Advice wanted: precut matte board for mounting photos?

[Bob_B]

I'd appreciate any recommendations or opinions on online suppliers of precut matte board for use in mounting photographs. Thank you in advance.

[Alan Goldhammer]

Archival Methods and Frame Destination are both companies that I have regularly used for framing supplies.  Both provide excellent service.  You don't say whether you are going to do an overmat or just mount pictures.  I mount on acid free foam board and use mat board for the overmat.  Foam board is lighter than mat board but stable enough though you cannot dry mount to it.

[jrsforums]

I'd appreciate any recommendations or opinions on online suppliers of precut matte board for use in mounting photographs. Thank you in advance.

Frame Destination
http://www.framedestination.com/Pre_Cut_Mat_Board_Wholelsale.html

Clearbags -cheaper, particularly "decorative" sets....I use for camera club show&tell activities
http://www.clearbags.com/mats-backing?cat=36

[Bob_B]

You don't say whether you are going to do an overmat or just mount pictures.  I mount on acid free foam board and use mat board for the overmat.  Foam board is lighter than mat board but stable enough though you cannot dry mount to it.

Thanks for the help. I have to admit I don't know the difference between an overmat or just mounting pictures. It would be a great benefit to me if someone would suggest an internet site or two that might contain information on mounting techniques for someone (like me) with no experience.

[MBlue72]

Bob:

I highly recommend Framedestination.com. They also have very good help articles that cover a lot of ground. Their service (including packaging/shipping) has been excellent.

Dave

Edit to add: On their website, there is an extensive list of help topics on the left -- under "Resources"

[framah]

Foam board is lighter than mat board but stable enough though you cannot dry mount to it.

Not sure what you mean by this.  Foam board..commonly called foam core... is used ALL THE TIME for dry mounting with success all around the world.
Not sure why it only doesn't work for you.

Perhaps you might explain how you came to this conclusion.

[Alan Goldhammer]

Not sure what you mean by this.  Foam board..commonly called foam core... is used ALL THE TIME for dry mounting with success all around the world.
Not sure why it only doesn't work for you.

Perhaps you might explain how you came to this conclusion.

I was just conjecturing based on my old dry mount press that if the platten was not ajusted correctly that the foam core would be compressed.  My only experience was with dry mounting onto mat board (and that was years ago).  My mistake!

[fdi]

Thanks everyone for the Frame Destination recommendations!
Note we also sell clearbags, for a little less and we have smaller quantities on many if you could use a 10-pack instead of a 100-pack.

We have some info about mounting here: Picture Frame Mounting Techniques
We have other info about things like glass vs acrylic here: Picture Framing Information

In regards to overmat and mounting board - the mounting board will typically be a solid sheet of foamboard or matboard that will support the back of the picture. It may also act as the back of the frame. Sometime people will mount the image to matboard but matboard is not stiff enough to act as the back of the picture frame. Foamboard is less expensive than mat board and is rigid so it is more commonly used for mounting. The overmat will be layed on top of the image and have a window cut in it so that you can see the image. In addition to providing a border of different colors the mat will prevent the image from coming into contact with the picture frame glass or acrylic which can hurt the image over time.

This webpage has a picture frame assembly video that can give you an idea of what the various framing components are and how you would assemble your picture into the picture frame: metal picture frame assembly

Cheers,
Mark