Craftin Kate Most of our gels come in THREE finishes: Gloss, Semi-Gloss and Matte. The difference is the amount of matte particles in the gel. Gloss does not contain any matte particles, acrylic is inherently glossy (shiny surface) and when you add matte particles, the surface is not as glossy (shiny) and the gel is not as clear, it becomes a slightly white or translucent as you add more matte particles. Uncoated paper, like newsprint, watercolor paper or most handmade papers, are not shiny. To keep that matte look, but give papers a clear coating, use Semi Gloss or Matte gels as adhesive OR finish your artwork with a matte topcoat or varnish.

Hello Teresa! I actually sent your question to the product support team and they have an answer for you... but it's a little more than will fit in a reply here. If you contact them by email: help@goldenpaints.com they'll give you a thorough answer.

+GoldenPaints Thank you! I will contact them tonight. I appreciate your quick response.

It should be possible to adhere paper to aluminum panels with Soft Gel Gloss or a similar gel. To prepare the aluminum panel, we recommend scuffing the surface with sandpaper and degreasing with isopropyl alcohol or a detergent. You can then proceed to adhere the paper. For optimal adhesion it’s best to apply a direct to metal primer first to the cleaned aluminum panel. Here is a video that shows how to proceed when adhering paper to panel: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nc1yZNmWttPbfok.html

Hello Martha! We have a range of mediums, and it is likely that other folks are referring to either Fluid Matte Medium or Matte Medium (usually next to each other at the art supply store). That Fluid Matte Medium is what Melanie uses in our "Fast Image Transfer Video" - Matte Medium is also fluid, but a little thicker and with a higher amount of matting solids. For collage, most of the mediums will work fine, but you get greater clarity and adhesion without matting solids. So, a Semi-Gloss Gel will be excellent for collage and the viscosity is mostly a matter of preference unless you need to fill gaps between two pieces going into the collage, in which case higher viscosity can be helpful.

GoldenPaints Thank you! Unfortunately, I used the regular gel matte medium over top of papers I had glued onto my journal page, but the papers I was collaging on started to wrinkle and pull up off the page, rather than adhere to the page. I guess I can't use this overtop of already dried collage materials? I am not sure where I went wrong. :-(

Hello Martha, sorry for the difficulty you experience. You may want to discuss it with our product support folks - totally free service of GOLDEN - they can give you expert advice on materials and application. Just use the main number on our website or send an email to help@goldenpaints.com

Hello Christine, the acid content of a paper impacts the long term durability of the paper (it may yellow and become brittle) but it should not affect how you adhere it to a panel, so I would follow the technique shown in this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nc1yZNmWttPbfok.html

GoldenPaints if the paper used in collage is not acid-free but is entirely encased in gel medium, would it still get yellow and brittle over time? I’m wondering about using old sheet music, maps, or bits from magazines.

Excellent question, but pretty deep in the technical weeds for a KZfaq comment, I suggest you send the question to our product support team (help@goldenpaints.com) as I would expect the specific gel used would be very influential in this case. The other way to find out is to do your own tests to see how/if encasing papers in gel affects the aging process.

GoldenPaints thanks for the suggestions👍🏼. I’m probably too old to do a time test myself, lol.

Hello Sean, we agree completely. Nearly nine years ago, that was probably the best we could do. We're looking into a new take on this.

That looks like a Heavy Gel - possibly even Extra Heavy Gel. I am pretty confident either of those would work and you could probably add a nice twist to this idea by using different sheens (Gloss, Semi-Gloss, and Matte).

Thanks for the feedback! This is a pretty old video (11 years) and due for an update... we'll try to make the next one better.