Acquiring the Correct Size Framing & Matting
When purchasing framing for your prints, you have several different display options available to you. Some prefer to dry mount the art piece to a stable substrate, such as foam core or mat board, and center the art on an oversized backing that is then mounted into a frame.
Paintings and drawings are sometimes mounted on a backer and enclosed in a frame without matting so that the frame itself “frames” the image.
A more traditional framing method that is used for all forms of art, but typically used for photographic images is to mount the image between a backer board and matting which then goes into the framework. Your frame size is typically listed by its inside dimensioned the mat sizing is listed by its outside dimension. This make matching your matted image to a frame extremely easy. Where you need to pay close attention is in the mat opening.
Mat openings, in order to provide a clean, professional appearance, are smaller than the actual print size by a half inch in each direction. If you have an 8” x 10” print, the mat opening you would be looking to acquire would be 7.5” x 9.5.” This smaller opening allows for hiding the edge of the print from view and also compensates for uneven image/print borders.
Below is a table of typical frame sizes as they relate to mat opening sizes for premade mats typically found in craft and retail stores. Finding your print size in the table will show you which frame size are available for you to purchase. Conversely, if you already have a frame not in use, look up the frame size in table 2 to find the print size options available to you.
Table 1: Frames size based on your picture size
This table can be used to determine the correct size mat and frame for an existing image. For example: If you have a 4” x 6” picture the table shows you should acquire either a 5”x 7” mat and frame or, if a wide border is desired, an 8” x 10” mat and frame.
