Beware - much of what is in this process may well be superstition. A
simpler process may well work just fine. None of my prints mounted
with this technique have suffered from failures, but none of them have
been around for very long.
Credit is due to
Barry Sherman for this. He shared his print mounting procedure with
me, and I have more or less adopted it wholesale, including the 'toast' at
the end.
With that warning, here you go:
Step One: Get ready
Prepare the work area. Clear away all the
debris that the kids have left there. Wipe up all the dust.
Wash and dry your hands. Don't put on gloves.
Step Two: Turn it on
Turn on the dry mount press and make sure no one
has fiddled with the temperature dial. Put two pieces of clean mat board into the press. Make sure that the
handle of the press sticks up at about a 45 degree angle when you close
but do not lock the press - this ensures something like the correct
pressure. Let the whole assembly come up to the correct temperature.
Plug in and turn on the tacking iron.
Step Three: Toast the print and mount board
Place the piece of mat board that will have the
print mounted on it on the table. Brush any loose stuff from the mat
board. Go over the surface of the board with your hand, feeling for
any irregularities. When you find one, brush it off. Don't use
a brush. In my experience, they just make the problem worse, and
don't dislodge stuff stuck to the board.
To one side of the mat board, do the same thing with the print. Yes,
I really do wipe the surface of the print with my clean and dry hand.
It's the only way to find and dislodge the nasties that are waiting to
disfigure the print.
Place the print face down on the mat board.
Open the press, and remove the two pieces of mat board. Open them
up, and stick the mat board/print assembly between them. Note that
because the print is face down, only the (carefully cleaned) surface of
what will become the mount board will contact the print surface.
Place the whole assembly in the press, close it, and lock it. Wait two
minutes. Open it up, take the whole assembly out, and stack books on
it. Wait until it cools.
This seems like a lot of work, but it ensures that both the
print and board have all the moisture driven out before you stick
one to the other. This prevents warping, bubbling, and having the
print shrink and expose an ugly border of dry mount tissue.
Step Four: Tack the tissue to the print
Open up the mount board sandwich, taking the top
and bottom boards and putting them back in the press. Take care to
ensure that the outside, which has been in contact with the faces of the
press and probably has nasties stuck to it, stays on the outside. You now have the toasted print lying face down on the mount board.
Take a sheet of dry mount tissue (I use Seal Colormount for everything),
set it down to the side, and wipe the surface with your hand. Take
one last chance to wipe the back side of the print. Take the wiped
dry mount tissue, and place it wiped side down on the back of the print. Now you're ready to tack the tissue to the print. Some people use
crosses. Some people use X's. I just tack down a short strip
in the center - a single line about 4 inches long. In my experience,
fancy crosses, X's, and long strips just increase the chances of wrinkles.
A short single line is enough to prevent the tissue moving in any
direction, including rotating. Wipe off the exposed surface of the dry mount tissue.
Step Five: Trim the print
Wipe off the trimmer. Put the print face up
on the trimmer and trim to the desired size. Put the trimmed print
face up on the table and wipe it off. Put it face down on the mount
board and wipe it off.
Step Six: Position and attach the print
Turn the print over so it's face up.
Position it carefully. Measure it again. Take a deep breath
and measure it again. Take another breath and measure it again.
Hold it in place with a lead weight covered with soft leather. Measure it one more time, just for luck. This is an opportune time
for prayer if you are so inclined. Being careful to not shift the print, lift one corner of the print,
leaving the tissue laying flat against the board. Tack it down with
the tacking iron, going away from the weight and toward the corner of the
tissue. Just a very small tack will do fine - long stripes just
cause wrinkles. Do the opposite corner. If you're inclined, you can measure again
but by this point, it's too late to correct so I don't bother. Remove the weight. Wipe the face of the print.
Step Seven: Mount the print
Open the press and take out the two pieces of mat
board. Open them up and tuck the print and mat board in between,
face up. This is the second prayer opportunity. Close and lock the press. Leave it closed for two minutes.
This is the Primary Prayer Opportunity. My theory is that if the
press is too cold, no amount of time in the press will result in a
permanent bond. If it's too hot, no amount of time in the press is
short enough to prevent damage. Two minutes seems like a reasonable
time, and is short enough to prevent insanity. After two minutes, remove the entire sandwich from the press. Pile
something heavy on top, and wait as long as you can stand it, or for
thirty seconds, which ever is shorter, then remove the weight and the top
mount board. Pick up the mounted print. Examine it carefully and frantically for
defects. Some people warp the board backwards to see if the print is
really well stuck on, but I've never had one fail so I no longer bother.
If there are defects, moan and tear at your hair and clothing. If
there are no defects, emulate those little victory dances you've seen the
football pros get penalized for.
Step Eight: fix the defects
By far the most common defect is a small ding in
the print where a bit of grit got between something and the print whilst
it was in the press. These can sometimes be fixed by putting a small
drop of water on the ding, and then blotting. It may take several
repetitions before the ding is gone. Another sort of defect is a bump, caused by something trapped between the
print and the mat board. These can sometimes be fixed by burnishing
the bump with a blunt instrument and driving the bit of grit into the mat
board. This is more likely to be successful if the grit is between
the mat board and the dry mount tissue, and less likely when it's between
the print and the tissue. If there are wrinkles or creases, throw the mess away. Nothing can
be done to salvage the print.
Step Nine: Toast the print
Pour the chilled beverage of your preference into
a clean glass. Salute the print with the glass. Drink deep. My current preference is for Toad Hollow Chardonnay 1998. Doubtless other wines and vintages
work equally well. Scotch would probably work nicely. If you
are mounting more than one print, I highly recommend that you wait until
all are mounted, then toast them all at once.
Step ten:
Unplug the tacking iron. Turn off the
press. Put the prints in a box, with interleaving sheets between to
protect the print face.