# Matting and Print Sizes



## rexbobcat (May 4, 2012)

This isn't technically a film/darkroom question as much as it is a general printing question, but I'm just curious.

What exactly is the point of a matt? I've heard some explanations such as being able to fit a non-standard sized photo into a more standard frame, or to try and bring moe direct emphasis to the photo. 

While the first reason makes sense, I'm wondering about the second. How important is a matt, really? I mean, I see some matts that occupy more space in the frame and that just doesn't make sense to me. And having a matt makes buying a frame more expensive as well.

So, what size matts do you normally use. Or do you even use a matt? What is generally accepted/recommended?

Also; is it weird to use sizes such at 8x12 and 12x18? They fit the normal digital aspect ratio so I don't have to crop, but they aren't exactly standard like 11x14 or 8x10. Does it seem awkward/weird to use the former sizes instead of the latter?


----------



## Ysarex (May 4, 2012)

A matt protects the print and as you noted the matt allows any aspect ratio print to be displayed in a standard frame size -- more on that in a moment. The most important function of a matt and frame is to present the print. Isolating the image elevates it's importance but also serves very directly and simply to remove distraction. The ideal matt and frame should present the print so well as to not be noticed or remebered. When I hang a collection of photos in a gallery I want my viewers to see and remember the photos and nothing else. To that end each photo is placed in a standard size vertical matt in the same size frame. Each frame is simple and unadorned. Specific size isn't important -- same size is. Each image is then hung on the wall at the same height and with equal spacing one to the next. Presentation should invite viewing of the photos and otherwise fade into the background. If you want to use a presentation method that is otherwise less traditional I think that's OK as long as the goal is the same. If the presentation method becomes an element of focus then it must be integral to the content presented in the photos otherwise you're creating confusion -- what are you showing?

When I present the topic of matting and framing to my students I start with this hypothetical senario: It's your big night. Your first one-person show at a real gallery in the art district. Bruno has gone out on a limb and taken a chance on you -- an unknown. The reception is a heady affair of wine and cheese and congratulations from a seemingly unending line of strangers. You're a success! You've made it! Six glasses of Chablis and a constipating amount of cheese later you're out on the sidewalk in front of the gallery. The night is over and as the gallery lights click off a straggling stranger approaches: "Oh, you're the artist!" You smile. "I have to say, I just adored the way you matted and framed your photos!" You are destroyed! Suicide maybe, but you could hope to be run over by a bus just about then.

For a starving artist it's really important to be able to buy standard size frames -- matts make that possible. It's a great idea to protect the print -- matts do that. But it's most important to present the print so that the photograph -- the art, and only the art will be seen.

Joe


----------



## rexbobcat (May 5, 2012)

Oh okay. That makes sense. That's what I noticed about some photographs in some of the local shows (this region is not really known for its quality photography exhibits...). Some of the matts would take up more of the frame than the photo, so it would make the photo feel dissociated from the frame.

Okay, so what matt would you use for an 8x12? 12x16? It's not completely even on all sides but it's close enough to be pretty unnoticeable. The only problem is that I'm not sure how thick a matt should be before it looks gawdy.


----------



## ann (May 5, 2012)

I am assuming you mean the thickness of the window, not the backboard.

I tend to use 8ply windows as I like that look, but then I also like more white space than some.  I also tend to mount in 14x18 frames, and salon style as Joe mentions with simple metal frames. There are times when I have used a metal frame with a bit of texture, but it has to "fit" the image and not be the subject.

Sometimes I use 16x20 windows all custom cut.

From the sizes you mention this sounds more like digital prints than images printed in the darkroom on standard analog sizes. Altho, it is really not important , a print is a print. 

I would suggest 3 inches at the top, 3 inches on each side and at least 4 inches on the bottom if not 5.  I am not a fan of center weighted mounting.  All white archival board, no color.

Something you can do to test the size of the window.  Take a piece of white paper with the over all size of the window. Cut a piece of color paper the size of the print and tape to the white paper and tack up on a wall and leave it there for a few days and see how it feels.  You can use several different white paper sizes and just change the color paper to each to see which has the balance and look you wish to achieve.


----------



## Ysarex (May 5, 2012)

I'd put an 8x12 print in a 16x20 matt. I'd use 4 ply 100% cotton rag museum board which makes the color choice easy. Regardless of the orientation of the print my matt will be vertical. This is done with the assumption that the photo will be displayed with other photos. Like Ann I don't center the print but perfer a heavier bottom. To achieve that I calculate the print position using a Fibonaci sequence which unlike Ann doesn't make the top equal to the sides. If my position calculation results in a top that is less than the sides I increase the frame/matt size.

Joe


----------



## ann (May 5, 2012)

In reality I do what Joe does, I was making a recommendation for the op, and only as a starting point.  Never is the top less than the sides.


----------



## KmH (May 5, 2012)

Most framing parts/accessories sellers just call it a mat. Documounts :: Documounts 101 (Documounts is no longer in business)

Prints that have glazing (glass/acrylic) in front of them often get stuck to the glazing unless there is a mat or spacers so the print and glazing do not touch.

The way human perception works, a mat that has 4 equal sides can actually look uncentered. Offsetting the mat window so there is a slightly more mat at the bottom (bottom-weighted mat window) makes the mat and frame seem better balanced.

When I have a print made for framing, I use Photoshop and put the image on a Photoshop canvas the same size outside dimensions the mat/mount will have. One then has the option to use a canvas size that corresponds to a standard print paper, mat, and frame size.  For images cropped for content rather than a standard aspect ratio, all that is then needed will be a custom cut mat window size. (When using an off-centered mat window the image is placed on the canvas with the same offset.

Some prints work well with double, or even triple mats.

http://www.americanframe.com/AmericanFrame/FramingBasics.aspx
http://www.framedestination.com/picture_frame_mounting.html


----------



## candidchick (Jul 3, 2013)

I think of mats as to help separate the picture from the frame and surrounding area, and to bring more focus to the picture. 
I have to use mats for class, and it help present the photos a lot better


----------



## vintagesnaps (Jul 4, 2013)

I think mats keep the print or artwork from pressing directly against the glass as well as give some space between the image and the border provided by the frame. I've noticed Adorama has mats and frames in sizes like 8x12" and 12x18"; I don't see why those couldn't work unless you wanted to exhibit photos where there may be specific guidelines for framing.


----------

