What Is A Mat On A Picture

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What is a mat on a picture.

Personal photographs or smaller scale pics seem to transcend from casual snapshots to the realm of fine art with the addition of a mat. Carol duvall host of hgtv s the carol duvall show shares her discoveries about matting and framing artwork. Beginning with a turquoise mat add 1 2 foam board on top and end with the addition of a white mat on top of the foam board. Add elegance and protection when framing photos or artwork by adding a frame mat in a complementary color.

A well cut mat can make a huge difference in how a picture looks taking it from a simple snapshot to a framed piece of art. Mats make your pictures shine for greatest impact but they also serve a protective purpose. In picture framing it can be used to determine a visually pleasing mat to photo ratio. Mats are used in framing photographs and artwork to center the focus of the picture and give it a sense of spatial depth.

They are applied by some framers while others opt for freer choices. Traditional correct mat sizes differ slightly from the golden ratio calculations. Mats create space between your picture and the acrylic or glass front for air to circulate which prevents condensation from building up that can cause mildew or buckling over time. A mat can really make your photo pop and complement the flat nature of the medium.

In the picture framing industry a mat or matte or mount in british english is a thin flat piece of paper based material included within a picture frame which serves as additional decoration and to perform several other more practical functions such as separating the art from the glass putting mats in a frame is called matting a term which can also usually be used interchangeably with mat. Here the image is cut apart each section mounted on 1 4 foam.