Protects films from scratches and chemical damage!

As a regular customer of Photo Data / JD Photo-Tools, you’ll know how valuable and important it is to keep the films that we supply clean and damage free. It’s not always easy, especially with photographic emulsion being difficult to clean and easily damaged if handled incorrectly.

Artwork Protection Film (APF).

APF is a laminated film that is applied to the emulsion side of the film, creating a barrier protection. This not only provides a mechanical barrier to protect the film from scratches, abrasions, pinholes and contaminants such as inks and resists, but it also creates an easy to clean surface that is antistatic and repels most airborne particles.

APF also help prevent chemical damage to photo-plotted films that may occur during use, handling, storage and even cleaning. The powerful barrier protection, both clear and thin, offers high light transmission and low haze.

The APF is added by cold lamination process, after acclimatisation of the films within our controlled environment. The lamination process includes a HEPA filter with tack rollers to ensure a clean process and to ensure no particles are trapped under the protective cover. Because the protective laminate is only 6um thick, it will not cause exposure problems or spread for typical photo-etching and PCB applications. However, where very fine line artworks are required (< 50um) we recommend exposure trials beforehand.