Have you ever had your digital print form bubbles under the laminate or have the colour not come out as accurately as you need it to be? That’s probably because you didn’t let the gas evaporate from the ink in your digital print. Outgassing is an important step in the printing process and can have some negative implications if it is forfeited.
Outgassing is the process of letting the ink completely dry out by allowing the gas in the ink to evaporate so that it doesn’t get trapped in the lamination process. When the gas gets trapped under the laminate, bubbles can form underneath the laminate causing the laminate to eventually fail. The colour of the ink from when you first print out your digital prints differs from when you’ve allowed your print to completely dry out. This is simply because the ink hasn’t dried out completely. Laminating your print before you’ve allowed it to dry out completely (or outgassed the ink) then this can have an effect on the accuracy of the colour on your final product. Albeit quite minimal, a small difference can escalate into something bigger further down the line.
Outgassing when framing art prints behind glass is also just as important. The gas in the print will still attempt to escape from the ink and in turn mystify the glass.
It’s important to allow at least 24-48 hours for the ink to outgas before applying the laminate or framing your print with glass. Heat and air movement is ideal for your print to allow it to outgas adequately. Letting the print hang in a warm studio or in a place where it can get air movement is the best way to let it outgas sufficiently.