... stick with gummed Linen or archival paper tape.
Gummed linen is for attaching the top edge of the mat to the top edge of the mount board
ONLY. It is
NOT to come into contact with the artwork.
Here's my standard spiel: (Written originally for a novice audience. Forgive the tone if it sounds to preachy...)
DOT COM EDITOR'S CRASH COURSE IN MATTING AND FRAMINGProper matting and framing are crucial. That’s because the only thing people see is the print and frame on the wall, not the camera and printer used.
Everything -- mats, mount board, adhesives, etc. -- must be acid free. Cheap, non-acid-free materials will ruin your work over time.
MAKE ME A SANDWICHFrom front to back in your frame you’ll make a sandwich consisting of the glazing (glass or acrylic), mat (one or more, depending on taste), the print, mount board, optional backer board, and, finally (wood frames only) backing paper. Let’s go from front to back.
GLAZINGYou can use Acrylite acrylic or framing glass. Acrylite is optically pure (no green edge like glass) and weighs much less, but scratches easily. Glass is heavy but durable. Always pay extra for glazing with UV protection. Tru Vue Museum Glass (
http://www.tru-vue.com) is the best framing glass to use, but it is outrageously expensive. I use Tru-Vue Reflection Control glass. Excellent, and much less expensive than Museum Glass.
MATSUse "rag mat" made from 100% cotton. It contains no wood pulp, lignin, or other bad acidic stuff that'll destroy the print over time. Yep, you can buy regular board (wood pulp alpha-cellulose core with an acid-free surface), but for a few dollars more, I strongly recommend that you go for true archival quality. And since you're going for rag mat, spend yet a little more and get double-thick mat, known as "8-ply." Though offered only in limited colors, 8-ply mat makes for a gorgeous presentation and will set your work apart from everyone else using standard 4-ply mat. Trust me: Choose 8-ply and the world will see your work as fine art; stick with 4-ply and your image will be seen as merely a framed photo.
I cut all my own mats but have my wooden frames made to order Why do I cut my own mats? Because simply getting a hole cut in a mat triples or quadruples the price -- a total rip-off. I bought a 60" Logan Framer's Edge model 655 mat cutter which cuts 4-ply and 8-ply mats. I buy mat blanks at
http://www.redimat.com and other places in sheets measuring 32"x40" or 40"x60".
For a great, sophisticated look, make the borders on your mat at least 3" wide. So, a 13"x19" print will need a mat and frame cut to 19"x25". If you want to go with a standard size frame, simply use 18"x24" for this mat and frame. It's a difference of only a half-inch all the way around. Remember that you'll cut the window in the mat to 12.75" x 18.75" providing a 1/8" overlap all around for this print.
Your photo is next in the sandwich and gets affixed to the mount board -- NOT to the mat. (Technique coming up.) Use archival (acid-free) mount board, because what's behind the print is equally important. I use Beinfang brand foamboard. Behind that, you can have a backer board. I don’t bother, except for very large prints, where it adds more rigidity.
HOW IT’S DONEStep 1: Attach mat to mount board. Set mount board face up. Put mat over it, also face up. Now swing the mat up as if it is taped to the mount board along the top. Cut a long piece of Lineco Self-Adhesive Linen Tape (Lin-533-1055) and attach the abutting window mat (now face down) to the face up mount board along its entire length. Position print on the backer board. Swing mat down into place. Move print around (you ARE wearing white cotton gloves, right?) to position it. Apply weights to keep the print in place; swing mat out of the way.
Step 2: Hinge mount the print to the mount board. The only way to do archival mounting is by hinging. Use archival, acid-free hinging tissue. Mount print at only two points and let it hang from those two points (hinges). If you attach at multiple points (top and bottom, for example -- or use a spray adhesive), results over time may not be satisfactory because mount board and print may react to changes in humidity at different rates. The board may warp or the print may buckle. Use Lineco Self-Adhesive Hinging Tissue (Lin-533-1055) to mount the print to the mount board at two points.
See the "hinging" technique here:
http://www.framedestination.com/picture_frame_mounting.html See the Lineco linen tape and hinging tissue here:
http://framingsupplies.com/ToolsTapesGlues...sTapesGlues.htmStep 3: Insert sandwich into the frame. (I go one step further and apply foil tape to the inside surfaces of the wood frame, ensuring that wood fibers never come in contact with mat or mount board.) You removed all dust and lint, right? To hold the assembled glazing, mat, print, mount board, and optional backer board in place in a wood frame, use a Fletcher FrameMaster gun to insert framer's points:
http://framingsupplies.com/Fletcher/FletcherPointDriver.htm Step 4: Apply 3M Scotch ATG Gold #908 acid-free adhesive transfer tape (NOT #924, which is not acid free) around the entire rear edge of the frame using a 3M ATG 700 gun (the yellow one).
Here’s the tape:
http://framingsupplies.com/3M/3MATGTape.htm and the 3M ATG 700 gun (the yellow one):
http://framingsupplies.com/3M/TapeDispenserGuns.htm Step 5: Attach sheet of acid-free backing paper to the adhesive transfer tape you've just laid down. I use the black paper shown here:
http://framingsupplies.com/BackingPapersandPlasticBags.htm And I trim it using the trimmer knife shown at the top right of that same Web page.
Add wood frame hangers:
http://framingsupplies.com/FrameHangers.htmand hanging wire:
http://framingsupplies.com/HangingWire.htmTo review: Use only archival, acid-free mats, mount board, backer board, backing paper, and adhesives everywhere. The incremental cost is not much.
Disclaimer: I have no connection to RediMat, Framing Supplies, or Frame Destination. These are the places where I buy most of my supplies. (Actually, now that I have a sales tax certificate, I now buy direct from a large distributor of framing supplies.)
This is possibly overkill. But for me, after spending $8,000 on just my primary camera body, many times that on lenses, and $7,500 for my printer, this is short money well spent. After all, as I noted earlier, the only thing people see is the print and frame, not the camera and printer used.
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