articles/Fine-art/creativereproduction-page8

Fine Art & Creation Reproduction - part 8 of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

by Mike McNamee Published 01/10/2011

Glossary of Terms Art Paper

Art papers are acid free papers made with alpha cellulose or cotton, although cotton papers can also be referred to as fine art papers. Art papers are also alkaline buffered to prevent atmospheric contaminants from acidifying and attacking the paper. Textures vary from smooth to very textured, as is a watercolour paper.

Alpha Cellulose Paper

A paper made with wood pulp that has been chemically processed to remove the lignins and pulp from the paper, leaving only the cellulose. The process also makes the paper acid free.

Bright White

A Bright White paper is a paper in which Optical Brightening Agents have been added to increase the whiteness of the paper. Other terms used to describe OBA papers include: "Enhanced", "Photo" and "Photo Grade". All optical brighteners fail with time, so a Bright White paper has the most appeal before exposure to light, and will eventually revert to its natural colour.

Displaying a bright white paper under UV glass also looses its whiteness as the UV cannot fluoresce the OBAs.

Buffering

A buffered paper has an alkaline added during manufacturing that reacts with any acid the paper may encounter. Cotton papers are usually buffered with about 2% Calcium Carbonate, while alpha cellulose papers are usually buffered at 6%.


Cotton Rag

A paper made from cotton. Cotton fibre is 10 times stronger than wood fibre, and is naturally acid free and lignin free. No harsh chemicals are needed process cotton pulp to make it archival. Cotton is also durable, all paper currencies in the world are made from cotton paper, as are the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

Fine Art Paper

Fine Art Papers are papers made from 100% cotton. Cotton papers are naturally acid and lignin free. Fine Art papers are also buffered with calcium carbonate in order to protect the paper from atmospheric contaminants.

Microporous Coatings

A type of ink jet receiver layer that resembles a sponge. Made of millions of micro "Pores", the ink fills the pores and creates an image. These papers are usually water resistant and instant dry. They are more susceptible to atmospheric contaminants such as ozone, and should be sealed if long life is desirable.

Mould Made

A mould made paper is from a machine that lets the fibres settle randomly before being processed and dried through the paper machine. This random process reduces the "machine direction" stability issue found with modern Fourdrinier paper machines, and is closer to a hand-made product in look and feel.

Museum Grade

A Museum Grade fine art paper that has no OBAs. This paper will have the longest stability since it is made from cotton and no OBAs are used to temporarily whiten the paper.

OBAs

Optical Brightening Agents are chemicals added to papers and fabrics and increase the optical whiteness, or brightness of the paper. As UV light hits the chemical it fluoresces, giving out light of a lower wavelength. Eventually the electrons become exhausted, and the paper reverts to its natural colour.

Rag

See Cotton paper

Swellable

An ink jet receiver coating that swells when the ink makes contact. These papers are not water resistant, and will run on contact with water. They are more resistant to ozone, but the trade off with water resistance makes this technology inferior to the microporous coatings.


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1st Published 01/10/2011
last update 21/07/2022 08:46:23

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