Hampton Photo Arts & Framing - Do You Need Custom Framing for Your Artwork?

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Photo and Art Information

Framing Information

Do You Need Custom Framing for Your Artwork?

Archival Framing

The Process of Archival Matting and Framing Framing for archival preservation means that we are framing with the objective of getting the artwork out of the frame at some future date and having it be, at that time, in exactly the [ ... ]

Conservation Framing

Conservation Framing (sometimes called Preservation Framing) refers to the materials and techniques used by picture framers to frame valued art and objects to the highest standard. From matboards to glass to the paper cover on the [ ... ]

Creating a Picture Wall

A picture wall displays a group of framed items in a coordinated design. The frames may all be
the same style or the same color, but most often a picture wall includes a variety of different
frames. The artwork may be united by a [ ... ]

Do You Need Custom Framing for Your Artwork?

Hampton Photo, Art and Framing

While there’s no shortage of ready-made frames on the market today, sometimes you need a little more. Custom picture framing offers endless possibilities as well as the chance to truly enhance your artwork, whether it’s a picture, photo, or piece of rare embroidery. But how do you know whether the extra cost will be worth it in the long run, especially when there seem to be so many ready-made options for the beginner picture framer? The following will help answer some of the questions you may have about custom framing and to assist you in deciding whether to invest in this process.

Cost-Efficient, Limitless Possibilities

Think of custom framing as being limited only by your imagination, something that can’t be said for framing artwork using ready-made frames. Whatever you can imagine for your piece of art, custom framing can help you realize it. Custom framing is especially useful for unconventional sizes of artwork, be they pictures, prints, or photos. Maybe you’ve got a great picture at home but haven’t been able to frame it because you can’t find the right-size frame. While you can continue in your search for that particular frame, if your quest involves one or two costly mistakes along the way, having your picture custom framed could well prove more cost-efficient in the long run.

Proper Protection for Precious Artwork

Many people who frame precious photos in ready-made frames with no matting (the “border” that’s sometimes placed around a picture), or inferior quality matting, don’t realize that this is the perfect way to spoil not only photos but any type of artwork. Matting not only helps to enhance artwork, it also serves a practical purpose by creating a distance between the glass of the frame and the photo. This is especially important when wanting to preserve a photograph, as over time the emulsion it contains can cause it to stick to the glass resulting in irreversible damage. Humid conditions can also affect inadequately framed artwork if condensation is trapped between it and the glass.

Expert and Professional Craftsmanship

Unfortunately, many a wonderful piece of artwork has been ruined, or at least not shown off to its best, because of inexperience on the part of the framer. For example, while most people choose matting to enhance a picture, selecting matting that brings out the beauty of a piece of artwork isn’t as easy as it looks. Furthermore, it’s important to use the right sort of matting so as not to damage, and to continue to preserve, a piece of artwork. As with frames, the range of matting options are endless, not just in terms of colors and sizes, but also in respect of the different types of material that can be used. There’s also the question of multiple matting options, where two mats can be used to lend a feeling of depth to a piece of artwork.

So if you want a finished framed product that exceeds all your expectations, then you should seriously consider investing in custom framing.

Canvas Printing

Printing on canvas is incredibly versatile and a great way to create a ready-to-hang image or artwork. Every canvas that we print is protected with a UV coated acrylic finish to guard the print from dust, moisture and fading. Do you want your canvas stretched on bars or non-stretched? Framed or unframed? Customize the work to make it truly your own.

Art Prints – How are they made?

Photography by Laurie Barone-Shafer

Nowadays just about anyone can take a good quality photographs with a digital camera. Or take a few hundred pictures and the chances are few will be good, and even one or two outstanding.

Here are a few tips, tricks and techniques on how to make art print poster ready photographs and print ready digital files. Don’t get overwhelmed, there is a lot of information here, but a lot of it is just intuitive. Well, a bit of patience will always help.

First thing – Photo Size

If you taking a digital photo of you family or friend the largest size you would print is usually 5 by 7 inches, maybe 8 by 10 at the most. Even small size digital photographs (2MB or less) are ‘good enough’ to create a decent print. But if you want to create prints that are 16 by 20, 20 by 24 inches or larger you need more pixels (in pixels 20 by 24 inches photo is actually about 40 times larger than 3 by 4 inches photo assuming they have the same resolution).

Learning to Paint Watercolors

Watercolor is an easy, fun medium for creating art. Color theory, composition and design can be explored freely with watercolor paint, paper, and brushes. Several techniques may be used with watercolors for varying effects including painting wet on wet, wet on dry, layering washes, and more.

Watercolor paper comes in cold press, hot press, and rough. Rough paper has the most texture, and its hills and valleys can result in interesting effects when paint is added. Hot press is the smoothest and has the finest texture. Cold press has a moderate amount of texture and is the paper most commonly chosen by watercolor artists.

Watercolor paper comes in several weights ranging from 90 lb. to 300 lb. based on the pounds per ream of paper. Most artists prefer to use at least 140 lb. paper. Papers vary somewhat between manufacturers, so sampling different papers is advisable. Paper can be purchased in pads, in blocks or in large sheets. The large sheets are usually the most economical and can be torn into whatever size is desired.