Polyester resins have been commonly used in art conservation for embedding paint cross sections prior to analytical studies. These resins set rapidly without heat, are clear, polish readily and microtome easily. However, while they work well in most cases, there are some specific samples for which these resins pose problems. The polyester embedding media have been found to dissolve wax and fresh natural resin layers in cross sections. Additionally, the embedding resin wicks into porous, low binder samples. This infoltration hinders the determination of the type of binder in the sample by producing blotchy, uneven staining results as well as obstructing infrared analysis. Alternate embedding materials and procedures are discussed in this paper. One method to prevent the infiltration of embedding media is also presented in which the samples are precoated with a thizotropic acrlic gel prior to embedding.