showing panoramic print

[pateeid]

u have a hard time to figure it out how to frame panoramic images with matt board. i shot 8*20 and try to find the right size matt. Any suggestion?
Thank you

 

[Ian Grant]

Buy complete sheets then you can cut your own. I'm slightly undecided how to mount &frame the prints from my 6x17, at present I plan to put then in 20x16 frames and current prints are just under 5"x15".

However I think that as I'm going to be exhibiting them along side images shot 6x6 and 5x4 (also 10x8) again in 20x16 frames I might have to increase the siz, as they may look out of balance, and then get some new frames made, I like at least 2" of mat between image and frame.

You have a fixed print size so why not go buy some cheap card and cut a rough matt template & see what size works best, I'd start around 13½"x25" that's allowing 2½" margin with an extra ½" at the bottom, but you might want wider.

Ian

 

[Michael A. Smith]

13 x 25 for convenience size. 16 x 28 for exhibition or hanging on the wall.

Michael A. Smith

 

[fdi]

u have a hard time to figure it out how to frame panoramic images with matt board. i shot 8*20 and try to find the right size matt. Any suggestion?
Thank you

You can cut your own as someone suggested, or buy at a discount from an online wholesale company such as mine. We carry 8x16 and 8x24 but not 8x20. We also do full custom just as other mat wholesalers will.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Sirius Glass]

Buy a matboard cutter; a good one. The cost of the matboard cutter will be amortized in only a small number of prints. Shortly you will be ahead of the game and that will encourage you to print more panoramas.

Steve

 

[Michael A. Smith]

Cutting your own overmats is a tedious task. Superior Archival Materials (www.superiorarchivalmats.com) carries only the finest mat board and at best prices. And everything is custom cut. Underboard and overmats

Yes, I now have an interest in the company, which is being re-named "Lodima Archival Materials." And we are photographers, not just a business, so we understand truly what "custom" means.

Michael A. Smith

 

[jamie young]

Michael is right that cutting mats is a time consuming job, which is why framing can add up when getting ready for a show. I do a lot of large panoramics with cirkut cameras and otherwise. A lot of my recent work goes in 16x72" frames and if I had someone matt and frame, each piece would cost $600.00 in framing costs, so I do it myself. I use a 40" logan matt cutter, and can cut most any size matt with it, up to 110 inches long so far. I wish I could afford to let others do it but,,,,. Once you've cut a few matts you get pretty quick at it. Matting is just part of it too. then you have to buy make the frame, and frame it. I've been making my own frames, which takes longer than the matting. Save a LOT of money, but would rather be out taking photos.

 

[Ian Grant]

Have to agree Jamie, my last exhibitions have been 60 or so prints and putting out the matt cutting just adds too much additional cost.

Matt cutting is relatively easy, in real terms it's not that time consuming when you look at it in context of the overall time it takes to mount & frame a print. Anything that can help cut the overall framing costs is without compromising quality best done yourself.

Ian

 

[Curt]

I've been making my own frames, which takes longer than the matting.

jamie, can you describe the frames you make?

Thanks
Curt

I have to cut my own mats, I could buy them but it cuts into the pocket too much, in college I used a straight edge and a Dexter mat cutter, now that is worse than typing up an English paper on an 1920 Underwood typewriter at 4 in the morning.

 

[Ian Grant]

I still use a Dexter mat cutter and a straight edge, quick & easy - there's a knack

Ian

 

[Curt]

The knack is to clamp the end of the straight edge so you only have to hold lightly on the edge toward you. Or have two strong people hold the straight edge for you ... or just clamp the straight edge down. Or make a jig to hold the straight edge so no clamping or holding would be required. Always have a good supply of blades for the Dexter too, when they get dull the whole project goes South fast. There must be a reason why the Dexter mat cutter is still being widely distributed. :confused:

 

[Ian Grant]

The knack is to use your knee to clamp the one end

Ian

 

[Sirius Glass]

The knack is to use your knee to clamp the one end

Ian

Your high knee?

Steve

 

[fdi]

Once you get over 60 inches you are in custom territory since most framing material is 32x40 with a subset at 40x60. Once you get over 60 inches your options for material are really limited since very little mat board is manufactured over 60 inches. For cases like this, I would agree you probably need to do it yourself. High end computerized mat cutters can’t cut over 60 inches so wholesalers that save money by manufacturing in volume can’t help.

If you are not going over 60 inches, then it is tougher call. If you can get a sheet of Bainbridge archival 4-ply for $10 then a pair of 18x24’s will cost you $5, but if you buy in qty 25 from an online wholesaler they might cost $5.27 each + little more for shipping. If it is worth your time to save 50 cents, or you cant by 25 at a time, or every may you cut is a different size then you want to consider getting a mat cutter and learning to cut mats.

In my case, even though I am an amateur photographer that owns a frame company, I have never hand cut a mat and never will. I would rather be taking pictures.

Cheers,
Mark

Michael is right that cutting mats is a time consuming job, which is why framing can add up when getting ready for a show. I do a lot of large panoramics with cirkut cameras and otherwise. A lot of my recent work goes in 16x72" frames and if I had someone matt and frame, each piece would cost $600.00 in framing costs, so I do it myself. I use a 40" logan matt cutter, and can cut most any size matt with it, up to 110 inches long so far. I wish I could afford to let others do it but,,,,. Once you've cut a few matts you get pretty quick at it. Matting is just part of it too. then you have to buy make the frame, and frame it. I've been making my own frames, which takes longer than the matting. Save a LOT of money, but would rather be out taking photos.

 

[ROL]

pateeid,

I have no axe to grind here as I offer no services, but I think I may offer a different view (mine only) on the matter of matting "non-standard" perspective photos. I currently present photos in 3 different (approximate) aspect ratios: 4:5, 3:5 (both horizontal and vertical) and 1:2 (horizontal only, my "panoramic" at this time), in many sizes ranging up to 40 inches, longest dimension. Every photo of identical LONGEST dimension is mounted in the SAME size mat and frame.

To use your example of 8X20 (closest in ratio to my 1:2):

16X20 (4:5), 12X20 (3:5), and 10X20 (1:2) are all matted to 24X30. This particular size, bottom weighting, etc. is a matter of personal taste and much discussion off topic here. (May as well start with AA's recommendations in "The Print", as anywhere else).

Obviously as a photo becomes more oblong, there will be more empty mat supporting two of the borders of the picture - but the short dimension will have identical borders to all other aspect ratios of prints of the same longest dimension. The advantages are two-fold: (1) photos of varying perspective can be shown together in identical frames, lending consistency to the exhibition (wall), and (2) only 1 size frame need be purchased for each base size (i.e., all aspect ratios of any particular longest dimension). The cost of using more mat and frame than might be otherwise necessary for increasingly oblong sizes can be offset by the ability to purchase multiple frames at price breaks and the cutting of (though I do cut my own) matboard. Also, I have personally found that as the print becomes more oblong, particularly in horizontals, it "requires" more mat at the top and bottom to "support" the work - it becomes a kind of negative space, separate from the hanging space (wall).

I have shown work this way for some time and have never had a complaint about the aesthetic of showing differing perspectives together. In fact most people don't notice the difference. They only notice the work (the print) - and isn't that as it should be?

 

[telkwa]

For a 12x27" panorama, I added 4" on each side. I had my mat & frame custom cut, and got glass from a local guy.