Alex Ramsay Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 What do others use to sign prints with? Photo Rag, specifically. Pencil won't take on the inkjet coating and a Pigma pen (fine on glossy) just scratches and clogs. Needs to be archival, obvs. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Ramsay Posted July 31, 2018 Author Share Posted July 31, 2018 Come on, I can't be the only person who signs their sold prints Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Quist Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 I'd prefer the signing being being done before the printing in the photo editing program. One never knows how the ink will react with the print over time and light exposure. May be more work - but only once - and then you'll have exactly the same signature on all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colblimp Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 I sign on the mount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff s Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Just now, Colblimp said: I sign on the mount. Just about to say the same; with white or black pen depending on mount colour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 How about: Print name Contact details Sign On back of print. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dyn Llun Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 I sell a lot of prints and never, ever sign on the front of the print or the mount, (although my galleries take care of most of the archival mounting and matting). I think it looks silly and pretentious on a photograph. Every print carries my name and copyright stamp on the back which has space for the title, negative date, print date, (very important for serious collectors), negative number and then a space for me to sign in. This authentication is important for serious collectors but better on the back within my stamp. Pete Davis http://www.pete-davis-photography.com/ http://peteslandscape.blogspot.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 I have to say it doesn't seem too helpful to call what a contributor wants to do "silly and pretentious". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 4 minutes ago, Dyn Llun said: silly and pretentious Not very helpful to the OP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 17 hours ago, Alex Ramsay said: What do others use to sign prints with? Photo Rag, specifically. Pencil won't take on the inkjet coating and a Pigma pen (fine on glossy) just scratches and clogs. Needs to be archival, obvs. Alex On the regular Photo Rag 460 g/m about everything works. I've just tried a fine gel pen and a couple of pencils and they all work as they should. Do you maybe mean a Baryta or Glossy? Try rubbing it gently with a soft eraser first. Like Pete I signed my baryta prints on the back in pencil. However I would also sign; title and date my prints in very fine pencil just outside the image in tiny characters just inside the mat board. At one point I even blind-stamped the print with my logo. Now that's pretentious. ;-) It's how you like it, but also a bit about what the current fashion is. Looking back mine now look very much seventies or eighties. My current plexi/dibond ones look dated in some places already too. wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFL Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 1 hour ago, Dyn Llun said: I sell a lot of prints and never, ever sign on the front of the print or the mount, (although my galleries take care of most of the archival mounting and matting). I think it looks silly and pretentious on a photograph. Every print carries my name and copyright stamp on the back which has space for the title, negative date, print date, (very important for serious collectors), negative number and then a space for me to sign in. This authentication is important for serious collectors but better on the back within my stamp. Pete Davis http://www.pete-davis-photography.com/ http://peteslandscape.blogspot.com Hi Pete When you stamp your name & copyright etc on the back of a print, which ink do you use? Any particular favourite? Sung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFL Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 1 hour ago, wiskerke said: On the regular Photo Rag 460 g/m about everything works. I've just tried a fine gel pen and a couple of pencils and they all work as they should. Do you maybe mean a Baryta or Glossy? Try rubbing it gently with a soft eraser first. Like Pete I signed my baryta prints on the back in pencil. However I would also sign; title and date my prints in very fine pencil just outside the image in tiny characters just inside the mat board. At one point I even blind-stamped the print with my logo. Now that's pretentious. ;-) It's how you like it, but also a bit about what the current fashion is. Looking back mine now look very much seventies or eighties. My current plexi/dibond ones look dated in some places already too. wim Hi Wim Do your prints have a border? If so, how wide? Sung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nacke Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 When I do a large signed limited edition print on 300 gsm art paper (11 X14 inch or larger) I sign and number it on the image side below the border. I sign it with a sharp pointed exacto black ink pen. In the U.S. there is a legal reason to do it this way. Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 7 minutes ago, SFL said: Hi Wim Do your prints have a border? If so, how wide? Sung About an inch or so on prints up to 40x50cm / 16x20. Above that about double. I used to dry my baryta prints on glass, taped with white acid free aquarel tape. Because that has a different tension it has to be cut off entirely. Applying the tape is not a very exact affair, there's always a couple of millimeters difference from print to print. The bigger the paper size, the wider the tape margin that's taped to the paper. Otherwise the drying and shrinking print tears itself loose or just glides from underneath a print when it still wet. A mistake you'll only make once or twice when you understand how the dynamics work. Besides I used to use an industrial tape dispenser with pretty exact moisture control - printers can get a bit anal when working alone in the dark for a long time. As someone remarked in the newspaper today: You tend to talk in yourself. Not too bad actually, because nobody will talk back at you. ;-) Now with printing on a printer I maintain about the same margin around the printed area. It allows for handling the print with bare hands; occasionally hitting the side to a tabletop and so on. And it's very useful when the print has to go behind a mat board. Two weeks ago we hung an entire exhibition with nails through the white margin. No frames no mat boards, nothing. Just that gorgeous matte Photo Rag. (They were not my photos btw.) None were signed on the front ;-). After we take the show down, we will just cut off the 5 or 6 miillimeter or so where the holes are and have a clean print again. Cutting off 2 sides is enough of course no need to cut off 4 sides. wim -Does anybody want 2 dried up Epson 7600's on their wheeled stands? Collect only. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 14 minutes ago, Chuck Nacke said: When I do a large signed limited edition print on 300 gsm art paper (11 X14 inch or larger) I sign and number it on the image side below the border. I sign it with a sharp pointed exacto black ink pen. In the U.S. there is a legal reason to do it this way. Chuck Wow I never realized that there could be a legal reason. wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFL Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 49 minutes ago, wiskerke said: About an inch or so on prints up to 40x50cm / 16x20. Above that about double. I used to dry my baryta prints on glass, taped with white acid free aquarel tape. Because that has a different tension it has to be cut off entirely. Applying the tape is not a very exact affair, there's always a couple of millimeters difference from print to print. The bigger the paper size, the wider the tape margin that's taped to the paper. Otherwise the drying and shrinking print tears itself loose or just glides from underneath a print when it still wet. A mistake you'll only make once or twice when you understand how the dynamics work. Besides I used to use an industrial tape dispenser with pretty exact moisture control - printers can get a bit anal when working alone in the dark for a long time. As someone remarked in the newspaper today: You tend to talk in yourself. Not too bad actually, because nobody will talk back at you. ;-) Now with printing on a printer I maintain about the same margin around the printed area. It allows for handling the print with bare hands; occasionally hitting the side to a tabletop and so on. And it's very useful when the print has to go behind a mat board. Two weeks ago we hung an entire exhibition with nails through the white margin. No frames no mat boards, nothing. Just that gorgeous matte Photo Rag. (They were not my photos btw.) None were signed on the front ;-). After we take the show down, we will just cut off the 5 or 6 miillimeter or so where the holes are and have a clean print again. Cutting off 2 sides is enough of course no need to cut off 4 sides. wim -Does anybody want 2 dried up Epson 7600's on their wheeled stands? Collect only. ;-) Thanks, wim, for the detailed info. I also give an inch border on my prints, too. Almost exclusively, 8x8" (10x10 inc border). As always, you are a source of rich information. Sung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Carlsson Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 22 hours ago, Alex Ramsay said: What do others use to sign prints with? Photo Rag, specifically. Pencil won't take on the inkjet coating and a Pigma pen (fine on glossy) just scratches and clogs. Needs to be archival, obvs. Alex Pigma Micron 03 https://www.pigmamicron.com/ Using Canson Infinity - Platine Fibre Rag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 57 minutes ago, SFL said: Thanks, wim, for the detailed info. I also give an inch border on my prints, too. Almost exclusively, 8x8" (10x10 inc border). As always, you are a source of rich information. Sung Thank you! May come with age. Or with years of said darkroom experience. Pete Dyn Llun's posts are quite detailed and a rich source too! ;-) wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 22 hours ago, Alex Ramsay said: What do others use to sign prints with? Photo Rag, specifically. Pencil won't take on the inkjet coating and a Pigma pen (fine on glossy) just scratches and clogs. Needs to be archival, obvs. Alex I don't have a Pigma, but I do have a Sakura Microperm 01 which is similar. The problem with all these ink pens is that the surface of an inkjet paper is designed to suck up and enclose ink very fast. Drying out your felt tip quicker than it can be replenished. After which it will start to scratch. Gel doesn't do that, but I have no idea about its longevity. Anyway I always found it too obtrusive to sign with ink on the front and curators hate it because of the possibility of bleeding through over time. That's why ink and stamping on the back is always applied outside of the image. Ideally. Which is why I prefer pencil front and back. For the front a Pentel with 0.5mm 2B and a stubby with no name anymore for the back with very thick and soft 7B so it will not leave a dent on the back. For the front I used to make a slight dent and if I thought it was too dark I would even wipe it down a bit. Did I mention printers getting anal? wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Ramsay Posted July 31, 2018 Author Share Posted July 31, 2018 Very helpful, all - I didn't know what I was starting! (And I am not remotely offended by the views of a photographer of Pete's calibre) Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nacke Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Wim, I learned from a well known rock and roll photographer (also a very close friend when he was alive) who ended up making good money from print sales in the U.S.. The prints he sold, from hundreds to thousands $ each were of all of the musicians and bands that we all know from the 50's and 60's. One of the relatives of a deceased musician sued him and the court ruled in his favor because a print, signed on the image side and sold as a limited edition is considered in U.S. law as the "sole property of the creator, I.E. the photographer. Also, I have been thinking of selling some prints of "celebrities" or well know subjects, I've sold a few over the years for a very good price, but I am concerned about selling images to people around the globe and that I do not know and them copying them to license them online? Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 6 hours ago, Chuck Nacke said: Wim, I learned from a well known rock and roll photographer (also a very close friend when he was alive) who ended up making good money from print sales in the U.S.. The prints he sold, from hundreds to thousands $ each were of all of the musicians and bands that we all know from the 50's and 60's. One of the relatives of a deceased musician sued him and the court ruled in his favor because a print, signed on the image side and sold as a limited edition is considered in U.S. law as the "sole property of the creator, I.E. the photographer. Also, I have been thinking of selling some prints of "celebrities" or well know subjects, I've sold a few over the years for a very good price, but I am concerned about selling images to people around the globe and that I do not know and them copying them to license them online? Chuck Thank you! Good to know. As for the copying, that's why all the musicians got back to touring and now give their albums away for peanuts on Spotify. Which in turn makes pirating music almost obsolete, at least in the western world. (yesterday's newspaper) Your prints would be the real deal. The copy not so much. wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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