Ghiant inkjet fix gloss spray.

[EdwardM]

Please excuse if this tip has been posted before (I've not seen it anywhere).

I recently printed some family pix using a Canon Pro9000 with cheapo 3rd party inks. Knowing the likelihood of fading over time, I decided to invest in said varnish in the hope that it will protect & preserve the prints for at least a while longer.

Oh, the disappointment... The can says glossy finish, but actually produced more of a sandpaper finish, with very rough surface indeed.

Thinking maybe I'd overdone the coating, the next print got just a light covering, but still ended up very rough.

However, when checking the roughness (after drying), just using the back of my finger, I noticed the surface of the coating came off in a fine dust. Nothing to lose, I thought I'd have a go at polishing the surface with some kitchen paper to see if it made any difference.

SUCCESS. I found it's possible be be quite rough with the initial scrubbing, and then to finish with a soft duster, which results in at least an acceptable semi-glossy finish.

The same trick works nicely on matte prints too.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

You are on the right track about one thing, coating to prevent image loss. My lengthy experiments in bright Florida sun a few years ago showed that it is atmospheric gases that fade Canon Chromalife prints many times over that of UV. And that was "clean" air, just blown in from the Gulf of Mexico. Anything nonporous, non-permeable (or at least mostly so) will work. Inexpensive crystal clear spray lacquer (non-permeable) is great. I also got good results from expensive - and not always so clear - artsy products and even a layer of kitchen cling wrap which is LDPE.

Having said all that, I've no idea why you are having to do work arounds for a commercial product. Nor what "kitchen paper" is; I suspect this is a left-right side of The Pond thing.

Nor did you mention paper type. I have found for what I call Granny Prints, print them on cheap matte paper, one sided Canon is great, but I've used several way-off-brand double sided matte and they come out much better that quality photo papers which are much more picky.

 

[The Hat]

@EdwardM, You never said if the glossy finish helped to preserve your photos in the short term, so maybe you can come back in twelve months to give us an update, thanks for the tip..

P.S. If you used high quality paper, that will help keep your prints looking good for longer...

 

[EdwardM]

@EdwardM, You never said if the glossy finish helped to preserve your photos in the short term, so maybe you can come back in twelve months to give us an update, thanks for the tip..

P.S. If you used high quality paper, that will help keep your prints looking good for longer...

Will do Mr. Hat.

 

[EdwardM]

You are on the right track about one thing, coating to prevent image loss. My lengthy experiments in bright Florida sun a few years ago showed that it is atmospheric gases that fade Canon Chromalife prints many times over that of UV. And that was "clean" air, just blown in from the Gulf of Mexico. Anything nonporous, non-permeable (or at least mostly so) will work. Inexpensive crystal clear spray lacquer (non-permeable) is great. I also got good results from expensive - and not always so clear - artsy products and even a layer of kitchen cling wrap which is LDPE.

Having said all that, I've no idea why you are having to do work arounds for a commercial product. Nor what "kitchen paper" is; I suspect this is a left-right side of The Pond thing.

Nor did you mention paper type. I have found for what I call Granny Prints, print them on cheap matte paper, one sided Canon is great, but I've used several way-off-brand double sided matte and they come out much better that quality photo papers which are much more picky.

Hi Paul. I've no idea why I have to do workarounds either. Maybe the varnish is drying too quickly, and not settling correctly on the paper.
Kitchen paper is soft absorbent paper you get on large rolls, and is used for mopping up spills and suchlike. I suppose a dry, but not too soft cloth would work just as well.
Being on a limited budget, I have to do most things on the cheap, but still want to get the best results I can for my money. Paper tried so far: Stihl 'United Office' glossy, 'ICE' double-sided 220gsm matte (excellent stuff), 'Black Diamond' 260gsm A3 glossy, and even 'pound store' fridge magnet printable media.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I decided to invest in said varnish

which type is it - does it claim to be compatible with inkjet coatings ? I'm afraid it is not.
There are 2 main factors to consider causing the fading of inkjet prints - ozone is ubiquitous and active day and night, and some small UV contents of the light - on a very low level in living etc rooms unless you have special lamps emitting UV - you typically won't get a suntan indoors . A spray would close the surface - the pores of the microporous coating - and reduce the impact of ozone, the UV filtering effect is pretty low - you would need special filtering substances like in suntan lotions to get some effect.

 

[EdwardM]

which type is it - does it claim to be compatible with inkjet coatings ? I'm afraid it is not.

Yes it does. This is the stuff: http://www.ghiant.com/brands/computer-printer-office/inkjet-fix/

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

o.k. test before use... I'm irritated about your comments

I noticed the surface of the coating came off in a fine dust.

which is not typical for a protection spray.

 

[EdwardM]

Update: The prints have not been up long enough yet to comment on the colour fastness, but the 'fridge magnet' prints (exposed to the worst conditions) can be wiped clean with a damp cloth with no deleterious effects, so it would seem the varnish is doing its job.