Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/11/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Adam Bridge asked: Subject: Re: [Leica] A question on signing prints > Uh.....I know this is probably a really dumb question Ted...but WHY > don't you sign the print? The signature belongs with the image not > whatever it might be temporarily mounted on.<<< Hi Adam, Regardless of artists who paint their name onto the canvas, my reason for not signing on the actual photograph goes way back to days at the National Film Board of Canada and our super boss, affectionately known as the "Dragon Lady" who hammered into any assigned photogs "do not sign the photograph!" If you did you were in deep do-do! :-). Sign on the rebate, actual border of the print or on the back. Use a B6 soft lead pencil if it were a matte print on front. Or if glossy, sign on the back. Her reason was the signature on the "photograph" was a distraction from the photo itself. It wasn't there at the time of the exposure, so why put it in your photograph after the fact? So this is my reason for not signing on the "actual exposed area" of the print. I either sign a print on the edge re-bate or on the back. And when a print has been matted for framing if the re-bate area is covered, I sign on the matte. > But, on a follow up, do you identify a print as being yours at all?>>>> Yes always. Even right from the beginning of my days I had a small rubber stamp and stamped name, address, phone number etc on the back. Trust me when a client orders 100 8X10's over night the last thing you do is.... stamp 100 prints before delivery! :-( I always tried to get one of my son's or daughter's hooked into that chore. ;-) > know Ansel used a rubber stamp on the back of his images (or I THINK I > know this). But with inkjet prints I've not been sure that it's a good > idea.<<<<<< Inkjet prints I hand sign them on the rebate or on the back. I use a fine/micro point sharpie black pen, so far I've not had any complaints nor bleed through. However if it's matte surface paper I use the same old lead pencil as on the wet tray prints when using matte paper. The other thing that goes on the back is a number of the negative so if more prints are required we know where to get it. On some occasions a caption or ID info is put on the back. ted