Today I’m going to talk about Conservation Framing. There are many reasons to get something framed, but none more important than the preservation of precious memories, mementos, and special effects. You might be asking, “how can framing help preserve my personal treasures?” Well, there are many things that go into conservational framing, but for today we will talk about how your glass and mat board can help keep your framed piece looking good for years to come.

Let’s first talk about glass.

Technology has come a long way in creating protective layers that coat the glass. Our Conservation Clear Glass has a specially designed coating that blocks 99% of harmful UV light from reaching your framed piece. Blocking UV light helps to prevent fading of paper, loss of color intensity, and helps to preserve the very fibers of whatever it is you are framing. Museum Glass, however, is our glass of choice, offering 99% UV protection, as well as, an antireflective property. Museum Glass is so clear that it’s often difficult to if there is glass in the frame at all! What this really means, is that you are seeing everything as pristinely as possible, with nothing interrupting your view of the art work.

“What’s that thing that goes around the art work… not the frame, but that colored border?”

That my friend is what we call a Mat Board. It’s very important to know that not all mat boards are created equally (sorry, no Political Correctness when is comes to Mat Boards, they are not all equal)

Paper vs 100% Cotton Rag mat boards

Unfortunately there are still some framing shops out there that sell what we call “Paper Mats”, which contain acid. In the long run paper mats will fade, and anything that the mat board touches will be damaged. Our boards meet the preservation standards set forth by the Library of Congress and are either “buffered” or “100% cotton”, which are ideal for preservation because they contain NO acid. (We will unpack more about those terms in a later post. If you wish to know more NOW, feel free to check out the following link http://www.tomorrowstreasuresgallery.com/mat-board.html)

It’s also important to know that your artwork should never touch the glass of your frame. Mat boards help to create space between the art and the glass. We will explain why this is in more depth later. So stay tuned, and look for our new weekly posts!

Make fine art prints from your photographs.

Bring your digital file to us or a photo. (Must be 150dpi or higher resolution) Choose your print size, choose your paper and we will have your piece ready in five days for framing.

We also provide RUSH service.