Success With Canon Color Prints and Lacquer
Stewart Schooley
lacquer over the prints knows the problems. On my prints the first coat
of lacquer turned the print a darker more reddish color and it looked
rough and uneven.. Two additional coats of lacquer were put on and the
lacquer problems got worse.
Shellac doesn't seal it. Lacquer over shellac still turns the print
darker and more reddish, but not as much as lacquer alone. The same
lacquer problems appear and another coat of lacquer makes them worse.
The answer is Minwax's Polycrylic. Put a coat of this on the print and
you can lacquer over it to your hearts content. Similiar stuff from
other companies should work as well. Using a bristle brush may leave
some very slight lines, more visual than physical, but this is no
problem when it's over straight grain. I did another one using a super
soft blending brush women use on their make up. This worked so much
better. I bought the brush in a garage sale.
For strips, or any area where you want an image thinner than the paper
is, turn your print into a decal. Put a coat of Polycrylic on it and
then turn it over and remove the paper. The best way to remove the paper
I've found is to use a stiffer bristle brush and water. A 1/2" brush
will do for most prints, but larger prints could use a 1" brush. Walmart
sells these brushes in their Arts and Crafts section.
Soak the paper for a few minutes with a wet rag over it. Then use your
brush and more water to swirl the paper around and then brush the wet
pulp away. You'll be surprised to see how easy it is. Using toweling on
a finger requires too much rubbing that can cause problems, get the
brush.The only problem I had was two tiny knicks on the edge where I
went off the paper and then moved back in with the brush. It would be a
good idea to edit a black border about 1/4" wide around your image
before printing.
When you think you have all the paper off, let it dry. If it gets a
whitish look to it, don't worry about it. You don't have to get it off.
It will be on the back, glued down, and it adds no thickness to your decal.
Another method you can use is the transfer method I posted about
recently. With this you have to continue with the brush and water until
the whitish film is removed . Takes a few extra minutes. I haven't tried
Polycrylic yet to see if it will work as well as the more expensive
artist's polymer emulsion used in this method. Will let you know later.
Now, about the color copy machines. Look for some place that has the
newer models. They print better and you can edit your print on your
computer, copy to a CD and take it to the copier. FWIW, a guy who works
at Kinkos told me that if you have a file on a CD, the Xerox machine
does the best job. If you have an image to be placed on the machine, the
Canon copier does the best job.
I used Deft spray lacquer and allowed for drying times between each step.
One other thing. when you trim any photofinish paper you make, you will
have white edges exposed when you glue it down. This is another place
where artists oil paints work the best . Put a rag on a finger, put a
little dab of the right color on it and rub it along the edges. Use
another rag and a little paint thinner to wipe off the excess.
