Signing Prints

monkeyleader

monkeyleader

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Nigel
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Morning all,

I've been asked by a friend for whom I am creating a print to sign it .... I've never signed any of my prints, mainly as (wait for it) I don't actually have a signature - trust me it's bit me in the ass a few times ... So he really (REALLY) wants me to sign it and I'm wondering what kind of pen (or pencil?) you would use.

The paper is Gloss (Fotospeed Platinum Baryta) although I also print on matt papers as well...

Suggestions?

cheers,

Nigel
 
I've just tried this with a sharpie pen (permanent marker) on a damaged piece of that paper(FS Baryta) and it worked fine - didn't smudge when touched and seems - well permanent! Also tried an ordinary BIC ballpoint, worked fine too (obviously dents the paper) and also a Winsor & Newton Promarker, which also worked perfectly. So I'd say anything you have. Haven't tried a fountain pen as none of mine have ink in them ...
 
Something like a permanent marker if signing the print, or a good quality dark ink pen if signing the mount. Leave afterwards for a few minutes to let the ink dry fully.
 
Oh and I think it's quite nice to sign. Have some fun and number the image?
 
It would be more normal for any signature to be on the mount - which would of course be an off-white acid-free board?

But each to their own ..
 
Byker28i said:
What would you suggest instead for this?
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Dunno, it's never occurred to me to do it and I'm not up on permanent marker varieties. But it's got to have a defined line not a smudgy one. Do they exist? And it's going to need a confident hand ...!
 
droj said:
It would be more normal for any signature to be on the mount - which would of course be an off-white acid-free board?

But each to their own ..
Click to expand...

Sorry but i cannot agree with this, it's never normal to sign a mount and it's very much not recommended, artists should only ever sign their work. As a printer and a framer this is advice I give to all my customers.

Mounts and images can be swapped around by nefarious people and signatures against glass can get smudged.

Signing the print shows that not only have you seen it but that you also approve it.

My preferred approach is pencil on matte paper in a margin around the image, then mounted.

Mount_Corner.jpg
 
Other concerns: 1) Archival isn't necessarily the same as light-fast; 2) Might the ink / solvent whatever react with the print?

Unlocker said:
Mounts and images can be swapped around by nefarious people
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I doubt that we're in the realm of high art here where that could be a concern.

But I'm all for pencil, and pencil ain't gonna smudge?

Regarding authenticity, a print might better be signed on the back.

Inscriptions on mounts (often in pencil) are quite normal.

The portion of print shown with typeset wording in the border looks horribly commercial.
 
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droj said:
Other concerns: 1) Archival isn't necessarily the same as light-fast; 2) Might the ink / solvent whatever react with the print?

I doubt that we're in the realm of high art here where that could be a concern.

But I'm all for pencil, and pencil ain't gonna smudge?

Regarding authenticity, a print might better be signed on the back.

Inscriptions on mounts (often in pencil) are quite normal.

The portion of print shown with typeset wording in the border looks horribly commercial.
Click to expand...

It's a lot easier to remove doubt than it becoming a concern by just not letting it happen in the first place.

Pencil won't smudge behind glass if there is a mount between the print and the glass. It WILL smudge if it is ON the mount and against the glass.

Signing the back as well is very good practice, just ensure you are using thick enough paper for it to not show.

Selling prints is commercial, so I chose a professional look for mine, I understand it's not to everyone's taste.

If you are going to inscribe the mount, get them professionally embossed, don't use pen or pencil as it will be against the glass and will smudge over time. This might not be financially viable for a single print sale though but worth looking into if you like the look and want to sell your print in the future. Don't forget, accidents do happen, we repair them all the time, if a mount gets damaged (and they do) it is easily replaceable if it has nothing on it, not so easy if it does. Replacement signatures are not easy to get, so sign the work not the mount.

There's no hard and fast rules here at all but being sensible makes all the difference in how it looks, not just now but in the future too.
 
monkeyleader said:
Morning all,

I've been asked by a friend for whom I am creating a print to sign it .... I've never signed any of my prints, mainly as (wait for it) I don't actually have a signature - trust me it's bit me in the ass a few times ... So he really (REALLY) wants me to sign it and I'm wondering what kind of pen (or pencil?) you would use.

The paper is Gloss (Fotospeed Platinum Baryta) although I also print on matt papers as well...

Suggestions?

cheers,

Nigel
Click to expand...
You cannot not have a signature - it is just your name in handwriting (I am, of course, assuming you can write! ;)). I sign mine in soft pencil (2B) on the back. Cannot damage the print, even over a long time or adverse storage conditions. I date the print at the same time just incase I am ever really famous. I would not use any type of ink as the solvent could bleed through the paper eventually and damage the image.
 
Marker pens, even those sold as 'permanent', will fade with time. I have never known marker pen writing to last as long as a decade which is not long for a print.
 
We always sign on the print itself, all prints are designed with a clear border for that purpose. We use a mix of a simple graphite pencil on papers that take it, on others we use pigment ink based pens. Currently it is Graphik Line Maker at 0.3 in Graphite colour which matches our B pencil colour quite well.
 
I was recently asked to do this and so bought a uni paint marker in silver (extra fine) from millers.
Most of my images have black backgrounds so this worked well.

I add a digital sig in the corner as standard

I think most of the prints i've bought have had some kind of sig on the bottom corner or elsewhere, but usually on the image, not the border or mount.
 
momoka said:
We always sign on the print itself, all prints are designed with a clear border for that purpose. We use a mix of a simple graphite pencil on papers that take it, on others we use pigment ink based pens. Currently it is Graphik Line Maker at 0.3 in Graphite colour which matches our B pencil colour quite well.
Click to expand...

I always print with a border since my course as it's something my tutors always insisted on. I have a custom template in Lightroom print module I created to match their requirement.
 
viewfromthenorth said:
The research I did on this some time ago suggested using a pigment ink pen, can’t remember the whys and wherefore’s though now.
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About 20 years ago I went to register my father's death. The Registrar filled in various forms with ballpoint, then reached into a drawer and pulled out the Register itself, then got an ink bottle and a dipping pen. He wrote the entry into the register and signed it, both with this pen. I was intrigued (being interested in archival matters in another realm). Apparently this was a legal requirement; the forms only needed to be readable until entered into the computer system, whereas the Register was expected to exist for hundreds of years. For that you need proper archival ink. I'm not really trying to imply that prints such as the OP describes will last for similar lengths of time, but I thought it was interesting!
 
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