Many different tapes, a lot of applications. Here’s a guide to assist you when comparing tapes and adhesives for photo framing.
Adhesive Transfer Tapes
Adhesive transfer tapes are used primarily for sticking double mats together, connecting dust covers, gluing spacers and fillets in place, and mounting artwork to a support board. They are identified by high preliminary tack (which implies they get rapidly) and a safe, long-lasting bond. They are used by pushing the tape securely against the surface area and after that peeling off the strip of release paper, called the “liner”, that backs the adhesive. When the liner is peeled away, the other side of the adhesive is exposed, so that a second product (be it a mat blank or dust cover) can be pressed against it and stick. Due to the fact that both sides of the adhesive remain in play these tapes are often referred to as “double sided adhesive transfer tapes.”
ATG Tape
A kind of adhesive transfer tape atg tape and gun where the adhesive is “reverse injury” indicating the adhesive is wound on the outside of the roll, making it troublesome to work with by hand but suitable for usage in an adhesive transfer weapon where the tape is threaded around the roller at the nose of the weapon adhesive side out. The acronym A.T.G. means adhesive transfer weapon. To run the ATG weapon you squeeze the trigger, releasing the roller and after that press the nose against the surface area to be glued and draw back. The roller presents the double-sided adhesive, peeling up the liner as it goes, threading it back into the weapon. Clean and easy. Learn more
Handheld Adhesive Transfer Tape
This tape is for those who prefer to work with adhesive transfer tape by hand. With this tape, the adhesive is “interior injury” which implies the adhesive is turned to the inside as it comes off the roll, making it less of a trouble to deal with. Yet, for long term economy there is no real benefit to buying portable adhesive transfer tape except to avoid the one time expense of acquiring a tape applicator weapon, since ATG tape in fact costs a couple of cents less per backyard than portable adhesive transfer tape. Learn more
Acid Free ATG Tape
Acid free ATG tape provides an adhesive which contains no harmful acids. Acid is the bane of artwork. Offered enough time, in direct sunshine and high humidity, it can cause a hazy brown impact called “acid burn” that can devalue and destroy artwork. However keep in mind, adhesive transfer tape is hardly ever used to install artwork to a support board since it produces a permanent bond by sticking the artwork completely to the support so that it can not be gotten rid of. The very act of taping artwork completely to something devalues it. If adhesive transfer tape is used for this function it need to only be used to install artwork that is not likely to increase in value, such as posters or easily reproduceable photographic prints. Moreover, adhesive transfer tape can only be used in long strips, which implies the bond will not be uniform across the back of the product to be installed.
For permanent mounting it’s more effective to coat the product with adhesive, developing a uniform bond to avoid air pockets and creases. This is much better finished with self-adhesive foam board or PMA. So adhesive transfer tape is hardly ever used for mounting artwork, which can only cause the conclusion that it hardly ever contacts the artwork, and considering that the threat from acid burn takes place when the adhesive is in contact with the artwork, the requirement for an ATG tape that is acid free is rather questionable. Still, if you want to create a frame bundle that is totally acid free, acid free ATG tape is the answer. Learn more
Mounting and Hinging Tapes
Mounting tapes are designed specifically for the function of mounting artwork to a mat or support board. They are likewise used to connect the mat and the support board together along the leading edge, what is called “hinging”, so that they stay aligned in the frame. Paper mounting and hinging tapes are simply those where the tape itself is made from paper, instead of, say, linen or tissue, which have distinct advantages.
Lineco Linen Hinging Tape
This tape is matched for mounting heavy watercolor paper and big posters. It is preferred for its higher tensile strength as it will resist tearing under the weight of the artwork. Learn more
Lineco Self-Adhesive Hinging Tissue
This tape is used on lightweight or clear artwork, such as rice paper. Where other kinds of tape can be seen through the paper, mounting and hinging tissue is virtually invisible. Learn more
In application, mounting and hinging tapes are normally in contact with the artwork. Because of this, to be safe, the tapes need to be pH neutral or acid free, but considering that all mounting and hinging tapes are, as a matter of course, pH neutral or acid free, it’s a little like looking for a cars and truck with headlights. They all have that function, so we can take that as a offered and proceed. The two main qualities to search for in a mounting tape are ease-of-use and reversibility, and here one quality is often compromised against the other.
Framer’s Tape II
Finest when it comes to ease-of-use, Framer’s Tape II framers tape comes off the roll prepared to stick to no annoying liner to need to peel away, but it is only reversible with heat. Reversibility is the ability to launch the adhesive bond, making it unsticky so it can be peeled away from the artwork without tearing it. If you need to put the installed artwork in a heat press to reverse the bond, you can not successfully launch it unless you have a heat press. However, if the artwork is reasonably affordable and you can not predict the requirement to reverse the bond and you simply want a quick, easy way to install it, Framers Tape II is a excellent option. Learn more
Gummed Tape
Gummed tape is simply the opposite of Framers Tape II in regards to its qualities. It is not extremely easy to work with but it reverses easily. It’s a water activated tape which implies it will not end up being sticky up until you moisten it, and in this way it’s quite like a postage stamp and shares some of the very same downsides. A moistening bottle normally applies excessive or insufficient wetness, so you end up licking it for best outcomes. After you have actually licked mounting tape for awhile, self-adhesive tapes that come off the roll prepared to stick have an apparent appeal. On the other hand, gummed tapes can be launched easily with water. Just take the head of a Q-Tip, dip it in water, then work the head of the Q-Tip in under the tape and the adhesive will launch easily, letting the tape raise away and leaving no adhesive residue on the art. Learn more
AbacaSA Tape
This tape combines the thinness of paper tapes, so it will not deboss through lightweight paper, and the strength of linen tape. It’s a self-adhesive tape made from the fibers of the Abaca plant which resembles the thin fibers on the inside of a banana peel and are extraordinarily strong. Learn more
For more on appropriate framing using mounting tapes, and what to avoid when applying them, take a look at Vadim Makarov’s post How Not to Ruin Your Photo By Improper Framing.
Other Tapes
Acid Free Stitchery Tape
This is a double sided tape with a release paper liner for the quick and easy mounting of stitchery and needlework. It is applied to a mounting board and the release paper is peeled to expose the other side of the adhesive so that the needlework can be pressed against the adhesive and stuck down. Sticking needlework to tape is not the best way to preserve it over the long term considering that needlework benefits from air blood circulation through its fibers, but for needlework that is not likely to increase in value in time, it’s a much faster and simpler method than extending and pinning the needlework to the substrate. Lots of expert framers recommend the use of needlework tape to their clients when the clients balk at the high expense of extending and pinning, which is so lengthy to the framer. Well over half the needlework you see installed is installed with needlework tape. Learn more
Self-Adhesive Frame Sealing Tape
This is an aluminum backed tape used quality sealing tape to seal the inside of a wood frame’s rabbet to prevent acid migration. Acid can move from the wood into whatever the wood is in contact with, and offered enough time, can cause acid burn because product. The stack of matboard, foamboard and glass that you place in the recess (the “rabbet”) at the back of the wood frame, contacts the wood along the edges and is for that reason vulnerable to acid contamination. By using Frame Sealing Tape along the rabbet, an aluminum barrier is put in place to contain acid migration and prevent the contents from coming down with acid burn. Learn more
White Artist’s Tape & Acid Free Masking Tape
These are best used to seal the edges of the stack of matboard, foamboard and glass prior to putting them in the frame recess. When you place the stack in the recess and press downto insert points or brads, the pressing and releasing of the stack can create a bellows impact which can suction lint and dust into the frame area. By sealing the edges of the stack with white artists tape or acid free masking tape, you prevent particles from going into the frame area and avoid needing to get rid of the contents to pick out dust and lint from the inside of the glass. Learn more
Healing Tissue & File Repair Work Tape
These are used to repair tears in art on paper. The healing tissue is applied to the face of the art, whereas the repair work tape is used on the back. Learn more
This is an summary of the available tapes and adhesives you’ll find at Framing4Yourself. Remember, nobody does more to keep you notified and lead you to the best possible decisions by comparing products like tapes and adhesives in posts like these. At Framing4Yourself we’re your partner in framing.