?off gassing of epson 2400 prints smudge glass?

I recently pulled some framed prints off the wall in my office that I hung a few years ago. I thought that the "emulsion" of the paper looked like it was breaking down in the background around the owl. It was really wierd! So, when I pulled the print out of the frame, the print was fine, but the glass had an odd greasy smudge on it where the background was, and where the snowy owl was, the glass was clear.

Anyone ever seen this? The framing is all acid free, and these were not drymounted, but hinged. and there is a matt around the print, the print was NOT against the glass

The only thing I can think of is that impurities have entered into the framing and have reacted with the artwork. Acid is only one thing to bare in mind. To protect your art to a higher degree the products used should also be lignin free as in cotton Ragmat boards. Vapour barriers also help keep out moisture and the rebates can also be taped to stop anything from the wooden moulding contaminating the artwork. Hope this helps.

Outgassing of inkjet prints has been a known problem for a long time. Different inksets outgas at varying rates and some prints may exhibit the effect while others show essentially no effect. As I understand it, the component that causes this is glycol used in the ink formulation. The glycol slowly escapes the surface of the print just as any solvent in paint would.

The only known cure is allowing some time for the outgassing to occur before enclosing the print in framing. I have always allowed my prints to simply lie around for a while, usually a week to two before attempting framing. I have not framed many photos behind glass, and have not encountered the problem. Others have tried to speed up the process by interleaving the prints with some kind of paper to help absorb the outgassing chemicals.

I would guess you would be able to restore the framed print by allowing a bit of time in the open air and then cleaning the glass and reframing the print.

Jim Gunning
Orlando, FL

What Jim said. I lay the prints flat with a sheet (or a few sheets depending on the print size) of regular cheap bond paper on top. For multiple prints I stack them this way and leave them for a day or two then change the paper and leave them for another day. If the paper from the second day is still wavy try replacing them for another day. It usually take only one or two paper changes to absorb the outgassing.

Thanks for the information everyone, I do tend to go on "printing/framing" binges when it hits 40 below!! I took the framed photos apart and cleaned the INSIDE of the glass and everything was as good as new! I suppose the pattern of no grease where there was a white bird is expected as there would be little ink laid down.

thanks again, patience is a virtue........

FWIW, outgassing is at least as much a function of the type of paper used as the inkset. Glossy, semi-gloss and luster papers (i.e. papers where the ink sits on the paper surface rather than being absorbed) are highly susceptible to the problem. Matte (and other absorbent) papers are far less of a problem, to the extent that they're a problem at all. I've found drying time to be highly variable and dependent, in part, on atmospheric conditions (e.g. the lower the humidity, the more quickly the prints dry) and I, too, have found that using plain paper to absorb some of the gas does help. All that said, if possible, I try to allow two weeks between printing and matting/framing. Early on in my experimenting with all of this, I tried waiting only a week (using luster paper) and it simply wasn't enough.

With all the fantastic papers out there I feel it's not worth the hassle and chance when selling this stuff for it to come back to you. If you want glossy, go with a fiber base paper like epson exhibition, canson baryta, etc. There's a plethora to choose from now. And totally check out some of the new mat papers like epson hot press or premier art generations alise. The detail on these now and gamuts are awesome, and the look of the paper are perfect for certain pics such as winter shots. Why fool with RC papers anymore and chance the out gassing problem?

The need I believe is for the print to breathe while in a process of long term drying. The very sealed surface of resin core allows no place for the glycol solvent vapors to go so being trapped they show up on the glass. If the paper can vent through itself your ok--as you have with mat and fiber papers. And fiber papers look for most pics better IMO--but I admit there are some that still do best on the very glossy RC papers. And the newer metallic papers out now probably are the same. They look to be RC papers to me -- and those are becoming quite popular.

Paul

When using the luster glossy papers, allow the print to dry a day or two and then SEAL it with Crystal Clear Coat. Two coats is plenty.
Wash the glass with an AMMONIA free cleaner (Sprayway). Windex has ammonia. After adopting this protocol I have not had an out gassing problem.

You don't need to seal it even though that's an option. Simply place clean copy paper over a print for 24 hours after printing before framing. This will absorb the volatiles that will eventually outgass and solve the problem.

I have tried the plain paper over the print for considerably more than 24 hours and have still had a problem with out-gassing on certain prints, note that the darker the print the more problems you will have. I have several night time images that 6-8 weeks later had out-gassing problems.
With that in mind I now try to print images that use a lot of dark inks on matte paper, no out-gassing there.

It's been 3 years since I framed a print for my mother made from a 2400 on luster type paper and every time I go to visit her I have to pull the picture apart to clean the glass as it looks like someone smoked inside the frame. Hmmm maybe I can get my money back from the person that printed the pic