Help on Treating Epson Canvas Front and Back

[hyperbiz]

I have an Epson 7600 coming as I want to start making prints on Canvas using the Ultrachrome inks and then mounting them on stretchers. Anyone have any experience with the process and material to use?

1. Epson recommends treating the front and the back of the canvas print with a liquid protectant. Should this be done before or after stretching.

2. Is there a clear non-toxic brush or roll on product that can be used indoors without killing the occupants.

3. Anything I might be overlooking that will help me in doing Canvas Prints.

Thanks in Advance...Tom

[bjnicholls]

No, don't pretreat the canvas material. I'm assuming you're going to use Epson canvas. The photo black ink produces the best results on this medium. I've found the Sureguard sprays work on the front surface. Other spray coatings like Bulldog or Lyson have caused yellow pigments to bleed. If Epson has some specific coating recommendations they'd be worth testing. I haven't sprayed the back of canvas, but that makes sense to minimize oxygen infiltration/reaction with inks. That would be best done before stretching since you couldn't get the area behind the stretcher bars coated otherwise. Back-coating the canvas may also help stabilize it with humidity changes. You don't want to stretch the Epson canvas too tight, but if you stretch it in low humidity a higher humidity later on can cause the canvas to sag.

[Melody]

I got the epson 9600 about a month ago and printed some stuff for Bryan and myself on the canvas with the ultrachrome just to become famaliar with the printer. They turn out quite nice I didn't treat mine.

My heat press will arrive in about two weeks it ships on Friday, and then it's to the ART uv inks :-)


Good luck with your printer and canvas you will love it.


Melody

[Swampy]

I've had some experience with the canvas (and even paper) off the 7600 and the 9600 as Melody said.

Best steps to take from experience and the books...

Print your print on whatever it is you're going to print on, paper, canvas, whatever.

Lay the print out flat and get some absorbant paper, tissue type, newspaper type stuff (not actual newspaper), lay the paper on top of the print, smooth out nice and flat. This will help absorb chemicals that haven't had time to dry yet. The pigment is down and "dry" to the touch, but there are still chemicals that will take a few days to dry which is normal without the paper being laid on it for 24 hours.

After that, go with BJ's advice and use Suregaurd or equivelant to protect it. Then Stretch it, mount it, what ever you're going to do to it.

That's it.

[bjnicholls]

Good point. The Ultrachrome inks have a glycol base. This is relatively slow to dry, especially if humidity is high. I've heard that Epson is recommending against using a blotter sheet to assist drying. Instead, we're loading prints on a drying rack (similar to those used for screen printing) and letting them dry for a couple of days. The top shelf of the rack has a sheet of paper to prevent dust from settling on prints below.

With canvas, you'd worry about having sprays and coatings have problems with unevaporated glycol. With prints on paper, you want the print dry before glazing otherwise the glycol will "outgas" and leave a film on the inside of the glass.

[Dieselfuel]

Hi Melody,

Can you tell us what's the deal with ART uv inks and the "heat press" (i'm assuming you're refering to a dry mount press, like a Seal).

Thanks,

Scott

[Melody]

Originally posted by Dieselfuel
Hi Melody,

Can you tell us what's the deal with ART uv inks and the "heat press" (i'm assuming you're refering to a dry mount press, like a Seal).

Thanks,

Scott

Hi Scott,

I will be printing on fabric :)

Here is the info on the ink:

http://www.tropicalgraphics.com/lf/

........Our ArTainium UV+ inks for large format plotters utilize a proprietary quick drying formulation that enhances the speed at which your inks dry when leaving the print head allowing you to run your printer at maximum speed. Add to this the fact that UV+ inks contain a higher density of dyes than our main competitor and you can see why our inks provide the most vibrant colors available and lasted up to 10% longer in UV testing compared to other inks.


The press required for this sublimation process that I purchased is the 40x64 maxi press, here is a link with the info on it:

http://knightheatpress.com/large.htm

I can't wait to begin :D

Although I have really enjoyed the ultrachrome ink and printing on the canvas. I just this past weekend got the stretcher bars and finished off several prints my office walls are now shall we say just a little crowded!

Melody

[Dieselfuel]

Thanks Melody.

Keep us informed.
It sounds really interesting.

I'm curious how it work's out for you.


Scott