Lifting Paw Prints - Any Ideas?
 

So, my late and beloved cat Illuminati left behind a set of perfect, tiny paw prints, by walking across a flat metal plate (a support for a triangular lamp stand) that had lots of dust on it. I can't bring myself to dust the lamp base. The prints are just so darn kawaii. So, does anyone have any thoughts on how I might either get a good lift of the prints, or somehow seal things just as they are? (I guess a photograph of the plate is called for.) Silly, I know, but ...

I don't know if this is a good method, but I believe some wide tape would lift them off intact.

I know how you feel, it's not silly at all.

Of course the photo would be the first thing, in case anything messes it up. I can't think of a good way to "seal" it, but the 2" wide clear tape is a good idea. Then put the tape on a piece of dark board to put into a scrap book. The photo would be great in a photo book about the kitties life (like from Snapfish).

The other thing that comes to mind is that to set chalck drawings we used hairpray. I'm not sure how that would work for you, though.

Good luck!

{{{{hugs}}}}}

Do you need the plate? Perhaps you could mount it behind glass somehow, with a light angled to show off the dust?

would hair spray affix the dust? I'd experiment first.

Id treat them like fingerprints. wide tape (after extensive photo's are taken) might be the best method. spray adhesives are iffy at best, as they can disturb and distort the print upon application or cover the dust entirely, making them invisible.

one of the more advanced methods Ive seen involves superglue on a slowly heated (low heat) surface (like a reptile warming stone). the glue smoke atomizes to some extent and will adhere to the dust particals, securing them in place. it would have to be done inside a sealed container like an aquarium or the like, but it does work.

I dig using wide tape, but then what do you do with the tape?

Perhaps something like this:

Probably stick it in one of those picture frame Christmas ornaments. Or a frame matted especially for stamp collectors?

or put the tape on a piece of dark board to put into a scrap book.

Hey, great idea, Lash! ;)

Or a light board? Maybe do a test on another dusty part without the foot prints and tape it to a few things to see what shows up best.

You're welcome. I get these flashes of inspiration from time to time. :D

The visibility of those prints got less and less every day, as new dust settled onto old, so I decided it was time to take action.

First the bad news - Lifting the prints with tape didn't go so well. I ended up with one pretty good transfer of one cute little paw print, and I attached that to some shiny black cardboard and cut it down to a little square. It's sitting on top of 'Nati's memorial cedar box. It looks pretty good, but seems to fit better as a memento than as a display piece.

The good news - The photographs came out just fine. The texture of the dust and the shape of the prints read very clear - and it will be fun to play with these in Photoshop and apply different effects.

So, I'm relieved and happy that the pictures will keep forever. i've wiped down the whole lamp tower. The dust is all gone. Yeah, I feel like crying a river right now.

Soon, I'll post the results. I've got to do some remedial "posting on LoT" work. I used to use Image Shack to host pictures I posted here, but that doesn't seem to work for me anymore. If anyone wants to throw some clues at an Apple dolt like me, feel free.

Big hugs to everyone for indulging my kitty memorializing.

DP

Glad you were able to preserve the memory!



Here's a quick primer for attaching images:

Start a new post and click the paper clip icon.
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Then in the window that pops up choose any image files you want to upload, clicking 'upload' between each one.
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Then close the window and come back to the editing window. This time click the down-arrow NEXT to the paper clip, and select whichever image you want to insert, the necessary code will be placed into your post where your cursor is.
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I learnt something new today.

Me too - I always thought you had to link to a photo. Who knew?

I always posted non-linked photos like this:

BTW: you can't upload pics from an iPad

Me too - There's a reason that all of my uploaded pics used to be at the bottom of my posts. Now I'm better.

Cool!

Thanks GD!