Hahnemühle Discusses Their ‘Green’ Production Processes

LexJet is a proud reseller of Hahnemühle FineArt papers for inkjet photo and fine-art printing. So we are pleased to share this paper that Hahnemϋhle recently released describing the environmentally friendly production processes used in their papermaking.

Hahnemühle FineArt GmbH located in Dassel, Germany celebrated its 425th anniversary this year, making it one of the world’s oldest continuously trading paper mills. Throughout its history, Hahnemühle has been uniquely sensitive to environmental issues in an industry that is notorious for its exploitation of the natural world. Today Hahnemühle continues to lead with its innovative and infinitely sustainable production processes.

Joerg Adomat, Hahnemuhle CEO

Joerg Adomat, Hahnemühle CEO, states, “The green rooster, the brother of the Hahnemühle red rooster, was created to show that we care about the environment. Caring means offering environmentally sound products, using green power production and sponsoring environmental initiatives. In doing so, last year we saved 3000 tons of carbon dioxide, introduced bamboo fiber and sugar cane waste- based papers and donated more than $100,000 to environmental initiatives.”

The main resources necessary for the production of paper are water, pulp and a tremendous amount of electrical energy. Hahnemühle has addressed all of these from a product quality and sustainability perspective:

Water: The Hahnemühle paper mill was originally established on the banks of the pure, spring-fed Ilme river near the town of Dassel in the beautiful Solling region of Lower Saxony, Germany. Today this region has been designated as a Nature Protection Area by a European Flora Fauna Habitat directive. As a resident of this beautiful area, Hahnemühle has adapted sustainable fresh water and contaminant-free sewage recycling programs that exceed even the most stringent FFH directives. Now, 425 years later, the water of the Ilme is still classified as “drinking quality”!

Pulp: The Hahnemühle product portfolio encompasses more than 500 different types of fine art, filter and technical papers, many of which are used in precision industrial and medical applications that require the highest degree of purity. Since many of these applications rule out the use of recycled paper fibers, the importance of using sustainable forest resources becomes paramount to our green initiatives.

We use pulp from 20 different deciduous and conifer tree species worldwide and insist that our suppliers be certified for sustainable forestry practices that meet or exceed the equivalent of Forest Stewardship Council directives.

In addition to wood pulp, we also use six different types of cotton linters and rags made from the super-soft, non-aging fibers of totally renewable cotton plant seed vessels. In recent years Hahnemühle has developed two new “green” papers that have been added to the Digital FineArt Collection. The first was Bamboo 290gsm made from the fast growing fibers of the bamboo plant. The latest is Sugar Cane 300gsm, 75% of which is made from bagasse fibers, a by-product of sugar cane processing that would otherwise be burned. Cotton fibers gleaned from recycling our own paper waste make up the remaining 25%.

Electricity: The production of paper is an energy-intensive process; most of which is electrical. In January of 2009, Hahnemühle switched to one of Europe’s most eco-friendly electrical energy providers called LichtBlick. The power provided by this company is generated entirely from easily sustainable power sources. No atomic, coal, gas or petroleum fuels are used. This will allow us to eliminate approximately 3,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually, a figure that roughly equals our total paper production for a year!

Recycling: Whenever possible, we process our own paper trimming waste and return it directly into the production cycle. The excess waste trimmings that we cannot use are accumulated and forwarded to other fabricators, effectively eliminating virtually all our mill waste. Finally, all Hahnemühle packaging is made from fully recyclable materials. For more information visit www.green-rooster.com or www.hahnemuhledirect.com.

LexJet sells two Hahnemühle canvases (in sheets and rolls) and 22 different types of papers from the Hahnemühle Digital FineArt collection, including Hahnemühle’s environmentally friendly Bamboo 290 g and Sugar Cane 300 g papers.

Call a LexJet account specialist at 800-453-9538 for personalized assistance in selecting the right Hahnemuhle materials for your printmaking requirements and fast, economical delivery of your order.

Catalog Showcases Materials for Inkjet Photo and Art Printing

Many posts on this blog showcase some of the creative ways that photographers and artists are using some of the materials they have purchased from LexJet, including Water-Resistant Satin Cloth, Absolute Backlit Film, and Sunset Photo eSatin Paper 300g.

You can see additional examples of how photographers and artists are using LexJet materials by downloading a copy of the 2009 Edition of the The LexJet Catalog for the Professional Photographer and Fine-Art Printmaker 

The 28-page catalog also lists roll size, sheet size, and pricing details about many of the inkjet-printable materials available from LexJet, including:

• LexJet Sunset Photo Paper
• LexJet Sunset Fibre-Based Paper
• LexJet Sunset Fine Art Paper
• LexJet  Sunset Select Gloss and Matte Canvases
• LexJet Instant-Dry Satin Canvas
• LexJet Inkjet Paper
• Hahnemuhle Fine Art Paper
• EPSON Professional Media

 The catalog also highlights:

•  LexJet Specialty Films
• LexJet Adhesive-Backed Media (including Photo Tex PSA)
• LexJet Banner Media, (including Water-Resistant Satin Cloth
• 3P Inkjet Textiles
• Pigment Inks for Epson, Canon and HP Printers
• Hahnemuhle Standard and PRO Galerie Wrap Stretcher Bars
• LexJet I-Banner Spring Back Banner Stands
• Banner Finishing Accessories
• Sunset Coating

Most of the materials in the catalog are designed for use on the Canon imagePROGRAF, HP Designjet, and Epson Stylus Pro  inkjet printers that use aqueous dye or pigment inks. However, the catalog also features LexJet papers, canvases, banner materials, adhesive-backed media, and specialty films that are used by higher-volume printmakers who use the Epson Stylus Pro GS6000 and other printers that use solvent or UV-curable (SUV) inks.

The catalog lists only some of the products LexJet carries and more products are being added all the time. As the imaging business continues to evolve, LexJet can provide the equipment, supplies, and knowledge you need to adapt.

Over the past 15 years, LexJet account specialists have helped thousands of photography studios, fine-art printmakers, service bureaus, and printing companies discover new ways to profit from printing. We can help your imaging business too!  To learn more, visit www.lexjet.com or call an account specialist at 800-453-9538.

Along with traditional photo and art papers, LexJet sells materials that can be used to print promotional graphics. For example, Picture This Photography in Avon, IN used AquaVinyl adhesive-backed vinyl from LexJet to print these graphics for the vehicles the studio uses to store and haul props. LexJet account specialists can provide tips on how to produce, apply and remove these types of graphics, which can be a cost-effective way to promote your studio wherever you go.

Choose the Right Inkjet Paper for Competition Prints

The Soloist by Jeff Bowman was honored as Best High School Senior Portrait in the VPPA Print Competition.

By Kelly Price

Entering prints in competitions sponsored by organizations such as the PPA and WPPI can be a great way to learn how to improve your photography and market your work. To ensure that your images will look their very best when viewed under competition lighting, it’s important to choose the right photo paper.

One person who has mastered the art of making competition prints is Jeff Bowman, CPP, Master Photographer of Commonwealth Photography in Chester, VA.  In an album on Commonwealth’s Facebook fan page, you can see some of the 27 blue-ribbon-winning prints that Jeff created for himself and five other photographers who entered the statewide competition of the Virginia Professional Photographers Association earlier this year.

Jeff took home the Grand Photographic Award for having the print case with the most credits earned in total this year. His prints won awards for Best High School Senior portrait, Best Group portrait, and Illustrative Court of Honor.  Bowman also produced six blue-ribbon-award-winning prints for Pete Wright, five blue ribbon-award-winning prints for James Cook, four for Julie Bowman, and one for Liliana Wright. Jessica Robertson was named Best Newcomer for having the highest-scoring print for a first-time entrant.

Art Exhibit Uses Recycled Photo Printing Materials

By Bill Weiser

I always love hearing from LexJet customers who are pushing the creative boundaries of inkjet photo and art printing. 

Recently, I learned about a unique new art exhibit crafted from recycled photo-printing materials. The concept for the Recycling, Relationships, and Rewards exhibit originated with Josh Mitchell, a long-time commercial photographer who is now passionately involved in mixed-media printmaking and fine-art photography in his studio and art gallery in Springfield, MO.  The art exhibit made its debut at the Josh Mitchell Fine Art Gallery in April.

The show’s two main pieces Hanging Cartridges and Rhythm and Hues are made from waste materials that Josh had saved during the past two years of using his Epson Stylus Pro 9800 to print images for individual and corporate clients.

 

Hanging Cartridges

Hanging Cartridges is a ceiling-to-floor suspension mobile made from more than 360 plastic inkjet cartridges.  Josh came up with the idea then worked with Drury University student architect Justin Petersburg to figure out how to create the piece. Although the idea itself was simple, the process of building the mobile was more complex. That’s because they wanted to design the mobile so that it could be transported and reassembled at another site, perhaps in different configuration.

Each cartridge was dipped in a highly saturated cyan, yellow, magenta or black enamel paint, then strung with monofilament line to a wooden stick. In Josh’s gallery, the cartridges were suspended in  multiple rows. A wall of rows starts near the ceiling then tapers off toward the floor, giving the whole thing a suspension-bridge-like look. A ceiling fan causes a gentle movement within the mobile and cross-lighting causes the monofilament lines to glow.

Josh says that visitors to the gallery were wowed when they saw the mobile: “They wanted to walk through it and touch it.” In addition to inspiring thoughts of recycling, he said the mobile triggered questions about inkjet printing.  Josh says few people ever stop and think about what colors are used in their inkjet printers or what type of printers are used to create the prints displayed on the walls of his gallery. He thinks the display helped open that discussion and may help build a greater respect for professional-quality printing.    

Josh started hanging onto his empty ink cartridges long before cartridge recycling became so easy and popular. He told me, “My printers give me such joy, that the cartridges represented something to me. So I just kept saving them until I had filled garbage bags with the cartridges.”

The idea for turning the cartridges into an art piece occurred to Josh earlier this year, as it was becoming clear that public interest in recycling was on the rise.  

 

Rhythm and Hues

Rhythm and Hues  is a six-foot, woven wall hanging that Josh Mitchell and artist Macklin Rice pieced together from scraps of inkjet paper and canvas test prints that Josh had collected over the past year.  Josh says he had made smaller photo weavings in the past, combining a black-and-white print with color photograph, for example. But he was curious to see if he could create something bigger. 

Josh devised the plan to put strips with cooler tones in one quadrant and strips with warmer tones in a different quadrant, and then use a section of neutral-toned strips to separate them. But he wasn’t sure how to make the wall hanging stable and transportable until Macklin suggested using chicken wire.

To create the finished piece, Josh and Macklin wove ¼-in, ½ in., and 1-in. strips through the wire. After they had achieved the waves of colors and degree of dimensionality they had envisioned, Josh sprayed the piece with protective clearcoat to help ensure that the woven wall hanging would retain its color.  

Rhthym and Hues is so unique and timely that the piece was immediately accepted for inclusion in a juried exhibition at Webster University in St. Louis. After that exhibition, it will then be installed in the lobby of the YMCA in downtown Springfield.

One of the reasons Josh created the exhibit was to remind people to “Get away from the throw away.” Josh believes that the collaborative nature of creating the 3D exhibit captured the true spirit of sustainability. As Mitchell puts it, “Recycling fosters relationships. You can’t build complex things alone and recycling can be made bigger by all of us pitching in small things.”

He hopes the art pieces will help inspire community residents to collaborate in finding beautiful new ways to use items that otherwise might be discarded. 

I am glad that Josh told me about his exhibit. At LexJet, we believe in recycling. Through our Sustainable Solutions, we are empowering our customers in the digital photography and wide-format printing industries with education, products, and programs geared toward reducing our environmental impact.

 

As Justin Petersburg worked on the mobile, the painted cartridges dripped as they swung, creating wavy lines on the drop cloth. For the exhibit, Mitchell converted the drop cloths into 9 x 12 ft. canvases that he hung on the gallery walls.