# How do I glue photos to cardstock?



## Imzadi

(Editted for clarity.)

I have 8x10 photos printed from my computer, on rather thin photo paper - for my needs. I routinely mail 8x10 photos for a business presentation and usually get the photos professionally printed on a cardstock-thick photo paper. (Way expensive!) They have to be able to be picked up & not appear flimsy. I'd like to mount these photos on a cardstock backing of the same size so it appears to be all one card. 

What glues or adhesive should I use that will be rather permanent, yet not crinkle the photos? They already have a few buckles from the printing. 8x10 is rather a large area to glue down.

Has anyone used spray adhesives? Will this hold?
I'm not worried about archival quality, the photos will be tossed in about  a month after the presentation. I just need something that will stick, but not buckle the paper. Thanks!


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## ToDisney

You can get some photo tabs.  When matting photos, you don't want to adhere the WHOLE entire photo... just the corners are enough.  For an 8x10, you can even use a couple of extra tabs, but there's no need for something like spray ahesive.


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## pattyT

I find spray adheseive REALLY sticky and hard to work with!
I only use it when it is something ODD that neads to stick to something of an odd shape... kwim
double sided tape should work for you too


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## MissionMouse

They make photography mounting paper (acid free) which is a form of adhesive which is layered between the photograph and the mounting board. It sort of looks like a very thin sheet of compressed fiberglass or a lense cleaning tissue. You activate it by heat. They have special machines to do this but you can do it with an iron and towel too...of course using caution and the appropriate temperature setting.

This is the safest way to mount photos. Any other forms have a high probablity to chemically interact with the photo paper of the photograph which will discolor or bleed right through to the surface of the photo itself.

The adhesive photo mounting paper which you can trim to anysize smaller is typically available in photography stores.


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## C.Ann

MissionMouse said:
			
		

> This is the safest way to mount photos. Any other forms have a high probablity to chemically interact with the photo paper of the photograph which will discolor or bleed right through to the surface of the photo itself.


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That's interesting.. Do they use different kinds of photo paper these days?  I have an album of my mother's that has photos glued in there from 60+ years ago and they haven't deteriorated at all.. Ditto for photos of my own that were glued into the old-fashioned scrap books (remember the ones with the black or off-white paper?) a good 40 years ago..


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## MissionMouse

It's a combination of all the materials, but the longest lasting photographs are black and white, but this can be impacted by adding a glue to the backside of the photo. I would suspect a 60 year old photo may be a B&W. This is often why professional photographers provide B&W photos when they take wedding pictures. 

Paper technology has advanced, but thickness of the paper does provide a level of a barrier between the reactive photopaper and non recommended adhesive glue which could breakdown the photo paper. A photo archivist could easily point to the indicators of a photo that clearly illustrate how a specific photo is breaking down. It's sad, but every photo is slowly breaking down...no photo last forever, but using specific material do make them last longer.

The mounting board also can impact the photo quality too, this is why mounting photos is similar to techniques applied by scrapbookers who soley use acid free materials but will we actually live long enough to see if the manufacturers claims are accurate? 

If photographs are not properly processes (washed) during development this will impact the quality of the photograph over time too, but so will developing photos with old chemicals. So in the scheme of things it is a personal choice, but people should be aware you stand a of chance of harming a photograph by applying craft glues to the backside of the photo. It's a combination of factors working together that can make a photo last or break down, just like single weight photo paper will be at higher risk than double weight. In time everything will break down...its just a matter of how long do you want it to last?


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## C.Ann

MissionMouse said:
			
		

> It's a combination of all the materials, but the longest lasting photographs are black and white, but this can be impacted by adding a glue to the backside of the photo. I would suspect a 60 year old photo may be a B&W. This is often why professional photographers provide B&W photos when they take wedding pictures.
> 
> Paper technology has advanced, but thickness of the paper does provide a level of a barrier between the reactive photopaper and non recommended adhesive glue which could breakdown the photo paper. A photo archivist could easily point to the indicators of a photo that clearly illustrate how a specific photo is breaking down. It's sad, but every photo is slowly breaking down...no photo last forever, but using specific material do make them last longer.
> 
> The mounting board also can impact the photo quality too, this is why mounting photos is similar to techniques applied by scrapbookers who soley use acid free materials but will we actually live long enough to see if the manufacturers claims are accurate?
> 
> If photographs are not properly processes (washed) during development this will impact the quality of the photograph over time too, but so will developing photos with old chemicals. So in the scheme of things it is a personal choice, but people should be aware you stand a of chance of harming a photograph by applying craft glues to the backside of the photo. It's a combination of factors working together that can make a photo last or break down, just like single weight photo paper will be at higher risk than double weight. In time everything will break down...its just a matter of how long do you want it to last?


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Thanks for that info!  Very interesting.. Are you a photographer by any chance?  

It's certainly true that photos won't last forever.. I have some photos that were taken of my Dad back in 1987 and although they were stored properly and not in a scrapbook, they have pretty much faded away.. Yet other color photos that are many years older are fine..  

Guess it's a good idea to make assorted copies of important photos via traditional methods, scanner, professional copiers, etc. just to be safe..


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## goofymom/pop

Go to Staples and buy a can of 3M Spray Mount. This is not cheap $12 or so. You must use this in a well ventilated area. Then you want to cut your thin board or heavy paper to size (8x10). Spray the backing material on one side only, NOT YOUR PHOTO....carefully starting at one end place you photo exactly on top. Then roll with a brayer or a rolling pin gently but firmly over the top of the photo. Allow a few minutes to dry. Voila your done. This is what we use at work, and we use a high pressure press to adhere the photos, or posters. But with something this small you can do it by hand. The can of spray mount will do alot of pics and will not damage your photo. 

Are these photos of things you want to scrapbook later on? If so I would print them seperately for the albums and use the mounted ones for your presentations. I do not recommend mounting this into a scrapbook.

Oh and if you get a little rough edge of spray mount on the photo. Wait til dry and run a emery board around the edge very gently. 

hope this helps.


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## FantasticDisFamily

I'd second the spray mount idea for photos being used in a presentation.  Much more professional looking.  A single can of spray adhesive will last a REALLY long time.

Deb


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