How To Use Double Sided Tape

Posted by Jo Murphy Jun 27, 2007

People create albums of photos, original artwork or prints because they are precious. The materials we use need to be suitable for the purpose or damage to the treasured pieces may occur. When creating the Zillmere Story Book we used Double Sided Tape to adhere the images to the pages.

Traditional glue or spray adhesive glue was not suitable for this purpose because the artwork may have

• buckled
• bubbled
• been damaged by the spray
• or become polluted by acidity

Conventional tape could not have worked because

• It would need to be turned back on itself creating a bulk beneath the art piece
• it does not allow for the tape to be applied first to one side and then placed on the desired area later
• its use would be too time consuming
• although more expensive using the tape saved time. money and stress by the end of the project

How Double Sided Tape Works.

In the preparation phase of the project we

1. selected and categorised appropriate work
2. trimmed and cleaned each piece setting it aside with the name and writing of each participant
3. placed tape around the edge of each side of the back of the work
4. trimmed off excess tape protruding over the edge of the work as this could cause pages of the book to stick together
5. peeled the backing of the tape from the artwork
6. stood directly in front of the black card to which it was to be adhered
7. lined it up and positioned it
8. once positioned - ran across the surface of the work with a flat piece of card to press down firmly and release any air bubbles
9. the next step was to trim the card so that only a slim black edge were showing
10. this trimmed and carded work was then put through the same process only this time lined up and adhered directly to the pages of the book

The result of using this tape was for the most part precise neatness.

• Very occasionally something went wrong.
• A carded piece may have been slightly misaligned.
• During the planning stage eventualities such as this were predicted
• Very fine black felt tipped pen lines were used to realign work and neaten and straggled edges.
• Although this process required double handling of work the results were improved by being patient with it
• I will use Double Sided Tape again if ever asked to complete a similar project

If you would like to read more about how the book was made please explore these articles

The Zillmere Story Book (How it was made)

The Zillmere Story Book Project: Getting Involved In The Arts Through Your Local Library