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Dry Mounting / Release Paper Question?

Cypress Creek

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Cypress Creek

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St Ives - UK

A
St Ives - UK

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chuckroast

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I normally dry mount by putting the mat board with the print tacked onto it face up with a sheet of release paper between it and the press platen.

I went to buy a replacement roll of the stuff and my jaw hit the floor when I saw the nearly $300 price tag for this stuff.

So ...

1. Are there sources for less expensive release paper?

2. Are there better/cheaper viable alternatives to release paper for this task?
 
I skip the release paper and just sandwich the print and mat between sheets of mat board in the dry mount press. You need to head the board first in the press to get rid of residual moisture, and you might need to turn up the temperature a bit.
 
CR, I'm soon coming up on the end of a roll of release paper as well. I always use mat boards on both sides with release paper over the print. I may try some bakers' parchment paper on some small test prints to see how that works. It survives 400°F in the oven.....
 
CR, I'm soon coming up on the end of a roll of release paper as well. I always use mat boards on both sides with release paper over the print. I may try some bakers' parchment paper on some small test prints to see how that works. It survives 400°F in the oven.....

Yeah, I am considering the same. I have no idea why, but release paper is just nosebleed expensive.
 
I have been using baker's parchment paper without issues for some time now. Never use the wife's though. Learned that lesson.
 
Costco here sells nice wide rolls of Parchment paper at favorable prices.
Two rolls to a purchase - easy to share :smile:
 
Costco here sells nice wide rolls of Parchment paper at favorable prices.
Two rolls to a purchase - easy to share :smile:

My question as above. How do you avoid imparting wrinkles from the parchment paper onto the print surface - or is that not even an issue?
 
Not an issue as far as I can see. It rolls out with a gentle curve but otherwise quite flat, and it is quite heavy.
 
The Costco Kirkland Signature stuff is 15" x 164 feet - so close for 16x20.
This is slightly wider:
1768000363151.png
 
I think the point of the release paper is if the adhesive bleeds over the edge it will not stick to anything. While I have always used release paper, in decades I have never seen the adhesive bleed. Perhaps it is because I trim the print after tacking to the tissue, so both print and tissue are exactly the same size. The adhesive, while it does not melt, is probably formulated to a high viscosity, so it doesn't really flow sideways in the time it is molten.
 
Let me summarize my own method, but skipping over a few things like the necessity of pre-drying materials.

I first of all mount a sheet of drymount tissue to the back of the print, within a temporary sandwich of museum board on both sides.
To keep the heated tissue from sticking to the board, I use a slip sheet of release paper between them. Since this sheet can be used over and over again, a single roll of release tissue I bought 30 years ago still has plenty left on it. But individual release sheets or l0-count packages of them can be bought, like from Talas, a bookbinding supplier. In other words, more like a $30 expenditure at most, rather than $300. And you can get all kinds of sizes.

When that has cooled a few minutes under the big glass weight, I pull off the release sheet and set it aside. Then I trim the print plus attached mounting tissue to precise final size at the cutter station.

Then this is taken back to the mounting station. Once the trimmed print is positioned precisely in the manner I want it on its
final museum board mount, I use a medium heat teflon tacking iron to immobilize a place in the center of it, then that goes back between a sandwich of two the larger pieces of reusable museum board for sake of the final pressing. Then back under the glass weight to cool (Drymount tissues like Colormount and Drytac Trimount achieve their final bonding upon cooling).

This procedure works far more efficiently and precisely than the old traditional method fooling around with the tacking iron
beneath the print.

NEVER put a sheet of release paper between the print emulsion/face and a hot platen. You risk transferring an unremovable slick spot to the emulsion.
 
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I ordered some of the teflon release paper from Amazon. Disappointed. It has a woven texture that will most certainly transfer to the print. I'm sticking (pun possibly intended) with just sandwiching the print and mount between sheets of mat board.
 
Again, that's NOT the purpose for release paper, which is meant to isolate heated drymount tissue itself from adhering to any surface it's not supposed to.

Using a matboard sandwich when pressing is recommended routine practice. But release sheet or silicone release board has a different function.
 
use a medium heat teflon tacking iron to immobilize a place in the center of it

Just so I understand correctly, the tacking iron touches the paper emulsion without blemishing it? At any rate, thanks for taking us through your process.:smile:
 
A soft-edged teflon coated tacking iron at med heat and mild pressure will not damage an emulsion. But it is wise to periodically clean the surface of the iron from any potential contaminants.

There might be older more problematic kinds of tacking irons.
 
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