 All
About Glass!
There are quite a number of glass choices available to custom picture
framers. The glass that a custom framer uses for fine art is not the same
thing as common window glass. Window glass is not manufactured to the
same high quality standards as fine picture framing glass. Pictures framed
with window glass usually show very wavy reflection lines all over it
when the light strikes it at certain angles. Window glass has other impurities,
and small faults and marks in the glass itself. These impurities show
up readily on framed works of art. The minute glass is put over a fine
mat you see every impurity in the glass. For this reason the best professional
custom framers use only the best glass available today.
This article will discuss several different types of glass:
Regular Glass
Non Glare Glass
Premium Clear Glass
Conservation Glass
Museum Glass
Regular Glass
The next best glass after window pane glass is a product called Regular
Glass. This is a thin glass used in almost all of the ready-made frames
you find in department stores, and even many frame shops. This glass is
probably the cheapest picture framing glass available today. Which, of
course, explains its wide spread use in ready-made frames. Some frame
shops also use this product in order to keep their prices down. This is
not a very high quality glass but is much better than standard window
pane glass.
Non Glare
Regular glass also comes in a form called Non-Glare glass. This glass
is also of a poor quality. It usually has a coating on both sides, which
breaks up the light waves and minimizes reflections. Because of this coating
on both sides you also do not see the true colors of the artwork which
lies under the glass. This glass is also used in many department store
ready-made frames that do not have regular clear glass in them. You can
find this glass by holding a piece in front of you. You will find that
you can hardly see thought it. For this reason this glass should never
be put on shadow boxes or possibly anything else for that matter. To find
this glass, examine a department store frame or ask your custom framer
to show you a piece. Sometimes this glass is also called "Frosted
Glass". It is a very poor quality glass. Grignon's Art & Frame
NEVER uses regular glass and non-glare glasses in any of our custom framing.
Do NOT confuse this glass with "Reflection Control" glass.
 Premium
Clear Glass
Premium clear glass is one of the most frequently used glass by good
professional custom picture framers. The quality is very, very good. Several
different companies make it. One of the largest makers of this glass is
a company called Tru-Vue™. Since Grignon’s Art and Frame uses
Tru-Vue™ glass exclusively, the rest of this article is devoted entirely
unto Tru-Vue glass products. Neither knowing or using other companies
products I will not comment on them except to say that there are other
very high quality glass makers out there making very high quality glass!The
clear glass we use is called Tru-Vue™ Premium Clear Glass. It is
a very high quality glass free from defects and impurity that other glass
contains. This glass is thicker than regular glass and piece for piece,
weights considerably more. When placed over the art the glass almost disappears
from view. When light strikes it from certain angles it will cause some
reflections, as will all clear glass products from any company. But the
reflections on this glass are not wavy like window pane glass. Most people
really like this glass and choose it for their framing of open edition
prints.
Conservation Glass
Tru-Vue also makes a product called Tru-Vue Conservation glass. This
is looks nearly exactly like the clear glass above. The difference being
that this glass has a coating on one side which blocks out 97% of the
ultraviolet rays which causes works of art to fade. This glass looks almost
identical to Tru-Vue Premium Clear and most people would not be able to
tell the difference just by looking at it.
To be effective this glass needs to be used properly. The invisible coating
is applied only on one side and the proper side has to be mounted next
to the artwork. I have seen pictures mounted with the wrong side out;
this diminishes the value of the conservation coating.
Exposure to ultraviolet light causes organic materials to break down.
This causes the colors in artwork and photographs to fade, sometimes in
a very short period of time, depending on the inks and dyes used in the
art. This damage is irreversible. If left unattended your art will become
yellow and brittle. Both the sun and fluorescent lights give off ultraviolet
light.
Conservation glass should always be used on any art that is important
or valuable. This is the glass to use on valuable and rare works of art.
It is extremely useful in framing limited editions, needle work, and maybe
grandmas favorite picture of granddad. It is more expensive then Premium
Clear glass.
Grignon’s Art & Frame uses conservation glass on all the limited
edition prints that we sell on this web site.
Refection Control Glass
Tru-Vue’s refection control glass is the same as premium clear glass,
except that it again has an invisible coating on one side of it. This
glass also must be mounted with the proper side facing the artwork. Again,
I have seen pictures mounted with the wrong side out rendering the reflection
control properties of this glass useless. As with conservation control,
it must be used correctly.This brand of glass is one of the finest glasses
available today. It does a great job of reducing reflections and is very
useful in rooms that have a lot of stray sunlight entering. This glass
must not be confused with the non-glare glass that I wrote about earlier.
Tru-Vue's refection control glass is one of the finest glasses available
today to reduce reflections and glare from pictures. We at Grignon’s
Art and Frame use this glass constantly and highly recommend it. It costs
about the same as conservation glass.
Conservation - Reflection Control Glass
Then there is Tru-Vue’s Conservation - Reflection Control glass.
This glass is used where you need to control both the reflections coming
off your glass and you need to stop ultraviolet light from damaging your
artwork. This is a very, very high quality glass useful in many situations.
Museum Glass
Museum glass blocks out almost all-ultraviolet light, and almost all
glare. It has been so finely manufactured that this glass looks almost
invisible. It is used by many museums. It is also very expensive.
Plexiglas™
Plexiglas and other plastics are not really glass at all, they are a
form of hard plastic. They are much lighter than glass. They can also
withstand more bending than glass. They would be almost impossible to
break by dropping, as during shipping.Plexiglas and other plastics come
in large sheets making them very suitable for large works of art which
would be almost impossible to frame using glass. Plastics are also great
where framed pictures would be exposed to the prying fingers of children,
for example, at a day care center.
These plastics are suitable and have a place in the art world. They also
have a number of severe disadvantages. They have the annoying habit of
attracting lots of dust. Especially in houses in the northern part of
the country where the homes are heated many months out of each year. Due
to the fact that pictures framed with plastic attract so much dust you
are continually cleaning them. Plastics scratch easily. Due to the frequent
cleaning, and people touching the pictures, it usually is not long before
the pictures look bad. Pictures framed with plastics in Maine, where wood
heat is common, usually become scratched up within two years.
The very cheapest type of picture framing glazing is 1/16 inch plastic.
Pictures framed using this material are very light. The backs of the pictures
are many times just taped in and not built out, and many times the backs
don’t even have paper dust covering applied over the picture. No
matter what they may call it, this is NOT custom picture framing. This
type of framing is done at many poster frame shops very art is sold fast
and cheap. The best thing I can say about art framed with plastic is that
usually your custom picture framer can replace it with glass!
What Glass Should I Choose?
You and your custom framer should decide upon the type of glass you need
to use in framing your picture at the time of designing your framing project.
You should give your framer all the facts that he needs to help you decide.
First and foremost, you need to decide just how important this piece of
art is to you. Then decide just how well you wish to preserve it. If you
have already decided that you want to use the best matting and mounting
for your art, you should probably use the best glass that is necessary
to preserve your art.
Your framer will also need to know the lighting conditions in your home
interior where you wish to hang your art. Is it sunny? Dark? How is the
room to be lighted? After these facts are given he should be able to suggest
to you what would be the best glass to use for your art. It will then
be up to you to decide.
Depending on framing conditions you impose on your custom framer, there
is a combination of choices of glass available for you. We are fortunate
to have so many choices made available to us today.
Back to Learning Center
|
