Ever found yourself looking at a framed piece of artwork and seeing dust particles in the frame, fingerprints or smudges on the art, glazing or mount boards, or even wondered why there’s a sheet of paper over the back of the frame?
A lot goes into picture framing and not very much of it is all about aesthetics.
Frames are there primarily to protect art, but the level of protection they have really boils to down the materials used and the process used to apply them.
3 Things You Ought to Know to Professionally Frame a Print
1. Hinge Mounting Safely Prevents Art from Sliding Inside the Frame
Framing anything within a picture frame needs the work affixed. Sandwiching it between the mount board and the backing board isn’t enough to stop it sliding around inside the frame. To prevent the photo or artwork from sliding, the piece needs to be mounted. There are a number of ways to do this, but not all have the same advantages.
Dry mounting, as an example, will permanently bond the art to the backing board. That’s an irreversible process that’s not suited to valuable pieces of work requiring conservation framing.
For preservation purposes, the most suitable method is hinge mounting using acid-free materials. Hinge mounting can be done with just a few small strips of tape or acid-free photo corners. Their purpose is to prevent the art from sliding while still allowing ample room within the frame for the paper to expand and contract as it naturally does with temperature and humidity fluctuations. Without hinge mounting, most papers are susceptible to wrinkling or creasing if they don’t have the room to move.
2. Improper Handling of All the Framing Materials
Phantom fingerprints do appear on and inside frames and the cause is being exposed to oily fingers during the handling process.
Some framers swear by cotton gloves, others prefer to thoroughly wash and dry their hands to eliminate excess oils that cause the fingerprint smudges.
That said, where you buy your mount boards matters because framers know to handle the mount boards with care by protecting them from fingerprint smudges. Buy a multipack from a wholesale discounter or non-arts and crafts supplier, the pickers and packers are likely not too diligent about how they handle their materials.
Depending on where you buy your mount boards from, they may already have fingerprints on them. Inspect the boards first before sealing your frame because you don’t want to find the smudges once you have sealed it. That’s going to mean you will need to open it up and start from scratch.
3. Lignin-Based Backing Paper as a Dust Seal is Huge No-No!
We know a lot more about framing and conversation now than we did a few decades back. In the past, it wasn’t unusual to see brown paper attached to backing panels or even masking tape used to create a seal between the backing board and the picture frame. Turns out it wasn’t a wise idea because anything that’s acidic is damaging to framing materials.
To create an effective dust barrier that protects dust particles from getting into the frame, an acid-free backing paper should be used.
The most affordable backing paper that’s only suitable for non-conversation framing (meaning it doesn’t matter if it degrades with time) is lignin-based papers. For maximum longevity without the risk of fast degradation, use an acid-free backing paper.
Some of the toughest backing papers are made with high-density polyethylene fibers that are durable enough to resist puncturing easily while maintaining some porousness, which allows the art to breathe within the frame.
A quality backing paper will do more than keep the dust out. It will keep out insects at bay that are prone to attacking paper materials such as silverfish and booklice.