using polyurethane on photo

[laniemay]

I am the VBS director at our church this year but I am not really very crafty. I want to take a picture of our church and put it on a stained piece of oak wood, then I want to polyurethane it to protect it. Can I do that with a color photo? I am sure this is a unusally simple question but I just don't want to ruin the photos. I am going to give these to the VBS workers this year, We will be building a new building next year and I know that they will appreciate a picture of the "Old church" Thank you

[RufflyRustic]

Have a look at Glass Coat. It's used on craft work and should - read check first - should be ok for photos too.

cheers
Wendy

[BobL]

If you want the photo to last for more than just a couple of years then framed under glass, (hung away from direct sunlight) is still one of the best long term solutions around. Professional sealed glass framing is best but a good second is mounting in a cheap frame (still under glass).

Cheers

[Arch Stanton]

G'day mate,

I am going to be in the same boat soon. I'm making a clock following plans in a book which say glue paper clock face to a piece of wood and apply 2 coats of clear finish.

I've just had a quick look around the www and found a few references to the art of Decoupag.

Do a google on Decoupage and see what you can come up with. The first site I saw was http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/dec.../a/012201a.htm and they say:

"Sealer - You can use your decoupage medium or glue as a final coat, or you can use, polyurethane, acrylic spray, etc. "

I've never done this before but will be having a look at it in the near future.

Brian

[Black Ned]

Keep in mind that normal (turps clean up ) polyurethane will yellow over time and will affect the viewabillity of the photo.

Use (water clean up ) polyurethane as it drys clear and does not yellow.

[soundman]

there are problems with applying finishes over paper. the resins get into the paper making it translucent, but not consistently.

there are sealers specificaly designed to seal paper prior to overlaying with varnishes and pouring epoxies.

generlay you also use these as the mounting glue, folowed by coating the surface.

with photos you may need to experiment..... different photographic papers will react differently, some are plain others are plastic coated.

cheers