Picture Framing

What's picture framing all about?

Well, it’s easy isn’t it? You buy a print or get your big wedding photo, go to a department store for a photo frame, or to a Scandinavian furniture warehouse for a ready made frame - stick one into the other and there you are!

The picture doesn’t quite fit and it’s a bit wonky but, well, it was cheap wasn’t it? Of course there is an alternative - go to a picture framer. But that’s a bit daunting, you don’t know what you want, you don’t know what to ask for and you don’t know what it costs, so you don’t go! Well, a little learning may be a dangerous thing but a bit of information can be quite useful.

So here are some of the things you might talk about in a proper picture framing shop.

*Single mount - this is the coloured mountboard around the image to separate it from the frame, usually shows a white bevel edge.
*Double mount - as above but with two contrasting colours, one above the other (see below).

*Slip - a narrow moulding, matching the frame, which goes between the image and the mount.
* Moulding - what a framer calls the frame.
*Traditional wood frame with double mount - this is what you have seen framing a watercolour of a landscape or a bunch of flowers. Mid-brown wood frame with gold sight edge and a double mount in pastel shades . Perfectly fine if you have a watercolour landscape painting and have traditional décor at home (but don’t hang it in your new Ikea bedroom!).
*Modern frame with matching slip - many of this years mouldings come in beautiful colours, textures and shapes that look a million times more exciting than the wood/gold frames of yesterday. This combination can transform a photograph or modern artwork(see picture on the right).

A few other points you might be interested in:

Conservation Framing

We have all seen newspapers which have turned brown after being left in the sun for a few hours or in a draw for a few years. This is caused because light turns the acid in wood-derived paper a brown colour which discolours the whole sheet. This happens to mountboard around pictures especially on the cut bevelled edge next to the picture. This causes the bevelled edge to turn an unsightly brown (look at any old framed pictures you might have on the wall) but also allows the acid to leach out onto the picture and turns that brown too.

To prevent this conservation quality mountboard is treated to remove the acidity in wood-derived board and will not cause such damage. For the ultimate protection museum quality board made from cotton rag is available. In addition it is good conservation practice to use a sheet of acid-free barrier paper behind the picture to add further protection.

Such conservation quality materials and methods are used at Renaissance 2.

Glass

You may also have noticed that some older prints have lost their colour over the years, often losing the intensity of colour or even turning to shades of blue in extreme cases. This is caused by UV light degrading the printing ink in the image. Although modern prints are better able to withstand this it can be safer for expensive prints to be protected by anti-UV glass which filters out UV rays. This type of glass is more expensive than standard picture glass but can be worth it to protect rare or expensive prints. We regularly use anti-UV glass and reflection control glass when asked for it but not as standard. The ultimate glass is “Museum Quality” but we have not used this at Renaissance 2, possibly because it costs around £500 a square metre in wholesale quantities! But if you brought in the Mona Lisa for re-framing we know where to get it.

Boxed canvas

Tthis is a way of presenting artwork without a frame, it has become very popular in recent years. The image is printed on canvas and then wrapped around a hidden box frame. The picture therefore has no visible frame and floats on the wall, looks great for modern images in modern décor.
But don’t think that you have to buy ready boxed pictures - it is possible to have your own favourite photos blown up, printed on canvas and presented in this way (by Renaissance 2, of course! We can do the whole process on our own premises). Click here for details.

But you will only be offered these choices by a skilled picture framer, so come to Renaissance 2 and make your pictures something to be proud of.