Best Framing Presentation for Color Landscape Photos

[dmerger]

Here’s another question about framing choices inspired by this thread http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=67059.0 regarding Charlie Cramer’s exhibit.

I noticed that a few of Charlie’s photos have what appears to be black frames with white or off-white (“white”) mats, while most of the photos have white mats without frames.   If I remember correctly, when Michael Reichmann had his gallery, most of his photos had white mats with white frames.

In my home I have a lot of off-white wall space and quite a few large color landscape photos.  Most of the photos have white mats and black frames.  I’ve also tried colored mats and frames individually matched to the colors in each photo.

I’m undecided about which presentation would look best: (1) all black frames with white mats, (2) all white frames and white mats, or (3) various colored frames and mats.  I’d be interested to hear other people’s opinions.  Here are my thoughts:

Although sometimes I really like the look of a colored frame and mat tailored to a particular photo, since there are several large color landscape photos in most rooms, I sometimes think that a uniform presentation looks best.  Using black frames with white mats, however, seems too “contrasty” and draws too much attention to the frames.   So, although I haven’t tried it, I wonder if white mats with white frames might be my best option.   (By the way, I do want frames, not the frameless method referred to in the link above.)

I’d welcome to hear other people’s experience and opinions.

[bill t.]

Where we got black frames + white mattes around photos was a movement back in the early part of the 20th century to once and for all minimize the impact of the frame on photos.  But IMHO that savior who delivered us from the tyranny of intrusive frames has become the new tyrant.

I'm afraid that's the most useful thing I can contribute to this discussion because I deplore black frames and mattes in general.  In my opinion they have become an anthem for all that is fastidious and prissy.

If I could, I would frame everything in rather understated, satiny smooth gold leaf frames, no mattes.  For centuries it was good enough for our oil painting fore bearers.  The only really neutral framing treatment is gold leaf, which both brightens the image and transitions it safely to even the most horrible wall colors, which is something a black or white frame can not do.

Or else go the full way to minimalism and just attach bare prints to the wall, possibly mounted on some stiff substrate.  I make an exception for Charlie Cramer's display technique because it loses at least the black frame.  My personal compromise is to mostly use wood-like frames as selected by the number of credit card swipes they attract at art fairs.  The framing treatment with the most swipes wins, and for me it has never been black frames with white mattes.  Which may have something to do with my subject matter.

Of course this is mostly about taste, that most ephemeral and slippery of things.  And I fully accept that my taste is at least as bad as anybody else's.

[Wayne Fox]

Personally I think framing is about the decor of the location and the tastes and preferences of the buyer.  To me end goal is to make sure the art is not overwhelmed, yet also supplies some separation from the art and the surroundings in a somewhat subtle manner.  In some settings the stark black and white "traditional" presentation does just the opposite because it jumps out of the decor as "I don't belong here", especially in a case where a single large piece or two are being presented.

but then again that may be just what the owner wants ... who's to say what's right?

My personal presentation favorite lately is face mounted to non reflection glass with about a 3" border of glass, placed in front of a liner with a fabric mat board behind the liner.  Very cool look.

[rmalone]

Wayne,
Do you have any example pics of the fabric mat board completed mount? Also what do you use for a liner?
Thanks,
Ray

[AFairley]

I use silver frames, myself.

[bill t.]

I sometimes find it useful to do Photoshop mockups of framing treatments.  This is an attempt to show how a piece would like in a particular frame, in the color scheme imposed by a particular reception area wall.  The Hue/Saturation adjustment layer just above the "wall" is in Colorize mode, and can simulate any wall color.  The two "shadow" Curves layers with masks create a 3D feel.  This is a very classic treatment of course, but it plays very well in this region.

If you really want to get hardcore, you use background shots of the actual intended location.

[Light Seeker]

I have switched to canvas for colour work which provides a great deal of flexibility. Canvas stretched over gallery stretcher bars requires no frame, leaving decor matching strictly to the colour in the image. However, a thin 1/2", dark brown or black, float frame can really finish an image nicely.

More directly to the topic at hand. . .  I did some printing for an artist who did very detailed drawings. The work was of course black and white. It was very intricate and had a softness to it. A traditional black frame would take away from his images, and he preferred a soft silver wooden frame with a touch of gold in it for warmth. "German silver" comes to mind as the general tonality he preferred. He would then use a triple white matte, with one of the layers sometimes being a thin strip of silver. It was a very classy, elegant presentation, and I've taken the same approach with some black and white images. This combination will generally fit into any decor.

Terry.

[bill t.]

I guess we are some of the fastidious and prissy people Bill mentioned    - we offer black or white frames with white mats.

That's OK Sharon!  As every framer knows, if the supplies of matte black and matte white moulding dried up today, they would be out of business tomorrow!  The truth is, an awful lot of people are downright afraid of anything except 1" to 1.5" thick matte black moulding with white mattes, and that's no lie.  But my business is sofa-sized and bigger, and for that good old fashioned Gonzo-esque 3" and 4" frames prevail.

[louoates]

Terrific topic.
Some of this information is skewed to a local market in Mesa, AZ and may vary in your location. But here are a few framing tactics used by a highly successful art gallery:

This gallery shot shows how a high volume art seller mats and frames my work to maximize sales. The venue at one time was an open air flea market with 500+ vendors in Mesa, AZ. The larger sizes here (64" w) on canvas retail for around $500. The matted paper prints in the larger sizes (around 46" w) with glass and wood-like moulding are around $300. This market is open Fri-Sun during the season and has roughly 50,000+ people a day walking past.

The company is a high volume framer but limits the mat and moulding choices to take advantage of buying large quantities of each. Like most art show sales it is mainly impulse-driven sales with some very small percent of sales resulting in custom-framing for an up-charge.

The point of this is that they've learned to frame and mat for the largest possible audience, staying away from any mats or moulding that would clash in most homes. The other lessons they've learned is to avoid metal frames and rely heavily on local scenics, both painting and photography. In this market brown traditionally-styled wood frames outsells black 95 to 1. The demand for wood-only frames is close to zero. And white mats are rarely used. They know that if the customer cannot visualize THAT framed work on THEIR wall TODAY they've lost the sale.

Although this example is mostly of my work, the same matting and framing principles are used with painters' prints.

[149113]

I sometimes find it useful to do Photoshop mockups of framing treatments.  This is an attempt to show how a piece would like in a particular frame, in the color scheme imposed by a particular reception area wall.  The Hue/Saturation adjustment layer just above the "wall" is in Colorize mode, and can simulate any wall color.  The two "shadow" Curves layers with masks create a 3D feel.  This is a very classic treatment of course, but it plays very well in this region.

If you really want to get hardcore, you use background shots of the actual intended location.

Great idea to use PS to do this. What is your workflow to set this up for a new frame in PS?

[bill t.]

Basically, I make two "L" frame sections on two layers where everything but the frame is transparent.  Then I slide the image underneath the left & top L, so it's just under the lip of the moulding.  Then I drag the right & bottom L over the rest of image.  I miter the right and bottom corners with the polygonal selection tool, drawing a triangle that will remove the unwanted moulding with the clear function.  Then merge the two moulding layers, but leave the image layer separate to develop drop shadows, lip shadows, etc.

The L's themselves are derived from a picture of a piece of moulding, which can be copied online, from a catalog, or (very) preferably from a recent piece of the actual moulding in your possession.  Straighten up your moulding picture, remove keystoning.  Even out the lighting, possibly by rubber stamping over the right side from the left side.  Copy this moulding "chip" onto a large image.  Butt a second copy up against the first, possibly flipping the second one left and right which makes for an easy melding of the two, but not all moulding designs will permit that.  Merge this 2-up chip to another wider chip, then copy it lip-down along the top of the image for the full width.  You will want to have View->Snap selected for most of this work, unless you want to go crazy.

Now you've got a long length of moulding across the top of the image.  Merge the layers, copy out section, rotate the new section 90 CCW, and miter it onto the original horizontal section.  Merge those two layers, all the while being sure you have used Copy (which keeps the background transparent) rather than Copy Merged which will give you solid backgrounds.

So now you've got one L.  Copy it onto a new layer and rotate that layer 180.  Voila.

Main thing, just always use Copy instead of Copy Merged when duplicating the little chips, which will keep the backgrounds clear.  And note I have been saying "merge layers" rather than "flatten."

In common with professional framing programs that do this, you can be easily lured into thinking the moulding looks different than it really does.  You should always work from actual moulding samples using your photograph.

Just ignore the color on the attached image, I'm not paid enough here to color manage.

[Johnny_Boy]

In this market brown traditionally-styled wood frames outsells black 95 to 1.
The demand for wood-only frames is close to zero.

Louoates, can you clarify that statement? what do you mean by "wood-only"? How is that different from "brown traditionally-styled wood frames"?

[louoates]

Louoates, can you clarify that statement? what do you mean by "wood-only"? How is that different from "brown traditionally-styled wood frames"?

"Wood only" means no composite material. Not sure what the chemical nomenclature is but most of what they use is either wood particles or some kind of plastic. It's a fraction of the price of wood frames, more stable regarding warping, etc.,  and somewhat weaker structurally. The modern composites are very attractive and that's why very few folks even care that it's not actually wood.

[bill t.]

"Synthetic frames" is what I call those great looking polystyrene frames that take bring one's work so handsomely into the affordable world.  Those who would rather chop down trees are typically those who think digital is the work of the Devil, and who prefer silver prints because they believe those have not been "manipulated" or "enhanced."  It's a game of words.  But yes, for every person who turns up their nose at poly, a few dozen will hand over their credit cards.

I cut and joined a 30 x 60 polystyrene frame just a few minutes ago while the coffee was brewing.  It took 10 minutes start to finish.  It will take another 12 to 15 minutes to cut the mounted canvas and nail it into the frame with Fletcher points, and attach the hanging hardware.  Last night the 30 x 60 canvas was one of 5 large prints I mounted on Gator in not much more than an hour.  The return on time invested is excellent.

Back in the old days I could spend that much combined time just trying to chase a piece of dust out of an old fashioned frame with a matte and glass.  It is a constant source of pleasure to me that I don't ever have to do that with open-face canvas frames.  We live in amazing times.

Hey Lou, nice looking booth and some great photos in there!  I envy that season long venue!

[Peter McLennan]

  It will take another 12 to 15 minutes to cut the mounted canvas and nail it into the frame with Fletcher points, and attach the hanging hardware.  Last night the 30 x 60 canvas was one of 5 large prints I mounted on Gator in not much more than an hour. 

So the printing on canvas is not for its ease of stretching (since you're mounting it directly to Gator) it's entirely for the customer preference of the surface texture?

[bill t.]

Why I use canvas...

Canvas is amazingly robust at all phases of the fabrication process.  It can take abuse that would cause your average baryta user to faint.  If you're knockin' out product, canvas is your friend.

It can be presented without glass or other covering, aka glazing.  This look is very strongly favored by my customers over the matted/glazed presentation.  By a lot.

Canvas adapts very easily to extremely large pieces.  Sofa sized and up is where the money is at, sells much faster and easier than smallish little frames  Notice I did not say "prissy."

Coated and mounted canvas is essentially a hermetically sealed package.  It thrives in kitchens, over bathtubs and hot tubs, next to heating vents, in the presence of human respiratory by-products, and in similar places that can trash regular framing in very little time.

Canvas prints framed in polystyrene moulding can be built at monumental sizes and still weigh so little you don't even need wall anchors, just a couple nails.  My average 42 x 96 piece doesn't reach 20 lbs.  And it's fun to watch peoples' eyes bug out when I lift it with one hand for maneuvering.

I could go on.  There are a few downsides, such as the inability of canvas manufacturers to adequately control the texture and quality of the canvas backing itself.  The affordable matte canvases are a little marginal on gamut, but the recent, pricier glossy canvases have gamuts that are equal to the best barytas, what a surprise that was.

But the absolute last thing I care about is the surface texture.

I have always gravitated towards canvases with the LEAST surface texture.  And I think my customers are in the so-what category in that regard.  Texture is not expected, but it's ok if it's there.  It's all about the image and the overall mojo the piece projects from the wall.  Anybody who has ever looked at oil painting knows that canvas texture is usually not visible or at least not very much.  Crystalline has a very nice minimal surface texture, but unfortunately the equally gamut-worthy Epson glossies have an in-your-face texture that as far as I know has no precedent in painting or any other form of wall art.  Epson, are you listening?  You're so close!

And the cost and effort to assemble equal sized, equally impressive matte/glass frames is several times what it takes for a framed canvas.

[Peter McLennan]

Why I use canvas...

Canvas is amazingly robust at all phases of the fabrication process. 

This is so true.  I had a canvas jam in my 9800 this very day.  Stalled the printer it was so jammed up in there.  Wrinkled up several feet of media.  I took it out, smoothed the wrinkles as best I could from the unprinted media, re-printed and stretched.  Invisible wrinkles. : )  With paper media, it'd all be junk.

And for all those other reasons that make perfect sense, Bill I thank you yet again.

Now, I'm on the hunt for that moulding you refer to.

Anybody wanna buy my matte cutter?  : )

[Tony Jay]

I have found this thread very interesting.

Bill, the information you have shared really is food for thought.
For me, printing on canvas now seems like a very practical proposition.

Kind Regards

Tony Jay

[Mike Sellers]

Bill,
What canvas do you mostly use? I am trying to standardize on one canvas.
Mike

[Craig Murphy]

  I have been using IJ Technologies Black Diamond Satin.   Very stiff with not much surface either.  I do wish it was a bit 'whiter' though.  Seems that BC Crystalline is not actually available to purchase.  According to their web site anyway.   I would love suggestions anyone has for polystyrene frame stock.  How are you cutting it?  Assembling it?   Morso chopper?  Chop saw melts the material?