Photo Paper 'Marks' - Paper/ ink experts ?

Kayalana99

Hiya guys,

I've tried googling to no avail.

Basically I print something out on photo paper, and when put under pressure 'marks' appear.

I wondered if anyone knew why or how to avoid them?

To explain, if you get a piece of plastic and put it over, then put pressure with your finger on the back the marks appear on front where the finger pressure is but disappear when pressure is removed. (I need to put it in between two pieces of pressured plastic so its not just my finger showing through)

The marks look 'darker' then the orignal colour i.e white is making grey marks red ..dark red etc
Any thoughts?

WTFH

what sort of photo paper is it?

Kayalana99

Glossy or more precise this exact one;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100-Sheets-A4-260gsm-High-Glossy-Photo-Paper-for-Inkjet-by-EtikettenWorld-/261350819085?pt=UK_Computing_Printer_Paper_Accessories_ET&hash=item3cd9b9050d

paddyrg

Can you supply photos? I'm trying to picture the problem and struggling, a photo of it in action might paint a thousand words!

neilwoods

Makes absolutely no sense. not being rude (well trying not to).

What do you mean by pressured plastic, you laminating the photo, using perspex or acrylic, white plastic, opaque plastic ??

Tiexen

I'd say its not dry - what make of ink are you using

Kayalana99

I've realized that it happens with or without ink - so its the paper - whether or not its because its cheap or glossy I don't know...

Will upload a pic when I get chance.

paddyrg

So you're saying when you press the paper against (for instance) a window, the points where it is pressed appears darker than where it makes no contact? I'm afraid that's just physics, it's a phenomenon behind some basic pressure patterning systems (eg for some foot-measuring systems).

You could try using a matt paper instead of glossy, this'll help.
You could also laminate the whole photo, which will darken everything slightly, but make it consistent and unaffected by the window/acrylic

Kayalana99

paddyrg wrote: »

So you're saying when you press the paper against (for instance) a window, the points where it is pressed appears darker than where it makes no contact? I'm afraid that's just physics, it's a phenomenon behind some basic pressure patterning systems (eg for some foot-measuring systems).

You could try using a matt paper instead of glossy, this'll help.
You could also laminate the whole photo, which will darken everything slightly, but make it consistent and unaffected by the window/acrylic

Thank you Paddy, I showed my partner when he came home and his response to it was its almost like your putting to much pressure on it...and I was like yes thats exactly what it is but why? And he drew blanks to... I will get a small amount of Matt paper and see if that helps... I will get this right somehow!! Going as far as to laminate every sheet seems alot of effort alot of profit lost... but if thats what I have to do I guess it will be my last resort.

I can apply less pressure but once the plastic is together I can't take it apart again so its a 80/20 shot of not pressing it down to hard atm...profit margins are lowering :'(

neilwoods

Why do you need to apply pressure to the print.

paddyrg

Let's think about workarounds then if this is a product for sale...

I genuinely don't know if you can get proper matt paper for home printing but try printing at Jessops or boots and getting proper photo processor matt paper.
Try spray mount adhesive (get a test can or two from art shops/WHSmith and order in bulk if it works), actually mount the picture face side to the acrylic so there's no pressure on the back.
Redesign the product so there is just a free slot to drop the photo into.
Look at laminating options - can be quite cheap, especially if buying in bulk eg 5p/A4 pouch when buying 100, but you only need one side so you could do 200 sides for a fiver and that's high street prices. You can actually get laminating films which are much thinner and cheaper on rolls. Test it out with a small domestic laminating machine, if it works then get a proper commercial one asap they can run faster, hotter, longer, better. That said, if there is still uneven pressure on the back it may just transfer the issue, the question of the physics of the interaction of the surfaces would remain.

Just a few options to think about!