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Ballpoint Pens?

Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 10:41 pm
by Chris102
I want to hear your thoughts about the use of a ballpoint pen to sign. Is it safe? Will it come off the photo?

The photo I wanted signed with a ballpoint pen is a matte finish.

It's a special pen that I want used :mrgreen:

Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 11:05 pm
by cernan
Well I personally don't like ball point pen autographs on photos because often the pen won't show up well. (I have a few autographs in my collection that fit this description.) I am not really familiar with photographs with matte finishes, however I think that it will show up better than glossys.

I do not believe that the autograph will come off of the photo unless you are storing it wrong. Ex. vinyl sheet protectors, etc.

If you insist on using your special pen :lol: , you may want to consider having the celebrity sign an index card. Although it may not be as preferable as a photo, but ball point pen autographs on index cards do show up clearly :lol: and last.

Hope this helped!

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 3:26 pm
by Tomaldo
I've a couple signed with Ballpoint pen, it works, but it's not 'smooth' if you know that I mean - the coverage of the ink is not consistent.

Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 2:05 am
by rpbluesman
Another thing to consider is that pen will generally fade a lot faster than a sharpie will...regardless of how you store it.

My advice would be to have the celeb sign an index card.

Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 4:05 pm
by Chris102
Thanks for all the responses! :D

Since I want this particular pen used, I will try to get a book signed instead, or some other type of memorabilia.

The original photo that I wanted signed is very dark, and I'm not a fan of metalic silver Sharpies :lol: