framing 101
how to frame that fabulous piece without destroying your budget
When you've created that awesome piece of art... or bought one from someone... or your kid hands you a Masterpiece that deserves more than refrigerator magnets... you'll need to frame it.
I have worked in the framing department of an arts and crafts store. I see the horrors perpetrated on fine art and irreplaceable photos.
(do NOT look at my walls: everything is held up with poster putty...)
You can pay for custom framing which will ensure your piece is on Antiques Roadshow a century from now...
or, if your budget is in the poster putty range, like mine, here are a few things to know...
I have worked in the framing department of an arts and crafts store. I see the horrors perpetrated on fine art and irreplaceable photos.
(do NOT look at my walls: everything is held up with poster putty...)
You can pay for custom framing which will ensure your piece is on Antiques Roadshow a century from now...
or, if your budget is in the poster putty range, like mine, here are a few things to know...
- Do NOT let glass (or plexi) touch the art/photo. No glass sandwich "float frames", no matless frames. Your piece may be fine for now, or for a year or... who knows. Or it may collect moisture and grow stranger things (nooooooooooo Eleven, close the Rift, close it now!!!) ... is that a cure for covid??? If it's just a poster, or print that you have a digital file of, ok, whatever, you can replace it. I have childhood photos that are now glued to the glass because no one thought of a mat. They didn't have digital back then. Not. Replaceable.
- Mats are your friend (see above). They create breathing room between the picture and the glass. They pull out colors and enhance your art/photo. They will take the dinked edges and other abuse while your art/photo stays pristine. They create an "aaaahhhhhhhh" space between the busy room and the art. You can buy pre-cut mats in standard sizes, or cut your own (with a knife and straight edge like a carpenter's square or T-square). If you use a box cutter or Xacto knife, you will get a nice mat, if you use a mat cutting tool (from about $20) you'll get a nice mat with a beveled edge. You can mat a weird size picture to a normal size frame; outside of mat = frame opening... inside opening of mat = image size (not paper size. The paper must be a little bigger than the mat opening, overlapping by at least 1/4" or more). Layer mats for a professional look (the mats underneath the top one should stick out about 1/4" give or take).
- Tape pictures to mats ONLY at the top. (you can also tape the pic to the backing instead) Temperature and humidity changes cause paper to stretch and shrink like a cartoon character. Taping at the top of the picture allows for this without wrinkling your picture.
- To mat a picture: lay your pic on a flat clean surface...face up. Stick some tape behind it at the top (1/4" to an inch on the back of the picture, an inch or so sticking up to stick to the mat). Center the mat over it, press.
- YOUR MAT SHOULD BE BIGGER/WIDER THAN YOUR FRAME this is basic Good Design 101...
- Cardboard is evil. It is acidic and makes me itch and sneeze. It also will eat your art/photo. Place foamcore or matboard or other non-acidic lignen free stuff behind your art/photo.
- Masking tape is evil. See above. It gets old and crackly and nasty. Scrapbooking or framing or art tape, yes. Maybe even scotch tape. Also not duct tape.
- Any frame can frame a canvas. Mostly. Buy that frame you like in the right size, take the guts out (glass, backing, the piece of paper with the logo and size info), use "offset clips", screw clip into frame, it holds canvas in. Duct tape works too. Do not use a mat on a canvas. Glass is also not necessary (oils and acrylics are basically indestructible) and may detract from the beauty of oil or acrylics. Also, oils need "breathing room" and should not be glassed.
- Puzzles are weird. But you CAN frame them. They are usually weird sizes and shapes. Just get a nice big poster frame. Paint the back and front of the puzzle with several coats of ModPodge. Glue puzzle to mat board. Cut outside of matboard (oh, you should already have done this) to fit frame. Place matboarded puzzle in frame, lose the plexiglass (it will stick to the ModPodge). You'll see the matboard around the edges of the puzzle, so you better have picked a color you like. But it will fit now.
- Poster frames. There are two kinds: the evil kind with the little edges that slide off and never ever go back on correctly, with the plexiglass sandwich packed in two layers of film that when peeled off collect every dust mote in five miles. And the good kind that look like a normal frame, with a cardboard back, little tabs on the back that you flip up to open it, and a nice one piece frame.
- Scrapbooking materials are your friend. They are designed to be archival; tape, glue dots, paper, stickers, 3D stuff. You can use them in framing. The 3D stuff can be used to create "glass spacers", lifting the glass off a piece if you don't use a mat.
- Consider the shadowbox. For odd things, a shadowbox is an easy fix. Just use scrapbooking tape or dots or pins to attach stuff to the backing. If your cheaper shadowbox doesn't have a nice cloth backing, you can make one of cloth or scrapbooking or art paper.
- The glass in the off-the-shelf frames will protect your art from your Mastiff's slobber, but not from light fading. Avoid hanging stuff in direct sunlight. House light will still fade some stuff, so if it's really valuable (like an original or signed limited edition print, or your favorite celebrity's autograph) get custom glass that is UV protection. Photos are probably the worst at fading. Pencil, charcoal, pastels and Prismacolor pencils are more hardy. Watercolors vary with the specific colors.
- So you inherited 182 of Aunt Mary's watercolors... and can't possibly frame them all. There's art portfolios that look like large scrapbooks and are designed to be archival. Put most of the art in those, and display a few framed. The scrapbook can be laid out too for people to browse. (This. Actually. Happened.)
Standard Frame/mat Sizes
There are other sizes, especially in poster frames, but if you are having something printed, it is best to stay to standard sizes. Remember the opening is actually smaller (8x10 is actually about 7.5 x 9.5) so there is overlap between mat and picture. So if someone's head or foot or other important detail is on the edge, uh ohhhhhhh.
There are also cute mini frames and clear plexi frames (useful for signage or putting a copy of a photo on your desk) as well as float frames (the glass sandwich) which are all best used for stuff you can replace.
- 3x5 occasionally
- 4x6
- 5×7.
- 8×10.
- 8.5×11 occasionally
- 9x12 occasionally
- 10x13 occasionally
- 11×14.
- 16×20.
- 24×36
There are other sizes, especially in poster frames, but if you are having something printed, it is best to stay to standard sizes. Remember the opening is actually smaller (8x10 is actually about 7.5 x 9.5) so there is overlap between mat and picture. So if someone's head or foot or other important detail is on the edge, uh ohhhhhhh.
There are also cute mini frames and clear plexi frames (useful for signage or putting a copy of a photo on your desk) as well as float frames (the glass sandwich) which are all best used for stuff you can replace.
