After the Print has dried.. what next?

[ibcrewin]

We talk a lot about gear, film, developers, scanning and printing.. But what do you do with your prints after it's all said and done. Does anyone mat and frame their own work? Does it go into an album?

I have a few archival mat boards and I was thinking of selling them. Then I thought maybe I should try matting some pics!

 

[FrankS]

Choose your favourite prints, matt and frame them, then hang them on your walls. When you make new favourites, just exchange the prints.

 

[Vickko]

The "display" ones get framed

The fridge shots get taped to the fridge

Most get put into albums

Some get mailed to my mom

 

[ibcrewin]

What do your frames look like? big mats with small prints? Big prints with small mats? wooden frames? metal frames. See what I'm getting at? Are some frames better with paintings than photos? See what I'm getting at? 🙂

 

[kbg32]

Metal, wood. Matt, no matt. Matts have their purpose to keep some separation between print and glass. Frame what you like in what you like. Lately, I like no matt, with print floating in frame. I print on heavyweight Gliclee paper. Prints won't curl due to humidity. Go to museums and galleries to get some framing ideas.

 

[MartinP]

It's a good idea to bear in mind consistency across time and rooms too. There might be a super deal on a few trendy frames somewhere, but then that style disappears forever and you can't finish a set of pictures to look the same. Frames larger than, say, 50x70 would probably be better in aluminium than plastic for rigidity reasons, plus it's more archival too. For the actual hanging, the various systems of fixed picture-rails and dangling cords/wires make a lot of sense -- no random drilling of holes, completely flexible in positioning and can be discreetly out of sight when not in use.

I also have some series on oversize loose-leaf album pages, to protect them somewhat, and when put in to the appropriate album that can be very portable when needed too.

 

[shadowfox]

What do your frames look like? big mats with small prints? Big prints with small mats? wooden frames? metal frames. See what I'm getting at? Are some frames better with paintings than photos? See what I'm getting at? 🙂

I usually just mat my prints. I choose mats that are one "common" size larger than the print itself.
So if I have a 8x10 print, the mat is 11x14, and so on. The reasoning: Anyone who end up with the print don't have to pay extra for custom size frames.

I display them in my rotating "gallery" at home, or in a 16x20 acid free plastic sleeves.

Once in a blue moon, someone like my prints enough to ask a copy for their home. Sold a few this way. So you never know, to me, since we already went through the trouble printing, always be ready to present your best prints in a presentation-worthy manner.

And as mentioned above, print exchanges is a wonderful way to give out and gain prints.

 

[bsdunek]

As I sell most of mine, they are matted and framed. I like some room around the print so I use 11X14 frames for 8X10 prints, 16X20 for 11X11 or 11X14, etc.