Framing/mounting LARGE prints

[jjeling]

Haven't been around form quite some time. I know where home is though. I have come to a point in my experience as a photographer who does this solely for my own gratification where viewing and displaying images on a computer and a large TV is not enough. I've recently printed about half of my collection of images but need to mount them. Its an ongoing process but I'm struggling with the overly large panoramas. If you can wrap your head around the size, the are 24x120 and I plan on going larger. My problem is how and what do u mount them to. As of now I had planned on mounting them directly to a large acrylic sheet and then placing another sheet of acrylic over the top to protect it. Its going to get pricey I know but what isn't when you dive this deep into photography. The problem is the surface has to be silky smooth and equally clean as to minimize the surface "pimples". Perhaps someone here has some experience with this type of scale and has some advice.

On another subject, I'll try to be around a little more. I've found that reading and responding on this site vs the Pentax forum spurs much more creativity because it is solely dedicated to photography whereas the Pentax site is often overrun about talking about equipment. With that being said its good to be home.

[mbrager]

Just finding a workspace large enough for this size print would be a challenge. Why would you use acrylic for a backing? Wouldn't fibreboard be better? Can you even find a large enough acrylic sheet? How about glass? Then there's framing. I've been experimenting with frameless supports that clip on to the corners of photos, including the backing, mat and glass/acrylic. There are heavy duty ones for pieces over 20 inches on one side, but ten feet is ridiculous. I would be interested to hear how you resolve this.
And welcome back to the forum. Your Flickr stream is full of interesting photos.

[jjeling]

Large Plexiglass sheet in XL and XXL sizes are sold by ePlastics.com This is the site that you can get the sheets from. I havent bought any yet. Yes, workspace is an issue. Right now I am holding out a few months before "unloading" another large sum of money to continue funding my project(s). The idea right now is to measure the image and align it on the acrylic sheets. Once that is done, I will begin drilling holes around the image in symmetrically through both sheets. These holes will then be used to keep the image in place as well as securing the two sheets of acrylic together. By using plenty of bolts and locking nuts, the pressure between the acrylic sheets will be enough to keep the image in place as well as the nuts if done precisely enough. The other advantage of this is I can use the bolts and locking nuts to help me hang/mount the images to walls for display wherever that might be.

The final look of the projects should look pretty good depending on the quality of the acrylic sheets. I have successfully mounted one 12x115 image directly to a piece of timber that now sits in my dads garage, but that is only good for something that is not meant for a gallery style display. Not only that, you can only buy timber so large. Using fibreboard was another though as well for some of the "smaller" prints, but size is the limitation here. The other problem is the object the image is being mounted to needs to be extremely smooth. The slightest bit of dust usually looks horrendous and the mounting process has to start over. This is another problem I've been encountering when using any type of wood for that. Perhaps its just my attention to detail making sure the surface is clean, but I've been preferntial to glass and mirrors because its easy to just take some windex to clean the surface, align, mount, and voila! As the project/journey continues, I will be sure to post updates. Don't expect anything anytime soon though, I have another set of images selected for print that I have yet to turn in.

[Andrew]

I've always felt that when you are framing a photograph the frame becomes part of the result. Mat colour, mat size, number of mats, mat shape, map texture, frame colour, frame material, frame shape, etc all contribute to the overall effect of the presentation. Even the colour and size of the wall it is going on have an impact on the final product.

In my own case we have a few artist prints around the house and the mat/framing complement the placement and appearance. I also have my own photographs on a wall with Cable System: Wire & Picture Hanging Solutions | AS Hanging Systems showing them off. I have about 20 of all sizes at any one time and rotate them out as new ones "earn" their place. For that wall my frames are simple brushed aluminum with either a plain white or black mat. No rules. Just what I like.

Unless you know exactly what you want to see, use the skills of someone who frames for a living. They'll be more experienced and provide you a better result. To further your own knowledge, ask why they did what they did to your photo. It may take awhile but you'll come to know how to make the best choices on your own or at the least collaborate with the framer to finish your work.

[jjeling]

Unfortunatly, I am not a fan of getting images framed in a standard fashion. Perhaps thats why this is the result of that situation but, I prefer it that way. Nothing is more gratifying then having complete creative control over the process. Having the images framed by a framer does not appeal to me because it does not give me the ability to find my own individual presentation. It would be nice to think that my images are sooooo much different than everyone elses that they would sell on their own merit, but unfortunatly it would be foolish to think that. In order to expect any sort of return on what work I have done so far is to present the images in a way that people have not seen before. As I stated, this is for my own personal experience, but if it turns out the way its envisioned, how could I say no. Present them in a way that is different and it will surely be a way to catch someones attention, that and an image that is 10, 15, and 20 feet wide should help as well. Breaking the standard thought process is what brought me here and I have to keep pushing on. Perhaps this is why I carry a Pentax camera, or drive an SRT-6 Crossfire, being an unique in a world where everything seems the same is how I cope. I know what I want to see, however input is always welcomed and often required.

So.... until I get the proper workspace appropriated, at least the images are printed. To give you an idea of what I printed off it was over 450 8x12's, 50 or so 12x18's, 35 18x24's, and a couple dozen 24x36's. Then I have about 20 panoramas from 8x16 all the way up to 24x120. The plan is to print as large as I can mount, without destroying the image quality of the print. This all means there is plenty of things to do until I can get the workspace to start with the really big stuff. It is literally an entire collection and then some, but I can't stand looking at all these images on a digital display anymore. Something in me snapped and now I have this beast to deal with......

[Marko]

I TOTALLY hear you on printing images versus looking at them on a display. And I hear you on making the presentation 'your own'.

What you may not be taking into consideration is the archival quality of the framing - and a framer will know this.

FWIW I've always been told that sandwiching a photo between glass or plexi is a bad idea long term....(the paper needs to breath or a chemical reaction - something like that).
You may want to investigate this with a framer just for advice and then do what you will.