Framing and Matting Photos
I have made arrangements to have a vendor booth at the Arabian Horse Show which is at the Jackson County Expo Friday, September 2 thru Sunday, Sept 4. The carpeted display panels to hang the artwork have been ordered (Approx total $600) and were shipped to me last Wednesday; still need to pick up a lightweight table, tablecloth, and literature racks.
Framed canvas prints on display will be:
A-Jakarta in an 18 x 24 Gold Frame (front and center),
11 x 14 framed canvas print of Cathy McKinty's bucksin photo,
16 x 20 Cathy McKinty photo (3 poodles) matted and framed in a cobalt blue aluminum frame (the finished size is 26 x 22),
11 X 14 AWESOME photo of London Bridge matted and framed in Wild Plum Aluminum frame - in this photo the frame looks black, but it's plum colored
Ansel Adams black and white photo of the Grand Canyon (to be matted and framed in photo Grey aluminum frame.
Last fall I purchased a whole case of foamcore and 1 case of varied white colors and 1 case of various colors of 4 ply Crescent mat boards. Along with that I bought a Logan 750 mat cutter - it does a great professional-looking job.
First I cut the foam core with the straight cutter. The photo is then mounted to the foam core with clear self adhesive mounting strips; they basically provide a ledge that holds the photo in place - the photo is not glued down or anything like that. It was about 80 - 85 degrees in my work area; when I tried to peel the backer strip off the adhesive, the adhesive came with it. Setting the mounting strips on a block of blue ice solved that problem. Next the selected mat is cut with the straight cutter the same size as the foamcore, then the lines for the opening are drawn on the back side of the mat and cut with the 45 degree angled cutter. All work on the mat is done from the back - this prevents marking up the front side (assuming we are woking on a clean surface). The foamcore (with photo held in place by clear mounting strips) and mat are then assembled by making a hinge with self adhesive linen tape, then covered with kraft paper and set aside in a safe spot.
At this point, if I haven't already done so, I assemble three sides of the aluminum frame that will be used for this piece and set that aside.
Now it's time to cut the 1/8" thick acrylic; I chose this to use as glazing instead of glass because it looks the same as glass, it's much lighter than glass, and it's virtually unbreakable, which means it's shippable! The acrylic is cut the same size as the foamcore; if the piece I'm cutting from is small enough, I can stick it in the mat cutter (for use as a guide only) and cut it with a tile knife. I leave the blue protective plastic on, score 3 times on the first side, flip it over, then score the opposite side once (just to cut through the blue protective film). With the deeply scored side facing AWAY from me, I stand on one part near the scored line, bend it back towards me until its break cleanly at the score line. Now I remove the blue protective film from 1 side, wipe of any debris with a clean dry tshirt, and put it face down on top of the mat/photo/foamcore assembly. The blue protective film is then peeled away from the other side and the whole thing is then slid into its frame. The outside of the acrylic can be cleaned later...
The last/fourth part of the frame is assembled, the euro wire hangers are tightened in, then the plastice coated wire (easy on the fingers) is put on. Voila! Beautiful artwork!
It's been a while since I did any photo mounting or mat cutting, so the first one took me about 1 1/2 hours (I cut the mat from the front side instead of the back, so I had to start over). My second piece took about 40 minutes - no mistakes.
Tomorrow I'll do the Ansel Adams piece and whatever else I can find. I have lots of white matting, I own the Ansel Adams images, so I will probably take a few to sell. Ronald Reagan on his horse may be a good one, too.
Click here if you would like fine art prints of your photos.
Time for dinner - I'm starving!
Just gotta say that I love doing this because the results are always beautiful and satisfying.
Framed canvas prints on display will be:
A-Jakarta in an 18 x 24 Gold Frame (front and center),
11 x 14 framed canvas print of Cathy McKinty's bucksin photo,
16 x 20 Cathy McKinty photo (3 poodles) matted and framed in a cobalt blue aluminum frame (the finished size is 26 x 22),
11 X 14 AWESOME photo of London Bridge matted and framed in Wild Plum Aluminum frame - in this photo the frame looks black, but it's plum colored
Ansel Adams black and white photo of the Grand Canyon (to be matted and framed in photo Grey aluminum frame.
Last fall I purchased a whole case of foamcore and 1 case of varied white colors and 1 case of various colors of 4 ply Crescent mat boards. Along with that I bought a Logan 750 mat cutter - it does a great professional-looking job.
First I cut the foam core with the straight cutter. The photo is then mounted to the foam core with clear self adhesive mounting strips; they basically provide a ledge that holds the photo in place - the photo is not glued down or anything like that. It was about 80 - 85 degrees in my work area; when I tried to peel the backer strip off the adhesive, the adhesive came with it. Setting the mounting strips on a block of blue ice solved that problem. Next the selected mat is cut with the straight cutter the same size as the foamcore, then the lines for the opening are drawn on the back side of the mat and cut with the 45 degree angled cutter. All work on the mat is done from the back - this prevents marking up the front side (assuming we are woking on a clean surface). The foamcore (with photo held in place by clear mounting strips) and mat are then assembled by making a hinge with self adhesive linen tape, then covered with kraft paper and set aside in a safe spot.
At this point, if I haven't already done so, I assemble three sides of the aluminum frame that will be used for this piece and set that aside.
Now it's time to cut the 1/8" thick acrylic; I chose this to use as glazing instead of glass because it looks the same as glass, it's much lighter than glass, and it's virtually unbreakable, which means it's shippable! The acrylic is cut the same size as the foamcore; if the piece I'm cutting from is small enough, I can stick it in the mat cutter (for use as a guide only) and cut it with a tile knife. I leave the blue protective plastic on, score 3 times on the first side, flip it over, then score the opposite side once (just to cut through the blue protective film). With the deeply scored side facing AWAY from me, I stand on one part near the scored line, bend it back towards me until its break cleanly at the score line. Now I remove the blue protective film from 1 side, wipe of any debris with a clean dry tshirt, and put it face down on top of the mat/photo/foamcore assembly. The blue protective film is then peeled away from the other side and the whole thing is then slid into its frame. The outside of the acrylic can be cleaned later...
The last/fourth part of the frame is assembled, the euro wire hangers are tightened in, then the plastice coated wire (easy on the fingers) is put on. Voila! Beautiful artwork!
It's been a while since I did any photo mounting or mat cutting, so the first one took me about 1 1/2 hours (I cut the mat from the front side instead of the back, so I had to start over). My second piece took about 40 minutes - no mistakes.
Tomorrow I'll do the Ansel Adams piece and whatever else I can find. I have lots of white matting, I own the Ansel Adams images, so I will probably take a few to sell. Ronald Reagan on his horse may be a good one, too.
Click here if you would like fine art prints of your photos.
Time for dinner - I'm starving!
Just gotta say that I love doing this because the results are always beautiful and satisfying.
posted by Diana at 8:20 PM
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