Once you have finished printing your image all handling should be done using the white protective gloves that are sold at better photo and framing shops. They are inexpensive and will help keep your art clean. It is important to keep fingerprints from the print, both front and back. The oils contain acids that will eventually eat into the print and possibly bleach them out where they have been touched and not cleaned with a cleaner such as PEC 12. Don't touch the prints is a good form of protection.

Storage boxes designed for fine art is the next step. Clean hands don't matter a lot if bits of acidic cardboard are falling on the photos. Chunks of plastics, adhesives, dead skin and dirt all contribute to shortened print life. A good 'archival storage box' will help a lot. Same with using interleaving tissue or single ply rag board inbetween images. This will protect the print as well as give the statement to those viewing them that you value your work and they should also. I don't think you need breathing filters and such, though with rare, irreplacable and extremely valuable works it would be a good idea. For most of is though it is overkill.

Once you have the prints you are ready to finish them. By finish, I mean to mount, mat and frame the image. You do so for a number of reasons. A finely framed image commands more respect. It gets looked at. Your framing should not detract from the image nor overshadow it. For much photography a simple frame with clean matting will do well. The 'museum matting' will usually do a good job. A clean, simple frame with a simple one color overmat or even a double mat over the print. But the mat shouldn't be the subject, your image should. Avoiding mats with patterns and textures or strong colors that compete with the photo are real killers. So are mats with inlays and mats that are too large. The idea is to show the image at its best, not to sell frames.

I have seen two major mistakes in framing fine photographs, both color and B&W.(in B&W i generally include most alt processes here) That is the idea that a big frame will make a poor photo better and the idea that you don't really need much of a mat. The first is foolish and the second will usually result in the photograph looking crowded in the frame. Go to some good galleries and look at the works of the finest photograhers. Then copy their framing and see how it looks with your images. Mount, mat and frame the print and then put it up on your wall where you will have to look at it each day. If the print is crowded by a too small mat it will become apparent after the novelty of having finally framed something wears off. The print won't look right. The whole presentation will look too small. This may manifest itself to you with a feeling of discomfort as you look at the print. If so, try a larger mat and frame.

Then you can go to the other extreme, mounting and framing the piece with too large a mat and frame. The image gets lost in the matting. I wish I could tell you there is a 'rule' to follow but there isn't. There really isn't more than a general guideline and that is to mat and frame to emphasize the image. Too much mat and the print is reduced in significance. Too little surround and the prints impact is lost. A mat with 2-4 inches surround is often a good start. Then the nuances of your print interpretation take hold. A bold, bright and strong image may well cry out for matting that isolates the image while the framing directs the viewers eye to it. A very quiet, introspective image may be best shown by framing and matting that does little more than hold the image in place. Matting that does not compete in any way with the delicacy of the print.

Each print is different and each may well need to be framed differently. If you stick with top notch materials and keep it simple you will soon find it easier to frame different style images to emphasize the print, not the presentation. A well framed print should stand out while the surround receded into the background while not disappearing. A well done print presentation will keep your vision on the single print and not hasten your looking at the next one. It is a fine balance.

Good materials make the effort easier. I use Bainbridge AlphaRag Artcare board for most of my frame work. It has a micropore trapping system built in that helps protect the print from atmospheric pollution as well as the outgassing from the prints themselves. It does NOT protect the print from the damaging UV light rays. In dark storage the Artcare mats actively protect the prints. If you want UV protection you will need to go with a high quality UV protective glass such as the coated museum glass that is available. Yes, it seems expensive, but how much will it cost to reprint your images after they start fading?

The Bainbridge board comes in two styles. Buffered, for most artwork, and unbuffered, for Ilforchromes and Albumen prints, and any others that may be acidic. Buffered boards have an alkaline reserve built in to combat the acids in the atmosphere and in some cases, in the frames themselves. The non buffered matboard has no protection and the board will most likely get acidic with time. Since Albumen and Ilfochrome is acidic to start with, this doesn't matter much unless you use cheap matting such as illustration board. That is too acidic and will ruin your images.

Mounting material to use with the mat board should be neutral as well. If you are mounting Ilfochromes or RC materials, Scotch PMA (positionable mounting adhesive) is a good product. It mounts flat and is supposed to keep its adhesive qualities and not be acidic. It is called 'archival' by Light Impressions. It is easy to use and works well but will not come off easily at all once burnished down with the print.

Seal products are good and work well with their and other makers dry mount presses. They are about all that does work with fibre prints. You do have the option of hanging corners or rice paper using t-mounts but I find I always have problems with prints buckling and getting wavy when mounting this way. I will live with the dry mounted prints as they look better to me. If I do the other mounts it is usually with smaller prints that won't be in the frames very long. Either way, test the product before mounting an important print. Make your mistakes with work prints rather than your exhibition work. Then, when you are confident in the heat setting with your dry mount press, for that you can make nice t-style hinge mounts, do one with the important artwork.

Mats are a problem for many photographers. Just as it took time to learn how to produce good images, it will take time to learn how to mount and then cut mat board. This not a case of buy it & produce masterpieces the first time. Small edge overcuts. Ragged and crooked cuts. Mis measuring and miscutting both happen. It takes time and it takes patience. Yes, you can cut nice mats with a straight edge and razor blades. It can be done. It is easier with a fine mat cutter and for most, it is faster once you get the hang of it.

Good cutters are priced between $1000 and $2000. (US) Nice ones can be had from about $150 up. You can cut cleanly and easily with the less expensive ones. But if you are doing a lot of mats, get the better cutters. They are more accurate, more easily used and are less fatiguing. Mat cutting doesn't tolerate mistakes when you are working wiht 1/8 to 1/16 inch tolerances. A good matcutter will last a lifetime and pay for itself over and over again. At the top are computer driven cutters, but we will leave the $20,000 plus arena alone here.

Suffice it to say that if you spend the money for good matting materials you don't like throwing it away because you screwed it up using a cheap cutter.

Three things will help get better results no matter how you cut your mats. The first is high quality cutting blades, CHANGED OFTEN. This may mean you change the blade with each cut on a 20x24 board. Blades are cheap when compared to high quality mat board. Fail to change the blade soon enough and you get ragged cuts and/or wavy cuts. The second item is a solid straight edge. Not one that bows and flexes easily. You are measuring straight lines for cutting. A cheap and lightweight edge will flex and ruin your cuts, whether done by hand or with a cutter. The less expensive cutters flex too easily. The high end mat cutters from companies such as C&H and Fletcher will do a better job than the less expensive ones. They are built to cut with all day long, year after year. They don't wear and last almost forever. Use a good matcutter and change blades often and you will get good cuts year after year. The third item that will make a big difference is to use a piece of the same mat board you are cutting UNDER the cutting area as you make your cut. This will help prevent blade flexing while starting the cut. Use different matboard and you get a different flex pattern and your chances of getting wavy cuts go up.

Mats are not hard to cut and prints are not hard to mount. So why do so many have problems? I belive it comes from working too fast, using cheap materials, not keeping the work area clean and not paying attention to what you are doing. If you are going to mount, mat and frame your own work you have to be comfortable with it. This will only come with practice. Don't be afraid to experiment as that is how you learn. Better to waste mat board getting it right than to cut once and show lousy framing. Just as you get better results by being familiar with your cameras and film, you will get better framing by being familiar and comfortable with your materials.

I will cover a lot more on glazing in a future article. For now, buy the sizes needed from Sandel, TruVue or other major suppliers by the box. You can get a box of 47 pieces of 11x17 pre-cut, paper wrapped, washed picture framing glass for $30-50 dollars depending on where you live. If you couple that with metal frames from a major supplier such as Nielson, who also make the mat board, you will end up with a clean and long lasting framing job that will protect and enhance your artwork. Nielson frames are excellent quality and you won't be apologizing for little glitches when you stick with quality. Same with glass. You do have choices, from inexpensive to coated water white which does cost half and arm and a leg. But the better glass in completely clear(not green like all normal picture framing glass), coated to cut reflections just like a fine lens and provides UV protection. Is your image worth it? Only you can tell.

A matted and framed print looks good. One that isn't just does not look finished, most of the time. With high end quality you won't be laminating the prints nor will you be using cheap materials. Actually, cheap materials do cost more to use. When a mount delaminates and the print starts curling off the mat, or the mat starts turning brown or the frame starts spotting or rusting, it costs you money.

It is less expensive to do it right in the first place.