I have B&W prints I would like to mount and frame. What is the preferred (favorite) color of matt board and frame? White, gray, black matt board? White, gray, black, pewter frames?

The B&W prints are not warm toned.

-- Kreig (kmcbride@memes.com), December 18, 2000

Answers

I use 4 ply acid free white matt for my B+W prints with the same for overmatt. I prefer black metal frames for white walls and silver metal for neutral walls. I also like a lot of matt around my photos. I put 8x10 prints on 14x18 matt, 11x14 prints on 16x20 matt and 16x20 prints on 24x28 inch matt. But this is just how I like it. You can use all purple if tht flips your switch. Have fun !

-- Paul Mongillo (pmongillo@thurston.com), December 18, 2000.

Spend some time in galleries and get yourself a Light Impressions catalog.

-- Steve Clark (agno3@eesc.com), December 18, 2000.

Light Impressions can be found at www.lightimpressionsdirect.com

Dave

-- Dave Willis (willisd@medicine.wustl.edu), December 18, 2000.

the standard is natural white, 100% rag museum board, and as mentioned above, light impressions is an excellent place to obtain high quality matboard. prints are typically hinged with linen tape rather than dry-mounting, though some folks still prefer to dry- mount. the thin-line extruded aluminum frames have been popular for many years, largely in matt black finish, but tastes are changing, and much of the professional woork i see these days uses a variety of dark wood frames. double-matting goes a long way toward enhancing the overall look of the matted print.

-- jnorman (jnorman@teleport.com), December 18, 2000.

I use acid free white for all my black and white work, framed in black metal with an occasional silver metal if the customer requests it. My standard frame is black, either mat or gloss. The one problem with mat finish is that is very difficult to touch up if it gets a scratch. I don't use tape. I dry mount my prints because with a floating mount they buckle and look amateurish. A friend of mine on the show circuit had a large print that was float mounted buckle enough to stick to the glass in high humidity. That cured her of not dry mounting prints. There is no getting a stuck print off except by scraping it off. Also, with float mounting the print can be removed and no signature remains unless you sign the print. I know some museums want them float mounted, but the people I sell to are happy with dry mounting and that is who I try to please. I also feel the dry mounting protects the back of the print.

-- Doug Paramore (dougmary@alaweb.com), December 18, 2000.

Before purchasing your matting materials get a copy of the current View Camera magazine & read Michael A. Smiths article on Alpharag Artcare board. It will change how you view both mounting and matting. I do custom framing and have been using this board since shortly after it was introduced. Every test on it shows it works. As for the preferred color, that is up to you, your taste and your sensibilities as to where you want it to hang.

-- Dan Smith (shooter@brigham.net), December 18, 2000.