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Archive 2013 · How do you mount your prints?

  
 
ben egbert
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p.3 #1 · p.3 #1 · How do you mount your prints?


Great artical. I have taken framing classes and had learned much of this but some stuff was different. Since I don't cover my images with glass or plex, sealing them makes little sense. Also since I am not planning archival life or selling them, I am less particular about acid free. Also, I don't use push points because I need to change out the artwork often so I use spring clips.

But these spring clips may apply pressure to the mat and cause warping, so I could also use a simple device (a flat short strip of thin metal with a hole in it for a screw). This will only prevent the assembly from falling out. I would then need to shim the assembly to more or less fill the space so it is tight enough.

I use Crescent mats which are less robust for two reasons. I have trouble cutting the heavier stuff, and Crescent has more colors available.

I guess you agree that I can free float the mat if I hinge mount the image to the foamcore.

This has been a most useful post for me and lots of great info provided. I plan to look up Lineco tape.



Aug 11, 2013 at 12:20 PM
hugowolf
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p.3 #2 · p.3 #2 · How do you mount your prints?


Spring clips will certainly cause warping, if you don’t glaze. It isn’t just the pressure, it is pressure applied only at certain places along the frame edge. You can however, bend the spring clips a little to reduce the tension – this helps a great deal with the prevention of warping.

If you are using wooden frames, then framing points are definitely the best way. There is no pressure on the mat, they just hold the whole thing in place. It only takes a minute or two to remove the points, replace the print, and repoint. Just bend the points up and remove with pliers.

I don’t know how many times you can repoint without problems, but probably hundreds as long as you don’t go over the top with the number of points you use. 100, changing once every two months would give 16 years with the same frame. A point gun isn’t expensive.

I guess you agree that I can free float the mat if I hinge mount the image to the foamcore.
You can, but it is still better to hinge the mat to the board for the reasons I outlined in the previous reply. If the mat is free, which would allow the use of the same mat in the frame, I would rotate the mat 180º when you change prints (providing the mats are cut with the window centred top to bottom and not bottom weighted)..

Brian A



Aug 11, 2013 at 12:49 PM
ben egbert
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p.3 #3 · p.3 #3 · How do you mount your prints?


hugowolf wrote:
Spring clips will certainly cause warping, if you don’t glaze. It isn’t just the pressure, it is pressure applied only at certain places along the frame edge. You can however, bend the spring clips a little to reduce the tension – this helps a great deal with the prevention of warping.

If you are using wooden frames, then framing points are definitely the best way. There is no pressure on the mat, they just hold the whole thing in place. It only takes a minute or two to remove the points, replace the print, and repoint. Just bend the points up
...Show more

I guess a hinge mounted mat could also be cut free and reused. In fact hinge mounts allow reuse of everything because they are easy to cut off. This is what I do, I simply cut them rather than attempt to unfasten them.

My previous statement about dedicating the assembly to the image was based on using double sided tape which is very hard to unstick without ruining something.

The mats are the most valuable. The foamcore is cheap to replace and of course if I am taking down an image, it has lost much of its value.

But friends and family who accept my old work as gifts are daunted by the framing and mounting problem. Even a matted backed image is a problem because the frame is the biggest cost item in the package.




Aug 11, 2013 at 04:58 PM
hugowolf
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p.3 #4 · p.3 #4 · How do you mount your prints?


You might find that mounting the print to the backer rather than the mat, and dropping the spring clips, or at least loosening their tension, is enough to get rid of your gaping mat problems. You may not need to change anything else in your current workflow.

Brian A



Aug 12, 2013 at 11:00 AM
ben egbert
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p.3 #5 · p.3 #5 · How do you mount your prints?


Thanks, Brian, this is what I will try next. I have also decided to make a viewing area in my basement. I will rig it up to display matted but unframed prints. A place to keep my also-ran images or the ones I take down from my walls.

It might also be a test for new prints, look at them a while and see if they are really better than one I have upstairs before doing a replacement. It may allow the display of 20 more images.



Aug 12, 2013 at 11:11 AM
hugowolf
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p.3 #6 · p.3 #6 · How do you mount your prints?


There is a difference between necessary and sufficient conditions (vis-à-vis math, logic, computer science, philosophy). Back mounting and lessened tension may be necessary to solve the problem, but they may not be sufficient – but if they are necessary, then you have to do them anyway, so it is a step in the right direction.

I think a useful thread, as I started out with similar problems several years ago and had to work out what exactly I needed to do to use traditional mounting techniques without glazing.

Brian A



Aug 12, 2013 at 07:54 PM
ben egbert
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p.3 #7 · p.3 #7 · How do you mount your prints?


Its funny how your quality judgement grows over time. I used to hang metallic prints under glass and be thrilled. But then I started seeing glare and slowly went to semigloss then matte and no glass and custom lighting. Now I notice gaps and the small waviness of paper that never offended before.

Where does it end?



Aug 13, 2013 at 09:09 AM
ben egbert
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p.3 #8 · p.3 #8 · How do you mount your prints?


Follow up. I just mounted my first image using the hinge mount to foam core method. I ran into a problem which while solvable is worth sharing.

When the image is attached to the mat it is easy to handle as an assembly while snaking it under the wire and into the frame. When it is attached to the backing, it tends to find its way through the mat while upside down and you are trying to guide it into the frame. The image wants to catch every edge and to fall through every opening. The image is 17x30 so only slightly larger than the mat opening which is 16.5 x 29.5.

Eventually I removed the wire by unscrewing the mounts so I could lay the assembly in place more directly. But this still failed. The way I eventually did this was to lay the mat-image-backing assembly flat and then drop the frame unto it. Of course the hardware prevents the frame from getting all the way down. But then you can reach underneath and guide the entire assembly into the frame and flip it over and finish installation.

I am thinking corners would help hold the image in place and prevent it from swinging.



Aug 17, 2013 at 01:34 PM
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