How to Choose the Right Type of Mat Board For Your Project

 A common concern of artists and photographers is choosing the right type of mat board.
There are confusing terms used to sell mat board.

Terms such as Acid-Free, PH Neutral, Archival, Rag, Alpha-Cellulose, Lignin-Free, FSC Certified etc.

The key to choosing the right board should be based on desired life-span of the final product. 

Although there are many variations - most mat boards fall into 3 categories.
1. Decorative
2. Conservation
3. Museum Grade

Decorative mat boards are considered acid-free in that they are buffered to a ph-neutral acidic level which will eventually deteriorate - primarily based on exposure to light.  These boards are best used for everyday projects that have a life expectancy of 5 - 25 years.  Examples could include framing of cards, lab produced photographs and artwork or printed work on papers that may not be acid-free. For many projects including certificates, awards, promotions, events, advertising and short-term display - decorative or "regular" mats are more than adequate. They have the advantage of being the lowest cost type of board as well.  Additional variations include endless varieties of surface papers and colors as well as different color cores.

Conservation boards are used for most artwork or photographs that have a life expectancy of 50 -150 years - and should be used on original work, fine art prints on quality acid-free paper and other valuable papers.  While not hugely expensive, they provide excellent long-term protection and many artists and photographers choose these types of boards for their original works and fine art reproductions.  Some conservation mat boards come with solid colors through the entire board from surface paper through the core and backing paper.  Along with double-thicknesses and good color choices - these are an excellent choice for fine quality framing.

Museum Grade boards are usually cotton based "Rag" mats whose life expectancy is as long as possible.  Some manufacturers claim 100s of years of protection under "ideal" conditions.  These boards are not significantly more expensive than conservation boards and therefore should be used for very valuable works or works to be archived and displayed indefinitely.  Again, a variety of types of museum boards are available although colors of surface papers may be a bit more limited.

For additional information - see the following links;

www.matshop.com/products/mats/1/
www.crescentcardboard.com/pig0703.html

Mat Tips for 2011 - Rag Mats

Today's post is courtesy of Crescent Cardboard - a manufacturer of some of the finest matboard in the North American Market and maker of Crescent "Rag" Board.   Rag is often mis-understood by those starting to get into the framing market so I felt this information was timely.

COTTON RAG MAT

For centuries, cotton rag paper, prized for strength, purity and stability, has been the choice of artists, composers, writers and printers. Today it is specified for currency, stock certificates and government documents.

Cotton rag matboard was designed specifically for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in the late 1920s. Today, virtually all museums and libraries rely on cotton rag matboard, often referred to as museum board.


Cotton is nature's purest form of cellulose. It is inherently free of lignin, acid and other non-cellulose contaminants found in wood pulp. Cotton fiber pulp is reliable, sturdy and far superior to bleached, chemically processed wood pulp used to produce other conservation boards.

For more information on Crescent Matboards and other boards available see the following websites:
Crescent Rag Board
MatShop Art Supplies

Why does picture framing cost so much?

The simple answer is that Picture Framing is a business - and one in which expertise, access to materials and often specialized equipment becomes part of the price.

In today's world where anything can be bought at a discount - value is often overlooked.  And value is not something that is equal in every one's eyes.  For example;  if you are a good mechanic and can repair your car yourself - you see little value in taking it to a repair shop and paying hundreds of dollars to change  a water pump.

Yet for many of us - the repair shop offers excellent value - after all, I get my car back on the road and even with a bit of knowledge it would have taken me unknown hours and much frustration to do that job.

As such the value offered by professional picture framers is no different and can be critical when choosing materials that are matched to the conservation requirements of your precious artwork.

However, there are ways to also be wise and save money and education is available on line to provide you with ways to do many things yourself - or at least be educated about the various available materials and their conservation properties and values.

If you are doing major repairs - you do research.  You should do the same with spending hundreds of dollars on framing.  Good companies on or off line will be willing to take the time to explain your options to you and help you match the materials to use with what you are framing.  Too often I see people spend way to much on something that they have no intention of keeping for any great length of time because they were talked into expensive conservation materials.

To be fair - I have also seen people ill-advised to put cheap products that will not last on valuable pieces and family heirlooms when a little advise may have provided them with better insight to the affects of time on those choices.

Picture framing is an investment that you can enjoy so it is important to understand a bit about what is involved.  For more info I suggest that you search the web for "Understanding professional picture framing" or simply Matting and Framing.  You will find many sites with good information on types of materials, quality and durability.