 Mat
Cutting
When a person takes a picture to a custom framer to get it custom framed
they are right off faced with hundreds of choices of mat colors to choose
from. Of course this is true only if the framer shows all these colors
to the customer.
Many times the choices overwhelm the customer to the point they cannot
decide what in the world to use and feel frustrated by the whole affair.
We at Grignon’s Art and Frame have overcome this by the techniques
we use, and still allowing the customer to see as many colors, as they
want. People get frustrated usually because there aren’t just one
or two pretty mat colors that work with your art. There are lots of combinations
that would work with your art and your home interior. We have become experts
in choosing colors that will compliment the art and the frame that goes
around it. The matting and framing combinations for the art that is sold
on this site has been carefully chosen to compliment the art.
Because we are very familiar with all the hundreds of colors of mats
available we chose matting combinations that go great with the art. But
there is more to framing a picture than just the colors. When you hang
works of art on your wall for sale, you want a custom picture that doesn’t
look like it just came from a department store. To do that you want a
picture that has been properly framed and matted. To sell art you want
your pictures to present the most processional appearance possible. By
proper matting I mean a picture that has at least two mats. After all,
if people are spending the money on custom framing, what’s a few
more dollars for another mat? And they also want mats that are wide enough
to accent the art, yet not being overdone to the point of being too wide.
Then, why stop there when for just a little more a nice V-Groove can be
put around the art. This automatically denotes your picture as one that
has been custom framed when looked upon by the casual observer. I would
say that ninety percent of the art we frame uses two mats and a V-Groove.
This presents the most professional appearance possible as long as the
mats are wide enough. Many pictures done this way today have too narrow
a mat border.
 Are
wider mats better?
Many people do not choose a mat wide enough. Usually because of lack
of experience or they think it costs lots more. Which it really doesn’t.
You can prove this to yourself. The next time you have a picture custom
framed, ask your framer to quote you the price of the whole job using
only a 2-inch mat border around your picture. Write this price down on
a piece of paper right there on the frame shop desk. Now ask your custom
framer to change the border to 4 inches wide. A good shop can do this
instantly. Write this price above the former price. Subtract the difference
and you will find the difference in most cases to be very little compared
to what you receive. Just a couple of inches and a small change in price
could take your framed art from being ho hum to OH Wow!
It is like the mechanic that has all his tools out to change the spark
plugs in your car. There is going to be a certain charge you are going
to have to pay to have those plugs changed. After he has put in the five
plugs you really needed into your car he tells you he can put in the sixth
and last one in for you while he is at it for just a few dollars more.
It is the same in framing, a picture that is 13½ inches by 19 inches
is going to be cut out of the same piece of glass as a 16 by 20 inch picture.
How wide a mat border do you need?
 Without
seeing the artwork it is difficult to say. But I will say this. A picture
up to 11 by 14 inches needs a minimum of two to three inches of border.
From there up to 16 by 20 you should have a minimum of three inches. Anything
over 16 by 20 should have at least 3 or 4 inches of border. This is a
fairly good guide for most people. Remember these are minimums. Have you
ever seen a postage stamp framed using six inches of border all around
it. Watch how that really draws people up to it to find out what has been
framed in that little hole! See, a lot depends on what you are framing.
Another example. Usually a smaller picture using a wide frame doesn’t
need as much mat border as the same picture with a narrow frame. But again
it all depends on the picture. Quite often, the minimum mat borders given
above will look fine on your picture. If you are really in doubt I suggest
leaving the decision to a good custom framer.Again, I will suggest you
think real hard before using a narrow border. If you are having your pictures
framed by a custom framer, you want your pictures to LOOK Custom Framed.
Narrow borders almost always look unprofessional. Let’s face it,
they look cheap. You can find pictures framed using narrow borders all
over the place including the web. They are usually framed this way to
keep the price as low as possible. At Grignon's Art and Frame, we frame
pictures with borders wide enough to compliment the art. Pictures with
narrow borders do not sell good. If you want to buy pictures to resell,
you want pictures that make customers really sit up and take notice. At
Grignon's Art and Frame, we have but one goal, and that is to supply you
with pictures that sell! No one can always tell if a picture has been
"professionally" custom framed. But many can always tell when
one hasn’t been "professionally" custom framed. I put emphasize
around "professional" because, well there are some so called
custom framers and "frame it quick shops" around that aren’t
doing what I would call professional work. There are crumbs in every cake!
One things for certain. If you pay $150.00 to have a picture custom framed
it shouldn’t look like you just picked it up at a department store.
If it does, you need to either find a better custom framer, or spend a
little more money with the one you now have.
Can you go overboard with matting?
Yes we at Grignon’s Art and Frame sometimes think you can. Although
we will gladly use any number of mats and fancy cuts that you want on
a picture, ninety percent of the custom framing that we do for people
usually ends up being done using two or three mats and a V-groove because
it looks so good. Lots of times I have seen fancy scroll work done to
extreme on a mat. I’ve seen mats cut into fancy designs overlaid
with more fancy mats. I have seen fishing and hunting scenes cut into
the mat borders. I have watched people walk all the way across the room
to look at a picture, and exclaim, "Wow, look at the really neat
designs cut into this mat." Hey, what ever happened to the work of
art that had been custom framed? Mats should compliment the art, not distract
from it!
Sometimes I think people can get too fancy. We at Grignon’s Art
and Frame never go overboard on our art. We strive to use the best materials
in the best way that we know, to bring out the best in the art. We don’t
do anything, anytime, just for the sake of trying to get a few more dollars
out of you. We operate our shop on Godly principles and on those principles
we stand. I understand that many others do not agree with this point of
view, and that is great! It really is, because this world needs as many
different people in it as it can get. There is a place for really
fancy mats. This place is for customers that go into a frame shop and
want their picture framed this way. But if you are looking for art to
resell, you don't want these kinds of pictures. They appeal to a very
limited audience. You want art matted with mat borders wide enough to
compliment the art, mat colors that compliment the art, nice wood frames,
and real good quality glass.
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