Matting Your Artwork

MAT IT YOURSELF

Precut mats are available at all of our retail stores in a variety of colours and sizes. These are the most economical solution for matting your artwork, and they fit a wide range of our standard sized frames.

You can also order a mat to be cut to your personal specifications, to help ensure the very best presentation of your artwork. You can order a single or double mat in square, rectangle, round or oval formats. If you choose a double mat, the sliver of colour from the submat, called a fillet, is a great way to enhance the aesthetic impact of your final work.

We offer four different brands of matboard: Rising, Crescent, Savage and Peterboro. This huge selection of colours and textures includes bright-white and black core mats, colour cores, 4-ply and 8-ply boards, and specialty mats such as suede and linen. In addition, we offer a range of conservation levels to suit your needs and your budget. The possibilities are endless!

CUT IT YOURSELF
For artists, professionals and gallerists who wish to cut their own mats, we stock a number of quality Logan matcutters. We have everything from the most basic, light-use ruler and handcutter systems, to easy-to-use board mounted cutters that are suited for heavy-use and more professional purposes. These cutters are a great investment if you enjoy framing your own work, and cutting your own mats can save you a great deal of money over time.

We also stock a wide selection of full sheet matboards in 32" x 40" sizes and we can easily order 40" x 60" boards for oversized artworks. These are sold in single sheets and price breaks are available when you purchase in quantities.

NO MATTING REQUIRED
Depending on the artwork you want to frame you may or may not require matting. For example, oil and acrylic paintings on stretched canvas or boards are often framed "as is" or with a liner. Our very popular Opus Gallery Frame has a "built-in" seamless linen liner, and liner style mouldings in beige and white linen or raw wood are available when ordering a frame cut-to-size.

If you prefer, you can also "float" your artwork on a backmat without a window mat in your frame. We have a number of supplies and accessories for specialty framing such as this, including hinging tapes, regular and acid-free foamcore, and plastic spacers to create room between your art and the glass.

How to Frame at Opus

READY-MADE OR MADE-TO-ORDER: At Opus, we have a large selection of framing options. Besides our ready-made frames, we have many different moulding styles in metal and wood, which can be cut to your specifications. You can combine a made-to-order mat with a ready-made frame, or instead, choose all made-to-order materials. It's your choice! Our framing services make it easy for you to achieve the look you want at very reasonable prices.

We encourage you to bring your artwork in and check it against our frame and mat samples. Our staff are there to assist you and can show you how to measure your artwork and place an order. If you are ordering a large quantity of mats or frames ask about our quantity discounts, which range from 5-20% off our regular price. Orders generally have a turn-around of 3-4 days.

Ready-made frames and precut mats, on the other hand, are immediately available to take home. Our pre-assembled frames fit a large range of standard print, photo or artwork sizes, and with the addition of a well chosen made-to-order mat they are easily adapted to accommodate almost any size of artwork.

Whether you are just starting out or an old-hand at framing, each of our stores hold free matting and framing seminars. These seminars are a great opportunity to get the most out of framing your own artwork. Call the store nearest you for times, dates and to register.

If you are an Opus Mail Order Customer, you can call 1-800-663-6953 to have one of our friendly and knowledgeable representatives review our framing and shipping services.

Tips on Measuring: When determining the size of frame and mat you need for your artwork, we have a few tips. First, when making measurements for your window mat, consider your final image area. Decide (perhaps with the help of a window cut in a larger piece of paper) how much of the image you wish to see, and use its length and width for your window opening. If you want your window to be the exact size of the paper, remember to subtract approximately 1/2" from the length and width to allow for a 1/4" overlap of the window opening on your paper. The exterior measurements of your mat will be the size of your frame.

If you are framing an oversized artwork or are using a double mat or thicker mat board be sure to choose a frame that has an adequate depth. Check the measurement of the inside rabbet to ensure it can accommodate all of your frame layers, including the glass, mat, artwork and backing. We have a number of wood and metal frames with a deeper style moulding.

When ordering frames cut-to-size, give the measurements of your framing based on your actual artwork size, without making any adjustments. Our frames are cut to include a small allowance or tolerance. If you have any questions about measuring, be sure to check with us, so that we can help you achieve the best result.

YOUR OWN PERSONAL AESTHETICS: There are two main reasons for matting and framing an artwork: to protect and to enhance. Ideally, your matting and framing should not "fight" or overwhelm your artwork. Did you know that many artists and framers feel that it is actually the mat that makes or breaks the framed presentation of an artwork?

For a simple, classic look you can follow the standard gallery and museum practice of using a silver or black frame and a white or off-white mat. If you choose to use a coloured mat, be sure to check the effect of the colour you have chosen against the work. Often choosing a version of a colour from the work in a more neutral tone is the best choice.

While a narrow mat border may look fine with a small piece, choosing to use an extremely large border, or a thick 8-ply mat for a small artwork can look quite sharp when paired with a simple frame. You can also make the bottom border on your mat wider than the top and sides to offset the optical illusion of the bottom border looking narrower, when the framed piece is on the wall. On the other hand, having a mat cut with equal borders all around will increase the mat's versatility, enabling you to use it horizontally or vertically. In addition, when using a double mat the width of the fillet is up to you. It is common to see a fillet in 1/8", 1/4" or 1/2", although it can be wider than this on very large pieces. As a general rule, the larger the artwork the wider the borders or fillet should be to maintain a balance of proportions.

With regards to your frame style, we have several options to choose from including simple, modern mouldings to more ornate moulding profiles. You also have the option of capping successive frames over top of one another to create an even more elaborate frame. In addition, when framing objects or memorabilia, or when you want a dramatic presentation of your work we have a number of deep mouldings which can be used to create shadow boxes. Likewise, we have a number of shallow mouldings for a more subtle presentation of your art.

CARING FOR YOUR ART WITH THE ART OF CONSERVATION: Both the frame package (moulding, glass and backing) and the mat are an important means for protecting your artwork from damage due to moisture, pollution, handling and light. The frame should fit well, neither too loosely or tightly so that the glass and backing protect against dust. A paper dust cover over the backing can be added to further protect your artwork.

Acid-free backing materials protect against the yellowing and embrittlement of paper through absorption of acids and other harmful materials. Acid-free matting materials also protect against these effects. The window in a mat provides a recess that keeps the surface of the work away from the glazing, thus preventing your work from sticking to the glass, or from foxing and warping. The environment or location in which a work hangs also plays a role.

Our matboard range includes regular mat boards with acid-free purified wood pulp content and museum-grade boards that are 100% rag and buffered with calcium carbonate to resist acid pollution in the air. We also have non-buffered, 100% rag board for specialty photo mounting.

The best advice is to choose the best matting you can afford, and check the framed piece regularly as time goes by to ensure that you catch any problems early on.

For more information on our pre-assembled frames, please download the framing section of our catalogue here

To view and print our Framing Catalogue page you simply require Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not already have a free Acrobat Reader plugin, you can download one from Adobe.