Help -Signing Ilford FB MC Glossy on margins with "permament pens"

[yehuda]

Help - I have tried to sign the print on the margin of Ilford FB MC glossy, using "archival" pens. I find that the ink does not transfer through the emulsion to the paper base. The result is that the ink "sits" on the suface, and smudges, even days later! I have tried several diffrerent pens.

Any suggestions would be appericiated!!

TIA

Yehuda

 

[Bob F.]

Try either a pencil or, if you want it more prominent, India ink in a calligraphy pen. With India ink you do have to wait a while, but once dry it is solid and won't smudge

Cheers, Bob.

 

[Ole]

Strange - I've only ever used two different pens, and neither has smudged!

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Don't sign the front- sign the reverse. Otherwise, sign in pencil - this is the more archival solution anyway. All inks have some either alkalinity or acidity, which ultimately will prove detrimental to your print. The carbon deposited on the paper by a pencil will be absolutely neutral and non-reactive.

 

[Ole]

... All inks have some either alkalinity or acidity, which ultimately will prove detrimental to your print. ...

"Ultimately" is a very long time! Countless medieval manuscrips, not to mention the Dead Sea scrolls, prove that ink on an archival substrate can last a very long time. I'm not aiming for more than a century or two for my prints.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

"Ultimately" is a very long time! Countless medieval manuscrips, not to mention the Dead Sea scrolls, prove that ink on an archival substrate can last a very long time. I'm not aiming for more than a century or two for my prints.

That's why I didn't specify a time frame. It all depends on the ink, the paper, and other factors like storage conditions and processing. "Archival" inks should have no deleterious effect on paper, but who knows what the true frame of reference is for it... we've really only been printing photos on paper for a hundred and twenty-five years, give or take, so the jury's still out. The safest solution is sign on the reverse in pencil, don't drymount, just hinge, and use linen hinging tape with a water-soluble adhesive like wheat paste, that can be reversed.