Once giclée prints come rolling out of an inkjet printer, there are some added steps that are necessary before they can be considered completely done. Most of the traditional preservation framing techniques is necessary, but there are some additional considerations when finishing ink jet prints.

Canvas Coatings

One of the greatest advantages of inkjet output is the ability to output directly to canvas. Canvas is one of the oldest art substrates still in use today. Even today, a stretched canvas holds a high perceived value, and that includes inkjet prints. A stretched inkjet canvas can be made into a museum-quality product with a minimum of added work while retaining its cost efficiency in printing, finishing, stretching, and framing.

The first step in producing a high quality finished canvas is a protective canvas coating. This can be applied by rolling or spraying. In some cases, you can add even more value to a canvas by applying it with a brush, allowing the brush strokes to be visible on the finished surface. The technological breakthrough in water-based coatings has provided an engineered coating method that is non-hazardous. Following the manufacturer recommendations also ensures that the product will have more than a 100-year lifespan.

Some manufacturers have gone to great lengths to engineer a complete coating solution so you no longer need to guess as to the best method for making sure that the protective coating will not crack, yellow, or peel. The most efficient and productive method of applying Glamour 2 coating is to spray using an HVLP (high volume low pressure) spray gun. Another option is rolling, which gives just as good a finished product as spraying but with minimal start-up expenses.

Preparation for all prints includes clipping or taping a canvas to a smooth mat board or foam board. This provides a firm backing for rolling or spraying on the coating. Any board with a textured surface, such as corrugated cardboard, will not work as the board's texture transfers to the canvas.

Three coats applied properly are recommended for proper protection. A fold test can be used to confirm the coating thickness. All water-resistant canvases are made with a micro-ceramic inkjet receptor layer that holds the ink, providing great ink saturation and detail when printing. If you fold a corner of printed canvas you will notice that the ink will crack. One of the benefits of Glamour 2 is that it cross links with the inkjet receptor coating. When the correct thickness is applied it makes the canvas flexible and stops all cracking—even when doing a fold on a gallery wrap. The fold test is useful to assess whether you have coated the canvas with the proper thickness.

Glamour 2 coatings can also be used for surface embellishment

This is done by brushing various finishes onto different areas of a canvas to add an artistic flair and to make each print one of a kind. For example, a print may have a satin finish but an artist might add gloss brush strokes on top of an area of water in an image. These brushstrokes can be seen only when light reflects off the canvas at an angle.

Stretching

The next step is to stretch a digital canvas. Stretching inkjet canvases is done using the same procedure as for any canvas art stretching. A minor point is to use stainless steel staples to prevent rusting. They aren't necessary, but they do make a nicer product.

One problem area to be aware of is canvas sagging, especially with pure cotton canvas. This is a natural occurrence based on temperature and humidity fluctuations. When an environment is dry or cold, canvas tightens. When it is wet or hot, it loosens up. Proper stretching and attention to environmental factors are important. For example, a large gallery and canvas production facility in Hawaii produced and stretched all their canvas and shipped them all over the world without any problems. Hawaii has a relative humidity of 50 to 65 percent. To cut shipping costs, however, they moved their production facility to Las Vegas, where the humidity is only 5 to 10 percent. They started having more than 40 percent of their product returned due to sagging. This was extremely costly because of the time it took to re-stretch. The problem was solved by using a humidifier to increase the humidity to between 40 and 60 percent. This is not as much of a problem with canvas that is a cotton and polyester blend. The cost for stretching bars can be cut considerably by ordering in large volume and cutting them to the desired length and assembling them yourself. We do this and haven't had any problems. There is special equipment for making adjustable bars in any length, but this requires a significant investment. Bars can also be bought in pre-cut lengths. Pre-cut bars do limit you to standard sizes, however, and are impractical if you have a variety of individual-sized canvases.

Coating Paper Prints

If fine art, matte, and photographic inkjet prints are glazed with a space between the glazing and the print, coating the print is not necessary for good longevity ratings. However, it still improves print durability during handling, eliminating most scuffing and damage from moisture. We coat all these media with an engineered protective coating called Hahnemuhle Protective Spray by Hahnemuhle. This product can only be sprayed on with an aerosol or HVLP spray gun if using the Hahnemuhle Masters Varnish. This solvent-based product does need good ventilation during application.

Hahnemuhle Protective Spray is a low-solid coating that has been engineered for fine art, matte, and watercolour paper as well as photo media. This product does not change the surface quality or texture of the media. Coated prints also have no issues with outgassing. Inkjet printer inks use glycol to sustain the ink particles during the delivery of the pigmented particles to media. Even though inkjet prints feel dry coming out of a printer, the glycol still has to evaporate. To correctly speed up this evaporation, manufacturers recommend outgassing prints by interleaving them with absorbent paper like economical 80 / 90gsm inkjet bond or other absorbent paper. This paper helps to absorb the glycol. If proper outgassing is not done before framing, you can end up with a ghosted image on the inside of the glazing as the ink outgases inside the frame. While this can be easily removed from the glazing, the frame still has to be taken apart for cleaning. After coating, these media can be handled and framed just like a watercolor or fine art media with no other special considerations.

Deckling

Adding hand-torn edges to inkjet media is really easy using a dual edge ripper (www.imageproducts.com.au). This tool

comes with two sharp edges that are placed on a print for making hand-torn edges. It comes in both a classic and an

extreme model, depending on how extreme you want a hand tear to look. This is often called a deckled edge,

although a deckled edge really developed as a term for making mould paper. When paper was first made, the

deckle was either cut off or hidden under a window matte. But traditions change, and so does the popularity of a

hand-torn edge. Properly printed inkjet prints that are finished with the right coating and stretched or glazed correctly will last for many years in homes, offices, hotels, and other settings. Being able to print your own high-quality digital prints can give you the ability to respond to the needs of your clients quickly and easily, and these finishing touches can impress any customer with the quality of your work.