]

That looks GREAT for a first time transfer!! It took me probably a half dozen tries before I got anything that good. And even though I've tried to be a bit scientific about it, I still haven't determined how to optimize all the variables. I do know that you want to dial back the blacks; ie, it's easier to transfer grays than pure blacks, which tend to want to stick to the paper and you get those streaks you see. However, as far as how much matte gel to slather on (I've used a LOT), how much time to wait for it to dry, whether to soak the paper or leave it a bit dry, none of that really seems to make much of a difference. PATIENCE makes the biggest difference

[jojonas~]

nice to see more wood transfers in the forum, I've been intruiged by the process

I saw this nice example in my twitter feed:
https://twitter.com/chichic/status/729585025562214401
color copied 6x6 prints to overhead sheets. good if you're worried that hanging up your slides will make them fade away in the sun

[ManuelL]

This looks great! Very interesting process. I think I have to add it to my list of projects for rainy winter weekends.

[Francois]

Indofunk: for my experiment I also used what seems to me like quite a bit of medium, but it probably wasn't enough since I didn't get complete adhesion. But on the other hand, 8x10 is a fairly big surface. The problem I had is that the medium was drying too fast for my taste. And I also got quite a bit of cockling of the paper. I noticed that the cockling was all in the same direction (vertical) which most probably has to do with how the paper was made.

I managed to get the medium to completely dry pretty fast by setting the print on a heating plinth. It dried in about one hour. To tell if it was dry, I simply checked if the paper was still cool to the touch. The cool feeling comes from evaporation, so I figured that if it isn't cool anymore, it must be dry.

To get the pure blacks to show up clean, it took quite a bit of rubbing. Once I got most of the paper off using the kitchen sponge (a cellulose sponge, they're the best), I used a hair dryer to speed up the drying. Once it begins to dry you will see the white of the paper reappear, now's the perfect time to rub it off with your fingers. If it gets too dry you won't be able to scrub it off, so I used the sponge to wet it again and then re-dry it just to get to that magical spot. I always scrubbed in the same direction as the lines in the picture... I like to think it made it more special in a way.

Jonas: I love those transparencies, they would be wonderful as a curtain or some type of room divider.

[Indofunk]

In general, I think the more matte gel the better. I don't think it's possible to overdo it.

I always let the medium dry at least overnight. I've tried letting it dry for 2 days as well and I thought that MAYBE that made it a little better, but I couldn't tell for sure.

In contrast to your experience, I've found that the wetter the better when rubbing off the paper, but yes there is a magic wetness level that facilitates things (though I feel that for me that point is wetter than what you found).

Pure blacks are definitely my Achilles's heel. Don't you find that if even just a wee bit of black rubs off with the paper, it balloons into a huge spot or streak that you just can't prevent? It's like once one black dot escapes with the paper, all its friends want to jump on too

[Francois]

The matte medium I used is by Golden, so the results might be different when using a different brand.
I found that when you're near the end of the process, too much water just makes the print slippery and hard to scrub.

I'm wondering if it would work with white glue?

Call it a happy coincidence, this came in this morning in my usual mailing list from Instructables http://www.instructables.com/id/Printed-Wooden-Panels-for-Your-Home-or-how-to-dec/

In it they use the matte medium from Liquitex instead. I like the way they use a foam roller to smooth up the bubbles. This might help.

[Indofunk]

I use Liquitex, and since your result out of the gate was better than mine, I'd say stick to what you're using

I like the idea of a roller, and yes that may indeed help. In fact, that may make overuse of the matte gel unnecessary, and perhaps counterproductive...

Oh, and finally, I've used Mod Podge at the end to seal it, but I've always gotten the best results with plain old clear, matte spray paint. Mod Podge comes out a bit lumpy and streaky, while spray paint is thin and even. But if you want to try my once-used bottle of Mod Podge, let me know, I'm happy to get rid of it

[Francois]

I read that podge makes a good transfer medium too.

I'm thinking that the copier used might also have an effect on the final print. I know I was quite surprised when I first handled the print because it felt very waxy. I was scared that it wouldn't transfer well but in the end it doesn't seem like it matters. But I think it might account for that slippery feeling I get when trying to scrub off the paper.

Also, to minimize the possibility of screwing things up with the kitchen sponge, I would scrub in the same direction so that is some of the toner comes off, it will imitate a bad polaroid more than anything else.

[Francois]

I was looking at my print yesterday and I finally discovered why I got some streaks on the transfer!
To apply the medium, I was using a fairly stiff brush that I normally use for acrylics. The marks are bristle marks where the brush didn't put any medium.

[Indofunk]

I was looking at my print yesterday and I finally discovered why I got some streaks on the transfer!
To apply the medium, I was using a fairly stiff brush that I normally use for acrylics. The marks are bristle marks where the brush didn't put any medium.

Not sure that's the reason, only because your streaks look just like my streaks, and I use a sponge brush... Like I said, I found that once one little ink blip pulls up with its paper, all of the other pixels in its row pop right up as well...

[Francois]

I'll have to try the next one using an old phone card as a scraper. I think it will allow me to put a thicker and more even coat on it.

[Indofunk]

Together, we will work this out!!

[Francois]

OK, I did another experiment but I really don't know if I should call this a win or a fail.
I wanted to try and replicate the look of Endura Metallic paper for cheap. So I devised a plan for a cheap-ass version of the expensive and rare paper.
I started by laminating some aluminum foil on a piece of cardboard using spray adhesive (both sides).
I did my best to avoid folds and bumps in the foil.
Then I put some matte medium on the aluminum and rolled-on the print using a brayer to try and remove the bubbles.
Let dry completely, scrubbed using the kitchen sponge.
But I realized that the shine of the foil actually makes the remaining paper more visible. Scrubbing too much could remove the image...
So I devised a plan to make a special wax to help bring the tones back and make the paper more translucent.
I call it my oil wax. I thought that I could make some paraffin softer by heating it up to melting point and adding some mineral oil to it and keep stirring  until it solidifies again. So I took a 3x3x4cm block of wax (which should give about 36ml of wax) and added to it 15ml of mineral oil. And surprise, it didn't work!
So I ended-up with what looks like some oily white slush. So I said the heck with it, I'll try it anyway. So I rubbed some on the print but ended-up with some white blobs all over my now pretty oily print. So I took the blowdryer to it and tried to remove the excess with a paper towel. But the more I heat it, the oilier it seems to get. I now have an oily print on aluminum. But on the up side, it does give the image a nice satin finish... but you barely see that it's mounted on metal.

Here's the result... what do you think?

[jharr]

Interesting idea Francios. I know that for preserving alt process prints people combine bee's wax and lavender oil. Of course none of that will penetrate the foil, so I'm not sure you will ever get much satisfaction from that. Gluing the foil down without bubbles or wrinkles seems to be tricky. Maybe use some sheet aluminum flashing instead??

[Francois]

But that would have been expensive