Go to: Fusing Photographs
Concern yourself with the archival/lightfast state of the ink and paper. Even under a layer of wax or protective coating (UV or not), if the ink is not lightfast/archival- it will eventually fade; and if the paper is not archival it can yellow, become brittle, and typical reactions attributed to non archival material.
With the encaustic process avoid any kind of varnish or coating that a manufacturer can put onto your picture. In most likelihood that coating will react by shrinking when heated or other adverse reaction.
Ink bleeding may occur when either brushed, poured, or dipped in wax and can be discovered by simply testing it. Brushing is obviously more aggressive and will make it bleed more so than pouring or dipping; if it bleeds at all. There are so many different ink manufacturers out there that it is practically impossible to know how they will all react.
Affordability can become an issue when testing or when you don't want to ruin a perfectly good picture every time you test. When testing, have an extra strip/line printed above, below, or along the side of the image, cut that off, and then test the strip.
And one last thing, the longer you leave the ink jet print sit, the better- give it some time to set in.
Concern yourself with the archival/lightfast state of the ink and paper. Even under a layer of wax or protective coating (UV or not), if the ink is not lightfast/archival- it will eventually fade; and if the paper is not archival it can yellow, become brittle, and typical reactions attributed to non archival material.
With the encaustic process avoid any kind of varnish or coating that a manufacturer can put onto your picture. In most likelihood that coating will react by shrinking when heated or other adverse reaction.
Ink bleeding may occur when either brushed, poured, or dipped in wax and can be discovered by simply testing it. Brushing is obviously more aggressive and will make it bleed more so than pouring or dipping; if it bleeds at all. There are so many different ink manufacturers out there that it is practically impossible to know how they will all react.
Affordability can become an issue when testing or when you don't want to ruin a perfectly good picture every time you test. When testing, have an extra strip/line printed above, below, or along the side of the image, cut that off, and then test the strip.
And one last thing, the longer you leave the ink jet print sit, the better- give it some time to set in.
