The Do's and Don'ts of Framing Prints

Wreck

Is Here To Serve
Staff Member
Jan 26, 2009
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While this thread title sounds so informative ... I'm really seeking out information actually. :hilarious: But hopefully over time it can be edited and become a great resource.
 
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fyi - I did double matting on my scarface and while it does look better it doesnt really help in regards to mondo's leaving very little room.

In short .... If you put 24x36 in a frame with no matting its easy. However if you are going to mat I think its best you make up a comfy differential. So next time I'm going to do 23x36 as that should make my mat cover up a half inch on each side of the pic
 
fyi - I did double matting on my scarface and while it does look better it doesnt really help in regards to mondo's leaving very little room.

In short .... If you put 24x36 in a frame with no matting its easy. However if you are going to mat I think its best you make up a comfy differential. So next time I'm going to do 23x36 as that should make my mat cover up a half inch on each side of the pic

What do you mean by "leaving very little room"?

Your print and matting should fit exactly in the frame (assuming the frame is correct). If you're talking about how much the matting covers, you always get a 24x36 (or whatever the size is) and simply decide how wide you want the borders. So if you want a half inch matt on each side you'd get a 24x36 cut to around 3/4 of an inch to make up for the quarter inch of the frame lip. 1/2 inch matting is bare minimum as at that width it tends to be extremely flimsy.

To me it sounds like you were saying your print is sliding around the frame? Or was your matt cut too small?

I've matted 3 prints from mondo so far and all of them fit perfectly.

As an example in this pic the pink matt is about 3/4 of an inch and the yellow matt is a full inch, but the matts themselves are still 24x36's. The print fits just as snugly into the frame as the matting does.

IMG_20130427_132158.jpg
 
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I think the prob is that when you add a mat at that site I bought frame from ... it automatically makes your frame bigger to compensate meaning it still leaves a 24x36 window for the print ...

yeah its kinda odd.
 
exactly! pain in the ass ... I guess the benefit is you dont lose any of the art (well pretty much none) to the matting.

Hopefully I can wait on framing anything tho till after I move...
 
How prevalent are these metal prints? Be interesting to see if I could nab one sometime. But I'm guessing from how quickly it sold out that's gonna be hard to do? And do you frame them the same way? I'm a complete noob I know
 
So tomorrow I'm going to visit a framing store in my town to see about getting one of my prints framed, and it will be my first, so please can you guys give me advice on what I need to do/ask for? Do I need a special type of glass, backing etc. Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
So tomorrow I'm going to visit a framing store in my town to see about getting one of my prints framed, and it will be my first, so please can you guys give me advice on what I need to do/ask for? Do I need a special type of glass, backing etc. Any help is greatly appreciated!


First things first NEVER drymount. If you do you print will be ruined forever. Most people like to use uv glass and acid free backing.
 
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Uv free glass. Acid free backing. I do not like my posters dry mounted. Most assume you do so they may not even ask. I would tell them no dry mount.
 
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So tomorrow I'm going to visit a framing store in my town to see about getting one of my prints framed, and it will be my first, so please can you guys give me advice on what I need to do/ask for? Do I need a special type of glass, backing etc. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Here is what I have come up with over time from my research:

- UV Filtering Glass/Acrylic (99% ideal)
- Acid Free backing (usually acid free foam board)
- Acid free mat's (if matting)
- Spacer's (if not matting, can also be used if matting as well if you want)
- And NO dry mounting, mounting using photo corners is best (or nothing at all if the frame is exactly to size and your not matting)
- Kraft paper to seal up the back is optional
 
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Here is what I have come up with over time from my research:

- UV Filtering Glass/Acrylic (99% ideal)
- Acid Free backing (usually acid free foam board)
- Acid free mat's (if matting)
- Spacer's (if not matting, can also be used if matting as well if you want)
- And NO dry mounting, mounting using photo corners is best (or nothing at all if the frame is exactly to size and your not matting)
- Kraft paper to seal up the back is optional

Thanks, Jay. Your advice is much appreciated :)

In terms of storage, will it do any harm to just store them rolled (out of the tube) or do I need to store them flat?
 
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Thanks, Jay. Your advice is much appreciated :)

In terms of storage, will it do any harm to just store them rolled (out of the tube) or do I need to store them flat?

From what I have been told, storing them rolled will damage the print by causing the ink to crack for among other things. Store them flat between two acid free boards. Use some binder clips around the boards to help keep it flat.

Hope that helps and hopefully I did not steer you the wrong way. If I did, others can feel free to correct me. Just relaying what I have been told by someone on another site.
 
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Thanks, Jay. Your advice is much appreciated :)

In terms of storage, will it do any harm to just store them rolled (out of the tube) or do I need to store them flat?

Storing rolled is not advised just like darkdaze73 said. And the setup he described is perfect for storing as well.

Personally, after flattening the print out between two foam boards I would put the print in a acid free poly bag (there pretty cheap online from various retailers and come in various sizes) and then stack prints and store between two larger pieces of foam board underneath a bed (its a perfect place really, shaded and out of the way). Just my two cents (Chris recommended this way and its what Im going to run with myself after searching around what others are doing without flat files).
 
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From what I have been told, storing them rolled will damage the print by causing the ink to crack for among other things. Store them flat between two acid free boards. Use some binder clips around the boards to help keep it flat.

Hope that helps and hopefully I did not steer you the wrong way. If I did, others can feel free to correct me. Just relaying what I have been told by someone on another site.

Storing rolled is not advised just like darkdaze73 said. And the setup he described is perfect for storing as well.

Personally, after flattening the print out between two foam boards I would put the print in a acid free poly bag (there pretty cheap online from various retailers and come in various sizes) and then stack prints and store between two larger pieces of foam board underneath a bed (its a perfect place really, shaded and out of the way). Just my two cents (Chris recommended this way and its what Im going to run with myself after searching around what others are doing without flat files).

Thanks, guys :)

The problem is, this stuff is easy to source...... if you live in the US/Canada! In the UK, it seems very hard to find anything like this, maybe a UK member can point me in the right direction?
 
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Thanks, guys :)

The problem is, this stuff is easy to source...... if you live in the US/Canada! In the UK, it seems very hard to find anything like this, maybe a UK member can point me in the right direction?

Go to the framing corner on EB. There are many UK members with the same plights as you. It does seem much tougher for the UKers. :(