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Re: [OM] Matting/Mounting OM produced prints [long]

Subject: Re: [OM] Matting/Mounting OM produced prints [long]
From: "John A. Lind" <jlind@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2001 17:22:08 +0000
At 21:12 12/8/01, Bill Barber asked:
Would like some advice about how others on the list handle prints they are going to frame with a cut out mat. Do you have the photo finishing lab dry mount it for you (just about doubling the cost of your photograph) or do you somehow attach it to the artboard yourself? Is there a source for precut mats? I would like to see some general conversation about getting the photograph from being a print to being a framed print. Perhaps even some advice about where to get simple (quality) frames without taking out a second on the homestead. As always thanking the list in advance for your advice. Bill Barber

Bill,
I'm presuming you're in the U.S.
I now mount and frame all my large prints, with mat board, under UV cutoff-filter glazing. You're quite right that having prints professionally framed can cost you an arm, a leg, and consigning your first born to indentured servitude for a decade. This was a learning experience for me when I started submitting "gallery ready" prints to art shows.

I now get super high gloss display prints made for display. This is noticeably higher gloss than simple "glossy" prints have. The surface is ultra-smooth and glassy. Reflectance is so high on them that it's almost impossible to see the print surface itself except at a very, very shallow angle. The result is seeing the print's image, not its surface. I had an Ilfochrome display print made of my TOPE 7 image for a gallery exhibition. The black in it is the deepest, blackest black I've ever seen. Why? The super high gloss print surface.

An excellent source for pre-cut frames and mat board:
  http://www.americanframe.com/
Prices are good and you can place an on-line order for frame, backing board, mat board and "plexiglass" glazing as one package . . . everything except the wire (which you can buy from them separately). Their on-line ordering allows you to dispense with anything you don't want or need (I don't buy the plexiglass glazing). If you use their ordering system, remember to set your "artwork size" dimensions slightly smaller so that the mat will overlap your print. Standard method is 1/4" on each side. I set the dimensions 1/2" inch smaller to achieve this (for an 8x12 print I use 7-1/2 x 11-1/2). I asked for the exact print size with my first order and had to re-order all the mat board.

Other sources (if you don't like what you see there):
  http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/
  http://www.lumierephoto.com/

I use the thin aluminum frames from American Frame (the frame stock is made by Nielsen, an excellent company in the U.K.). All that's needed to assemble the frame is a flat-tip screwdriver, and it's fairly easy to do.

General issues with mounting:
The print, backing board and mat board all have different coefficients of expansion with temperature and humidity! These differences in expansion and contraction are important to consider with larger prints. They *will* buckle or warp if you don't allow for it. The 1/4" overlap of mat on the print edges will keep them from pulling out from under mat during this expansion and contraction.

It's important to use mat board between the print and glazing. Aside from providing neutral separation between your wall (and anything else on the wall), the frame, and your artwork, it also provides a gap between it and the glazing. If mashed directly against the glazing, the print emulsion can eventually stick to it, especially if it's exposed to a higher humidity level. You can see it when this happens and it can be ugly, not to mention impossible to dismount the print (or replace a broken glazing). If you want to dispense with a mat board for some reason, you can put a thin spacer of clear archival material along the inside edges of the glazing that will be hidden by the frame. Art supply houses with framing materials often carry this spacer material; it comes in strips or on spools.

Museum prints often have a very wide border mat. I don't go quite that wide, but I do ensure it's the same width around all edges. For 8x10's I use an 12x14 frame (NOT an 11x14). For 8x12's, a 12x16 frame. For 11x14's and 11x16's I use a 16x19 and 15x20 respectively (NOT a 16x20). Nearly all shows limit max frame size to 16x20. This helps the frame and mat look as if they were made for holding the print.

Dry mounting is typically used *only* to put a print on a backing board when it will *not* be framed, but the backing board will be displayed "stand-alone." Dry mounting a super high gloss display print will impart the surface texture of the backing board (and to some extent the dry mount adhesive) through to the print surface. I haven't found a backing board and dry mount method yet that's smooth enough to avoid this.

The traditional, archival, gallery method for mounting a print to the backing board uses archival linen tape with archival adhesive (a starch type) along _only_one_edge_ of the print (called a "hinge" and it's hidden by the mat board). This tape is expensive. Don't use household adhesive tapes of any kind! The adhesive will eventually dry out and will ruin your print in the process. Another method, and the one I use, is using medium or large archival photo corners on all four print corners. They are set back far enough to be hidden under the mat board. It is also important to set the corners so that the print can "float" in them with expansion and contraction. I leave about 1/8th inch float on each corner. The sandwich of backing board with the mat will hold the print in place enough that it won't otherwise move around.

Instead of buying the plexiglass or acrylic glazing from the mail-order frame houses, I buy "Tru-Vue" UV filter conservation glazing from a local Hobby Lobby store, and they custom cut the glazing to my desired dimensions. This is only a dollar more than American Frame charges for their plexiglass. This is clear "float" glass made by pouring the molten glass onto molten tin. It's dead flat. I don't recommend window glass which has slight ripples in it that can be seen if you use it for art glazing. Not only that, if you look at an edge you'll see a green cast to it. I consider the UV filtering to be important. An Ilfochrome print might survive a very long time on display but the dyes in the mat board may not. If I were shipping framed prints, the plexiglass (more likely a UV filtered acrylic made for art glazing) might be more appropriate. I don't recommend "frosted" non-glare glazing. It *does* detract from the detail level of a high quality print, and at the wrong light angle, the entire glazing flares . . . you cannot see the print for it.

Hope this helps you out some.

-- John


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