 RoxAnne E. Franklin |
How to Mount Photos I am currently working with my local library on a showing of old photos. They would like me to restore and repair the photos, print them, mount and matt them. There will be a total of 25. They are primarily 8 x 10's and 5 x 7's. They will be black and white when completed. I have an Epson Stylus photo2200 printer, and Epson Perfection 2400 photo scanner. Questions: 1. What's the best dpi to use for scanning with the end result being a finished print? 2. What's the best paper for print that achieves the most professinal look? 3. Does anyone have a great supplier for mounting and matting supplies? 4. Does anyone have great ideas as to how to mount the photo? Thanks!
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Matthew D. Koller |
From my "black and white" prints done on my Epson 2200 I have only used epsons papers but prefer the velvet fine art paper using the Matte Black ink. However I was really impressed when I used the premium lustre paper with the photo black ink. Realy excelent quality. The scan dpi is a little iffy for me. Try luminous-landscapes.com. Lots of info. For printing I have gone down to 190 dpi for a 10x14 print and you can not see any dpi with a magnafine glass. Because you are using 7 inks. Try printing out of photo shop in duotone / Tritone / and Quadtone mode, or rgb mode (not grayscale). (luminous-landscapes.com has a lot of info on this an the 2200). I have a wonderful supplier for Matting and framing supplies: Tradewind Products III in Green Bay, WI (where I live) they are ditributors of Nielson frames and Bainbridge mat boards. I am not sure if they ship far but you could call and ask (920)432-0270 if you do make sure you mention my name, it could help. Otherwise try finding a Nielson disributor near you. How you mount and display them depends on the prints, but I would try to keep them uniform. I generally mat with Museum mount 100% cotton white mat board framed in a nielson florentine black or puterish gray color. An 8x10 will mat niceley up to 13x15. You could add weight to the matting at the bottom, try experimenting with hand made papers in different ways. I worked in a frame shop for a while. If I knew what the photos were of or what type of look you are shooting for I might have better ideas. Hope I could help. www.mdkphoto.com
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Matthew D. Koller |
-For cost, The Enhanced Matte Epson Paper does a nice job as well.
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RoxAnne E. Franklin |
Thanks Matthew! To answer your questions, the photos are of the area where I live in NY dated back to 1905 some older some no more recent than 1930's. We dont want to frame them at this point, just matt them. We are attempting to get contributions for the library. There's 25 or so and we're going to display them for a showing in March and April. We want people to come in and possibly recognize some of the areas where the originals were taken, stir up their interests, then maybe they will donate to the cause so the federal grant can be less. Does this help explain the type of look I'm going for? All the photos are yellowed of course. The two that I'm restoring will be printed in Black and White so the community will be able to see the impact of before and after restoration. You helped so much with your thoughts that I thought i'd just give you a bit more info because you may know what color matts to shoot for and how thick the mounting board should be. The walls in the display room are a soft gray and are set up with hooks for artwork as there are many art showings in this room throughout the year. have any ideas on what type of hardware to attach to the mounting board for hanging? Would frame wire be too heavy for mounting board? Thanks SO VERY MUCH!!!
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Walt Paholak |
A picture frame supplier on line would PicturesFrames.com. They have all kinds of frames, mats, etc. You can even upload a photo and mount it into different frame styles. Also the Epson Enhanced Matte paper is outstanding. Walt
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Matthew D. Koller |
I would mount them on 1/8 acid free foam core. I would use acid free to preserve them as much as possible. You should not need wire to hang these, as they are fairly small prints. I remember using an adhesive type hanger for hanging my own pictures with out frames. You should be able to find some thing at a local frame shop or craft store. (other wise do a search on the web) since the pictures are yellowed, I would shoot for an off white to cream color acid free mat board. Crecent and Bainbridge are two reputable companies among many. You probabaly want to use archival mounting srips to mount them, or a linen acid free tape that comes off easily when re-wetted.(you have to lick it and it tastes terrible). Acid free tape will do if the pictures are in good shape just be carefull and use sparingly. - For printing check out www.luminous-landscape.com(I misspelled it before). Do a search for black and white printing workflow on epson 2200 ________Good Luck
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RoxAnne E. Franklin |
Oh you are too wonderful for words. That's exactly the info I needed. You're the greatest Matt, and you're the best for helping me! Thanks so much!
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RoxAnne E. Franklin |
Matt, I really wish I would have never undertaken this project. Ok, i've scanned and printed and all the prints except two came out just right to fit into an 8 x 10 opening of a 11 x 14 mat. I'm going crazy. All these prints are very odd sizes and small to begin with and i'm coming up with even odder sizes on the final print. I've tried to enlarge them as much as I can without loosing detail. when I put them into a mat board, i've got photo paper sticking out on the top and bottom. It just doesnt look good. Got any ideas?
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Matthew D. Koller |
Have you Purchased all the mat boards and backing? If not or if you could return them I have another Idea. I Cut my own Mats, But mat cutters are not really cheap. You will almost have to resize and crop. Leave out anything distracting. I just recently read about a photoshop pluggin used to enlarge with almost no loss of detail. They should have a trial version. It is called the "pxl Smart Scale" by Extensis www.extensis.com. I have not yet gone to the web site but give it a shot. I can realate to how you feel. I have many times put myself in situations some what similar. Try not to get to frustrated. Overall you will learn a lot from this situation, remember that. Do your best, it's all you can do. Let me Know about your mat board situation. I could have an alternative. _______Matt
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RoxAnne E. Franklin |
You should be a life coach, you calmed me down. I read what you said about staying calm and learning something thru this. Thanks, no, I havent purchased a thing yet, fortunately. what's your idea? I'll check out that website you mentioned. Thanks for hanging with me on this. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.
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Matthew D. Koller |
Instead of 1/8 inch foam core use 3/16 Dry Mount or single step foam core. I would recomend dry mounting by a reputable Frame shop. Make sure you Sress That you want the edges of the foam core covered, they might have to trim a slight amount with a razor. Then take a black marker and color the white edges. I recently have seen old black and white restored photos done this way I was impressed. The prints will be different sizes, however you can arrange them to look very professional. Do not Dry Mount the originals unless neccesary. It is permanant. I would also make sure the Heat activated Press used in dry mounting will not affect your images, being ink. With Epsons Inks I can not see this being a problem. I have also seen prints displayed this way in museums. No need for thank's, That is what sites like this one are for. I learn a lot just from reading other members Q & A
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RoxAnne E. Franklin |
Matt, I downloaded the scale program. It's pretty neat, and helped alot. Also, hubby and I discussed the mat cutter issue and we both agreed that it would probably benefit me to purchase one.He makes my frames for me to display my art and photography in the local galleries and I do lots of showings, but i've always paid to have my creations matted. Kind of ridiculous some of the prices. I've researched the cutters and what do you think of the Logan 700 S Simplex Studio cutter? It comes with 5 replacent knives. It's on sale at the Art Store.com for $186.96. When I think of how much i've paid to mat my art, I probably could have purchased 2 of these cutters! Question... with a mat cutter, can you make the openings off sizes and still keep the outer area of the mat 11 x 14? I'm such a newbie to this. Thanks for your help
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Matthew D. Koller |
Custom Framing prices are very rediculous. I worked at a frame shop specifically to learn how to mat and frame my own pictures. I have a Logan 750 simplex plus mat cutter. I think it works great. I mostly print Black and White and my mats are all pretty standard. It is definately worth the investment. Just make sure to take your time to cut down on waste. The mat cutter I used at the Frame shop was worth like $2,500.00. It was really nice especially for doing fancy cuts, and multiple opening mats. But for the money I can do everything I need for the 250 - 300 I paid. Double mats are still easy, multiple openings can get tricky. I like to keep it simple. I used to double mat everything, but I use mostly single mats now leaving a 1/4 inch border around two sides and the top and 1/2 inch around the bottom where I sign my prints. I like the look and it is easier when you keep a majority of your work a standard size. A majority of my prints are 10x14 with 2 3/4 inches matting around the bottom and sides and 2 1/2 inches on top. With a little bit of math(not a strong point for me at all) you can mat odd sized pictures into standard size frames. I would recomend sketching it out first, I have even used photoshop a few times just by opening up a few file to get an Idea of what it will look like. But a mat cutter is a good Idea. A standard size mat board is 32 x 40 and I want to try that plugin for Photoshop but have not gotten to it yet. Does it do a really good job? It sounded like it did. If you have any questions on cutting mats I should be able to help you out www.mdkphoto.com / _____
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RoxAnne E. Franklin |
Matt, I just wanted to say again.... thank you so very much for your extreme patience in answering all my distress calls! You helped so much. I especially appreciate the advise you gave me about trying not to get frustrated and that I will learn alot from this experience. You were so right, I learned valuable information that I will use forever and got a new matt cutter out of the deal, so life is good! Just wanted to let you know that the library showing is a huge success, has brought in business for me for restoration, matting, and mounting, and some photo shoots. I've gotten to meet tons of great people and the exposure is awesome. I still say that I couldnt have completed this project so well without your help. Betterphoto.com is the best site that I've ever been a part of and you are a wonderful teacher. I firmly beleive that what you put out in life comes back, therefore, you will be blessed with many gifts, i'm sure of it. thanks again Matt RoxAnne
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Matthew D. Koller |
RoxAnne I am happy that your Showing at the Library Was succesfull. It pleases me that I was able to help. I agree that this web site is excellent, and is the best web site I have been a part of as well. Hope things will continue to good for you. I also hope you are happy with your mat cutter. Thank You for the positive resonse.
______Matt
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Alexander E. Alden |
Hi, I wrote an article with more information on mounting pictures: http://ezinearticles.com/?Mounting-Your-Pictures-Into-Your-Photo-Album&id=648656 This may be of interest.
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