Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsIt is a nice, non-glossy (matte) white
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2015
Being "artists' tape," this tape should be gentle on the media that the person works on, but it is not. Boy is it not.
I do photography so I bought this tape because I need a tape for window mounting that can be peeled off without tearing the photograph or the mat (a bonus if the tape can be reused). After reading the "most useful" reviews, this tape seemed to be it. It is a nice, non-glossy (matte) white, so presentation-wise it looks great, and the 3/4 size is just right for most purposes, but once you apply the tape your paper/photo/print, there's no going back; if you try to remove the tape, it will either rip your work or leave a layer of sticky residue.
It doesn't matter if you don't press it down hard, this stuff sticks as soon as it touches any sort of paper surface (even gloss-coated paper). I always use small pieces of tape to prevent messing up my prints, but even the small pieces are difficult to remove without damage or residue. I've tried taking off some of the adhesive's strength by touching the adhesive side (low-tech solution but you know you've all done this) but that doesn't help much either.
People in the supposed "most useful" comments say that this tape doesn't tear things when you try to peel it off, but I think those reviews got high "useful" vs "not useful" ratios because they said good things and that's what people wanted to hear. Now that I've gone back to read the other two star ratings I wish they had been more prominent because what they say is exactly what I experienced with this product.
I will be going back to using blue painters' tape because it has never ripped my work and rarely leaves residue and will just hope my photography professors don't look inside the mats or notice the blue hinge sticking out between them.
