5 Steps to Matting a Fine Art Photographic Print

I’m gonna go out here on a limb and say hopefully having a clean workspace should be fairly obvious. This is critical to ensure no dust or dirt reaches the print during the mounting process. Matting the print should be carried out swiftly and ensure the print is not left exposed to the elements. After printing and prior to mounting my prints are always stored in individual protective bags to ensure they don’t attract dust.

So to ensure a swift mounting process I make sure I have both plenty of room and everything I’ll need to mount the print near to hand (and nothing more). Secondly I make sure I use a pair of cotton gloves (7) throughout the process. These ensure none of my own nasty chemicals are transferred to the print from my hands. On the right you can see a complete list of the materials I use during the Matting process and I shall refer to each of these as I work through each step.

Hinging the Matte is a very common method used in Fine Art and offers complete protection for the print but also makes the removal of the print a simple process. Firstly I layout the Matte (1) and Under-mount (2) beside each other. I use a straight edge (3) to ensure they are lined up exactly. When I’m satisfied everything is straight I use a pH Neutral Acid Free Paper Hinging Tape (9) to tape the two boards together. Next I trim off the edges with a sharp knife (4). I use a special cutting board (11) that both protects my work surface and is also very simple to clean. It goes straight back in a protect plastic bag when I am finished using it. Once trimmed I run my gloved finger along the tape to ensure good adhesion.

This is probably the single most awkward step in the process. Accurate placement is critical to ensure the print is centred in the matte window. The first step is to open the hinged mount and place the print flat on the under-mount. All my Mattes are sized at a 1/4″ larger then the print. This larger size ensures that again nothing touches the printed surface. The print itself includes 1″ of white space (unprinted paper) to give the mount something to grip. It is this whitespace that can make the positioning so pernickety. To make it easier I have cut guides for each print size from heavyweight photographic paper. I have one for both the bottom and side that allow me to line up the print on the under-mount perfectly. Once lined up place a weight on the print. Not any weight though, something that will not damage the print. I use a very very soft sock, actually 2 socks one inside the other filled with coins. It doesn’t need to weigh a ton, just enough to keep the print secure. Next close over the hinged mount and make sure everything is centred and squared off. I’ll tweak the position until it’s perfect.

Now that the print is perfectly placed in the Matte I need to secure it. As mentioned at the very beginning though I don’t use any adhesives on the print itself. So how do I overcome this? I use See-Thru Archival Mounting Strips (10). The strips are made so half their length contains a 2-ply conservation board and acid free adhesive and the other half a clear archival polyester. Firstly I cut 5 to 6 (depending on print size) strips of about 1/2″ in length. Then I reopen the hinged Matte to expose the print. Peeling of the protective plastic from the adhesive I place the strips around the print to secure it in place. The adhesive edge sticks to the under-mount while the clear archival polyester edge secures the print in place against the under-mount. As I include an 1″ border around all my prints not even this archival polyester edge touches the printed surface. Its important to leave a small amount of room, say 1/32″ – 1/16″ between the the 2-ply board of the adhesive strip and the print to allow or expansion. I use this method to affix all my Companion, Artist and Studio Prints. Given their size my larger Gallery & Master prints are dry mounted to an archival quality board.

So the print is now securely mounted within the hinged matte board. The entire process was done swiftly, in a clean environment, wearing cotton gloves and using only archival quality mounting products. I carry out a final inspection to make sure I am 100% happy, ensuring everything is still spotlessly clean, print is positioned correctly, etc. Time to sign. I sign both the print and the matte. The print signature is hidden beneath the Matte so as not to distract from the print itself. I use an archival quality pigment ink pen (5) to sign the print and a good ol’ HP pencil (5) to sign the mount. Once complete the final matted print is placed in a protective clear plastic bag (8) and sealed to protect it before its packaged and shipped to a customer.