Digital Prints

Mats: If loose or hanging edges are not your style, then adding an over-mat (or just “mat”)
is probably right for you. Most mats slightly overlap the edges of the print, holding them
down and also providing an uncluttered border between the image and the edge of any
framing. A variation is to have the mat stop short of the edges of the print, so that the
edges are exposed (see Figure 9.7). Mats come in various colors and thicknesses with 4ply
and 8-ply (thicker) as the standards.
Equality for Borders?
The traditional way to mat an image is to have equal borders on the top, left, and right, but to have the
bottom border be slightly larger, usually by a factor of 1.5. (Mark Rogers says some believe that the wider
bottom helps provide a base for the artwork to “sit down into.”) There are various theories of why this
should be, but the fact is that the trend now seems to be shifting to having equal borders on all sides.
Why?
Former frame shop owner Laurie Draper explains that “the shift to cutting equal borders was due largely
to the mat cutters commonly used in frame shops having three cutting stops that had to be adjusted for
each changing border width. This made it time-consuming to adjust them repeatedly to cut one mat.
Some frame shops adopted a new norm of cutting equal borders all around, making it faster and therefore
more cost-effective for them.
However, with the growing use of computerized mat-cutters, all one needs to do now is enter the border
widths and the computer determines the cut, so cutting weighted (unequal) mats is no longer more
effort. Conversely, the growing use of precut mats makes equal borders a necessity so that the buyer can
use the ready-made mat in either a vertical or horizontal position.”
NOTE: A nifty Mat Size Calculator that was created by Ken Schuster for determining equal and unequal
border sizes can be downloaded from the DP&I.com website at: www.dpandi.com.
Mats can be made with a mat cutter or bought pre-made in quantity. Many established
photographer-artists buy pre-cut mats from such suppliers as pictureframes.com, unitedmfrs.com,
and framingsupplies.com.
A digital alternative to real mats is a “faux mat” created in an image-editing or drawing
program and printed on the print itself. See Figure 9.8 for an example. Faux mats can be
combined with real ones to produce a double-mat effect.
Chapter 9 ■ Finishing and Displaying Your Prints 295