Don't print much? This post won't be very interesting to you. Print small and on sheets? Again, not necessary to read on. But, print with a larger printer and print from rolls and you know very well what the problem is. Most roll papers will not lie flat when printed. This is fine if the print is going right into a frame or is being mounted. But for prints made to be viewed in portfolios this has "high suckage". This means most of us prefer to print from sheets when we can. This has numerous drawbacks. Sheets cost more as we are paying more for packaging and shipping (and throwing away more packaging when we're finished). Sheet sizes are limited and stop at 22 x 17 inches for most companies. Epson is the only one I know of that makes its Exhibition Fiber paper in the 24 x 30 inch size. If you've seen any of my work over the past year or so, you know I've been printing on this paper quite often. Open a presentation portfolio in any size that's printed from a roll and it is apparent right away as the paper has a curl to it that just won't quit. To me this presents the artist's work poorly.

Is there an answer? Weights on prints over night is a classic solution but is space inefficient and often doesn't really do it. Plus if there is any dust you have the chance of imbedding it in your print. Well, I believe there is a solution now. I just bought something called the D Roller and here is a demo made the first time I used it.

The D-Roller is a fairly heavy tube that unrolls with a sheet of plastic affixed to it. This is mine on my dining room table. This D-Roller is 50 inches wide and made by Beinfang.

You put your curled print on the sheet face up.

Wait a bit (I waited about 20 seconds).

And unroll your print. 

Damn! How cool is that? I hope Eric Luden (DSI), Paul Sneyd (Panopticon Imaging) and Jonathan Singer (Singer Editions) get to read this as this could change their lives.

The D-Roller is available from Aztek.com

Brilliant.