Picture Framing Information
Comments on Gallery Style Picture Frames
We proudly specialize in serving the creative community - photographers,
artists and dedicated hobbyist or art resellers. The bulk of their
purchases are for galleries, art shows, and general retail of photo prints
or collectible art as well as posters. For this reason we specialize in “gallery style”
custom framing and framing packages. It is not for everyone and its choice
depends on your house décor and personal tastes. I will tell you a little
about it and contrast it with what a custom framer will do in an effort to
help make you aware of your options. In “gallery style” the goal is for
the frame to set the artwork off from the wall and highlight it without
detracting from the image. In general it relies on a simple, fairly thin
black frame with a fairly large white mat. When I say large mat, I mean
about a 4 inch border all the way around the image. Use of a mat or spacer
is critical for conservation since the image must be kept off the glass or
acrylic. One of the advantages of this style is that it helps provide
consistency for a gallery exhibit of photographers work. Assuming the
photographer has a recognizable style, the consistency of the frames will
help keep them from distracting that style or theme. You can also reuse
the same frames for lots of different pictures. Gallery style can work
very well with some contemporary home décor styles. It does not work with
“rural country’ or “rustic” home décor styles.
In the non-gallery style the goal is to create a frame package that is an
extension of the artwork. Typically you would try to select one or two
colors in the image and then select complimentary mat and frame colors to
help cause them to pop or to emphasize those colors. You also select a
shape for the frame that can help provide lines that are consistent with
the flow of the image. This is what skilled customer framers are great at
and it is one of the reasons custom frames are understandably more
expensive. The non-gallery style may also include mat/frame selection
related to the décor in your house. Of course this is not a concern when
displaying work in galleries and more neutral style such as gallery style
can be more beneficial in this case.
Dimensions Explained for Picture Frames
Dimensions for
picture frames
is not a simple topic; however, we get a lot of questions about it so I
decided to clarify some of the common terms.
Artwork size:
This is the size of your image and not necessarily the paper. For
instance, an 8x10 from a photo lab will usually be 8x10, but you can print
an 8x10 at home on 8.5x11 paper.
Mat exact opening:
This is the dimension of the hole cut in the mat. A typical store-bought
ready-made frame for an 8x10 photo will have a mat opening of 7.5x9.5.
This will allow the mat to overlap the image by ¼ inch on all 4 sides. It
also helps to hold the image down. Mats cut by custom frame shops will
usually have an opening of 7.75x9.75 so there is less masking of the
image.
Mat external size:
A mat used to mount an 8x10 image in an
11x14 frame
will have an external size of exactly 11x14 +/- 1/16 inch.
Frame size:
This one is trickier. In the case of an 11x14 frame used to frame an 8x10
image, it might be referred to as an
8x10 frame
or 11x14 frame size (assuming the complete frame package contains the
appropriate mat). An 11x14 frame with no mat will always be an 11x14
frame. So is the actual frame dimension 11x14 or 8x10? The answer is
neither. If the frame size (not mat opening) is 11x14 then it is referring
to the inside dimension. However, the frame will be cut a little larger,
typically 1/8 inch. That allows room for the glass, mounting board and mat
to fit without binding. It also allows for up to 1/16 inch error on the
mat and glass dimension, as well as for expansion and contraction due to
temperature changes.
Outside frame size:
This dimension is the very outside of the frame. It is seldom referred to
unless you are concerned about placing the frame in a limited space. An
11x14 frame might actually have an external dimension of 14x17 if the
moulding is 1 and ½ inches wide.
Rabbet depth:
This dimension tells you how much room you have inside the frame for mat
board, glass, and mount board. Some frame mouldings are not deep enough to
allow a double mat or an 8-ply mat to fit.