How to display workprints

Guthrie Wolf Siegman · Jun 8, 2011

Hey, I've got a question which I think will draw a whole range of answers.

I've got two 8x12s on the way that my trusty lab (Lightwaves Imaging in SF) is doing up for me. They're of two different 35mm slides (Methinks it was expired Provia 100) I made at the same time. The images are almost identical, but the I really felt like one would prove to be better. This sounded nicer than gazing at a little 24mmx36mm rectangles for a few days. (Yes, even through a loupe)

My question then becomes: How do I look at/display for myself these prints?

Do people hang their workprints on clothespins?

Do you tack them against the wall with T-Pins?

Do you slip them into extra frames, to see what the finished product will look like?

I'm sure everyone has a different method, so I'd love to hear yours.

Rick A · Jun 8, 2011

I buy the cheapest frames I can find, also yard sales and thrift shops for funky/eclectic frames. I have my finished prints matted and sleeved for sales.

polyglot · Jun 8, 2011

Taped into a mat, blu-tacked to the wall or side of the fridge.

I lost the battle with SWMBO for a cork-board.

Mike Wilde · Jun 8, 2011

I tape them onto a piece of foam core that has a hinged overmat with the approprately sized window cut into it.

The foam core has a picture hanging tab glued or stuck to the back.

They get hung up as though they were framed art, in my basement family room.

If they really grow on me they get framed and hung in the living room or upstairs hallway.

Sometimes they get printed larger and the larger work is framed.

jeffreyg · Jun 8, 2011

Cut a window mat (say for an 11x14 print) then cut it so it is two "L's". You can slide them over one another to isolate the image as well as seeing if cropping is indicated and how the print would look mounted and framed.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

tkamiya · Jun 8, 2011

I usually put it in my "standard" mat/back-board, place a glass in front of it, and view it in various lighting conditions.

Most of my prints look different inside a mat. They look even more different when a glass is in front of it.

I take it everywhere in my house because different lighting situations affect how prints look.

I pretty much standardized my matting so I have a spare one for this purpose.

Monito · Jun 9, 2011

More important than how you tack them up or frame them is what light you look at them under.

A good kind of light is 5000/5500 deg K and non-metameric: i.e. fairly rounded spectrum with no big spikes or gaps.

I found that a desk lamp I have with a 60 W incandescent bulb inside a ring fluorescent 22 W bulb provides a light of about the right temp and passes a simple metameric test from the back of a book I have.

Guthrie Wolf Siegman · Jun 9, 2011

Monito said:
More important than how you tack them up or frame them is what light you look at them under.

A good kind of light is 5000/5500 deg K and non-metameric: i.e. fairly rounded spectrum with no big spikes or gaps.

I found that a desk lamp I have with a 60 W incandescent bulb inside a ring fluorescent 22 W bulb provides a light of about the right temp and passes a simple metameric test from the back of a book I have.

Thanks for the information! Does the afternoon sun work well for this? I have a wall at just the perfect angle... I'm not worried about fading because these are after all, only work prints.

Also, thanks everybody for all the helpful response. I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do now.

polyglot · Jun 9, 2011

Sunlight is the best possible light source you can get if not worried about fading, better yet if cloud-filtered. Late afternoon sun might be a bit yellow, depending on the time; anything more than 90 minutes before sunset should be OK, maybe 120 minutes before sunset for colour-critical stuff. Those times assume non-insane latitudes of course, i.e. nowhere near a polar circle where it's always twilight of a funny colour.

tkamiya · Jun 9, 2011

True, the spectrum of sunlight is the best but problem may be the intensity and direction. I am having this issue right now....

I have what I call a hallway gallery. It's just my hallway where I display most of my own work. It has a near by window. While the light coming in is indirect, it's bright. Prints that look great there will be too dark anywhere else. Also, as the angle of sun changes, intensity changes as well.

As a stable source, I have one of those color balanced table light. It's a cheaper clone of Ott light type.

Whatever you do, if you intend to frame your photo, when you proof it, be sure to put it behind a pane of glass, and if known, view it at a location where you intend to display it. You'll be amazed how much the "feel" of your image change.

How to display workprints

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