When making DIY picture frames, you have the opportunity to be creative with the treatment. This tutorial will go over how to float a piece of artwork on a mat board with no cuts and then floating a mat on top of the artwork. This technique creates a shadow box type of appearance. (See our Shadowbox Frames here.)

Mike Cromly | 3/26/2014 10:49:51 AM | 0 comments

In framing parlance, a “reveal” is the amount of a mat board that can be seen in a treatment after a second, or top mat, is placed over it. This is different from the mat’s border. The border is the total width of the mat board from its window edge to its outside.

Mike Cromly | 3/17/2014 11:02:20 AM | 0 comments

Everyone knows mats come in different colors. One thing you may not have noticed is that they also have different cores, or center, colors. Some mats are called “continuous core” because the mat is the same color inside as outside. Many mats, however have a white or a cream core that contrasts with the outside color.

Every frame has a rabbet, also known in our system as the R measurement, which is also the inside depth of the frame. This is where your materials go. When choosing DIY frames , color and style are important, but the rabbet is equally as important. This is because the rabbet needs to be deep enough to hold all the materials being framed. For wood mouldings, the rabbet is the area from under the lip of the frame to the bottom of the frame.

Mike Cromly | 3/3/2014 3:44:38 PM | 3 comments