Framing Panorama's

[rsk72000]

What are you doing to matte and frame panorama's?

I've got one that I want to print but am trying to figure out how to matte and frame the thing. At it's current dimensions is is 18.5 x 67 inches. Mattes are typically available at 60 inches so unless I shrink it enough matting isn't an option (I think). So I am curious what your recommendations are to get this thing framed and displayed.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

Rick

[BernardLanguillier]

What are you doing to matte and frame panorama's?

I've got one that I want to print but am trying to figure out how to matte and frame the thing. At it's current dimensions is is 18.5 x 67 inches. Mattes are typically available at 60 inches so unless I shrink it enough matting isn't an option (I think). So I am curious what your recommendations are to get this thing framed and displayed.
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I have personnally always tried to stay within standard mattes size in my geo for cost reasons.

Regards,
Bernard

[Richowens]

Shrink it to 58x16 and matt it with a 1 1/4 border giving you a frame size of 60x18.

  Another thought is to frame it without matting it.

  I had one that ended up at 20x92.  I just don't have the wall space to hang it so it resides on my hard drives and I pull it up occasionally to look at it and admmire it.  

  Rich

[Geoff Wittig]

Good question. I've printed up to 24x80", and it's not very practical to mat and frame something this big. The glass and frame are just too heavy and fragile to move around. I've gotten excellent results having prints laminated onto a board. One commercial system is known as "Plak-it". Even 24x80" prints are light enough and solid enough to transport and hang without difficulty.
I don't know how archival this system is; some of my mounted prints are now 5 years old and still look perfect despite being illuminated 24/7.

[Tim Gray]

Another vote for the plak mounting for panos.  

If that's a bit too tacky, then you could print a "matte-like" border, leave some white space on the print as a substitute for the matte, then have the print dry mounted to either foam core or gator board, frame with no glass.  

That's wat I do with my display prints up to 17x25 which frame out to 24x32 - I use acid free foam core wich gives a 3.5" surround, plus a spray of PrintGuard.  Very light and over the past couple of years no problem with warping since the frame basically holds it in shape.  Only downside is they are a bit fragile to transport - I put 2 face to face and use masking tape on the edges.    I have them professionally dry mounted to foam core I supply and the older ones are over 3 yrs with no separation or any other problem.  In addition to being significantly cheaper than matte and glass, there is an added benefit of no issue with glass reflection.  Nonreflective glass is really pricey.

[framah]

If you really want to mat them, you can get  rag mats by Rising that are 48x96, 48x72, and 60x104. You will have a real job on your hands as you need to square the large one up as well as cut the opening. I have made mats @ 50x72 from this.
Crescent also makes 48x72 and 48x96. Bainbridge used to make these sizes but I can't find my catalog to verify it right now

You can also do something different and make a mat from 2 pieces splined together and then wrap fabric around it to cover the joints. We do this all the time to create what isn't available.

For oversizes like yours, use plexi instead of glass and use a wider metal frame profile such as a #25 Neilsen and put vertical wiring on the back to keep it from sagging along the length.  Wood will sag as well but the metal is actually a stronger corner joint to hold these.

These jobs aren't hard to do (but are real money makers for me!!) but you do have to think of the little things like sagging frames and such.  

[framah]

Tim...
For pieces your size 24x32, in my store, regular glass is: $22. Remember... Picture framing glass and hardware store glass aren't the same in quality.

regular nonglare glass is: $28

the really good nonreflective, museum glass is: $140.