Frames for galleries and/or sales

[bob338]

Michaels is VERY, VERY expensive. Like 4 times what the same frames can be bought at mail order.

Try American Frame and but the Neilsen metal frames. Style 11 is the most popular for photographs. I buy them without glass or matboard because I cut my own mats from Museum board and I do a better job than most frame shops, and its A LOT cheaper to do your own. But if you can't, they offer matting. LIke Fred said, plastic glass sucks, so I buy my glass from a local glass shop, its not expensive.

my mother works at a michaels store and i own a frame shop. michaels sends out 50% off coupons just about every month. i send out 20% coupons quarterly.
i called her one day to price something out, same moulding(yes, same manufacturer,) same mat, same glass. their price came to $1160, after the coupon it was $580. my price for the same item was $660, and after the coupon $528.
they are very expensive.

bob

 

[bob338]

3M spray mount on the back of the print, stick it roughly in the middle of a large piece of mounting board, cover with some layout paper and go over it with a rubber roller, measure and cut mounting board to fit the mask with a Swan-Morton knife, prefect every time

if it works for you, that's great. i'm not looking to start an argument, but i have 21 years of experience in picture framing.

the usual problems i've seen with spraying the print are overspray onto the print surface and tiny bits of dirt or dust that get between the print and mounting board creating dimples on the surface.
the problem with using a roller is that it isn't enough pressure to properly bond the print to the board. in the right conditions(heat, cold, direct sunlight, high humidity, etc) it can release and you can get bubbles in the print. roller marks are pretty common too.

i suggested hinging the photos because it is the proper way to mount photographs. super77 is not reversable and you'll never remove the print if you want to. vac-u-mount and photo mount claim to be archival and reversable but in all these years, i've never seen anyone successfully remove a print without residue or damage. also, super77 is not even vaguely non-toxic, so in time, it will eat into the photo paper.it's also bad sh*t to be breathing.
P90 or magic tape are both easily removed and much simpler to use.

my .02.

bob

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

my mother works at a michaels store and i own a frame shop. michaels sends out 50% off coupons just about every month. i send out 20% coupons quarterly.
i called her one day to price something out, same moulding(yes, same manufacturer,) same mat, same glass. their price came to $1160, after the coupon it was $580. my price for the same item was $660, and after the coupon $528.
they are very expensive.

bob

What on Earth were you framing that cost over $1000?!?! Please say it was a bunch of photos, not just a single one....LOL

 

[back alley]

the ribba frames at ikea actually went DOWN in price this year...

 

[januaryman]

Michaels is VERY, VERY expensive. Like 4 times what the same frames can be bought at mail order.

Try American Frame and but the Neilsen metal frames. Style 11 is the most popular for photographs. I buy them without glass or matboard because I cut my own mats from Museum board and I do a better job than most frame shops, and its A LOT cheaper to do your own. But if you can't, they offer matting. LIke Fred said, plastic glass sucks, so I buy my glass from a local glass shop, its not expensive.

I agree that Michaels is expensive - the job they did on some art work looked great. Not for my photos, though. Could you point out the link to style 11 please? I can't find that one, there are 9 pages of Nielsen frames!

 

[Turtle]

not sure if this is applicable but i have long been an IKEA shopper for cheap exhibition frames. the ribba series, with glass, is cheap as chips. more often than not i re-cut my own matt.

And their oak frames were solid oak until a few years ago when they went to veneer 🙁 Those original oakd frames, 20x16 were 10 pounds in the UK and just great. I agree the mounts were of cheapo board and a bit big (12x16 aperture)

 

[pggunn]

I buy most of my mats and frames from Blick if I'm buying small quantities. They have pre-cut mats with backing board at a decent price:

http://www.dickblick.com/products/crescent-pre-cut-mats/

And I like these frames:

http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-gallery-spectrum-frames/

http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-gallery-wood-frames/

http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-gallery-metal-frames/

http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-gallery-bamboo-frames/

I hinge mount using Scotch ATG Gold double sided tape:

http://www.dickblick.com/products/3m-scotch-adhesive-transfer-tape-atg-700-dispenser/

The dispenser is expensive, but you might shop around and find a better deal. It has been worth every penny. I actually bought mine from Redimat, a great source for matting materials and pre-cut mats, but they have a minimum order of $100 for matting and $50 for supplies such as tape, poly bags, etc. They do custom mats as well as pre-cut ones in conventional and digital formats in a variety of colors, grades, etc. I have been very pleased with their products and service.

http://www.redimat.com/

They also have a resource page that has a good primer on hinge mounting using double-sided tape:

http://www.redimat.com/articles/photo_matting_with_double_sided_tape.html

I almost forgot, there's a new product on Blick, a much cheaper form of double-sided tape with built-in dispenser, the Kolo Photo Tape Gun:

http://www.dickblick.com/products/kolo-photo-album-accessories/

The Kolo photo albums and travel books are really nice too. I just got an order delivered today and like them very much.

I hope this helps. It has worked well for me. Your mileage may vary.

Good luck!

 

[pggunn]

I should have mentioned in my previous post that the Blick frames come with plexiglass and they certainly aren't museum quality, but they are fine for my purposes, displaying my own photographs, for Art fairs, gifts, etc. They wouldn't be suitable for a high end gallery, though I do have some hung on my living room walls. Of course I can't afford high end gallery stuff anyway!

 

[Liz.nogan]

Whatever you choose as a frame, whether it's a tasteful black frame or something that's a little edgier-like upholstered board with nails driven into it at regular intervals- the frame has to look like it belongs with the artwork. In other words, there must be unity between the work and the frame. All sorts of materials are used for framing at my university's art gallery. It is also quite acceptable to display your work sans frame! These are all decisions to make before starting the work.

 

[Haigh]

Like one of the posts above, I will use Ikea frames for my next exhibition. I will probably get mats cut.

 

[gns]

One thing about frames is that there is much more variety used in galleries now since larger and larger prints have become popular. In the old days, just about everything was matted and framed in those thin black Nielsen type frames. An old print from the 19th century might be framed in thin plain wood, but that was about it. Nowadays, you see a lot of different methods. Many shows are hung without frames at all. Maybe it is aesthetics, or maybe it has to do with money. It costs the gallery a lot of money to frame and glaze those really large prints.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

One thing about frames is that there is much more variety used in galleries now since larger and larger prints have become popular. In the old days, just about everything was matted and framed in those thin black Nielsen type frames. An old print from the 19th century might be framed in thin plain wood, but that was about it. Nowadays, you see a lot of different methods. Many shows are hung without frames at all. Maybe it is aesthetics, or maybe it has to do with money. It costs the gallery a lot of money to frame and glaze those really large prints.

Cheers,
Gary

You mean it costs THE ARTIST a lot of money. Galleries don't do a thing that costs money...they make the artist pay all costs and then take a 50% commission on top of that!

 

[gns]

You mean it costs THE ARTIST a lot of money. Galleries don't do a thing that costs money...they make the artist pay all costs and then take a 50% commission on top of that!

That depends on the gallery (and the artist), I guess.

 

[nikon_sam]

if you have a michaels in town, they carry good mats and frames

I'll second this...Michael's has metal frames that you can customize for the size you need...it's their own brand name stuff...😎