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Matting Dimensions

Matting Dimensions

2003-09-23 by Tom Husband

I knew I should have paid attention in my high school math class.  
Figuring out matting and framing sizes is driving me nuts.  I have, 
say an 8" x 10" print in landscape and want a 1/2" border around it 
between the image and the mat for a signature at the bottom.  I'd 
also like to bump it up a bit so the bottom mat border is wider than 
the top border.  Maybe an 1/8th inch?  I'd like it all to fit in a 
standard size 16" x 20" frame.  When I do the math the top and bottom 
mat border is not as wide as the side borders or vice versa if it's 
in portrait.  Does it matter?  Figuring out the cutting dimensions is 
a pain no matter what the print size.  Is there a table somewhere 
that will give me the final cutting dimensions based on the input of 
image size, border and mat border?  I bet it could be done in Excel 
if it isn't already.

Thanks,

Tom

Re: [Digital BW] Matting Dimensions

2003-09-23 by Justin Florentine

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Tom, here's what I do:

Start with the frame.  You wanna use a 16 x 20?, so get a 16 x 20 mat.  
Figure out the total amount of area you want to cut out of the mat.  
This will be the display area.  So print an 8x10 image on an 11x14 sheet 
of paper, about 1/8th of an inch north of center so you have room for 
your signature.  Assuming you want the total display area centered 
within the mat:

16 - 8 1/8 = 7 7/8 / 2 = 5 3/8

Draw a line 5 3/8 inches south of the north edge of the mat (in 
landscape position).  Do the same for the south edge of the mat.
Make sure you're drawing on the BACK of the mat :).  Now repeat the 
calculations for the other dimension.

20 - 10 = 10 /2 = 5

Draw lines 5 inches from the east and west edges.

BANG!  Cut out your mat, and place it over your matted print, assuming 
the matted print is mount 1/8th of an inch north of center.  This is 
what I did for all my silver prints with wacky dimensions, and it worked 
out quite nicely.  Once you get good at it, you can save a lot of money 
on framing.  I rock the target sales and pick up 16x20 frames for $10-15 
bucks a pop, and then buy uncut mat board (no hole in the center) cut to 
16x20 for about a buck a sheet.

Tom Husband wrote:

|I knew I should have paid attention in my high school math class.  
|Figuring out matting and framing sizes is driving me nuts.  I have,
|say an 8" x 10" print in landscape and want a 1/2" border around it
|between the image and the mat for a signature at the bottom.  I'd
|also like to bump it up a bit so the bottom mat border is wider than
|the top border.  Maybe an 1/8th inch?  I'd like it all to fit in a
|standard size 16" x 20" frame.  When I do the math the top and bottom
|mat border is not as wide as the side borders or vice versa if it's
|in portrait.  Does it matter?  Figuring out the cutting dimensions is
|a pain no matter what the print size.  Is there a table somewhere
|that will give me the final cutting dimensions based on the input of
|image size, border and mat border?  I bet it could be done in Excel
|if it isn't already.
|
|Thanks,
|
|Tom
|
|
|
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Re: Matting Dimensions

2003-09-23 by Richard Coda

It can be done in Excel:

www.rcodaphotography.com/test/PhotoMatCalculator.xls

Just plug in your own numbers over mine. It works for three 
scenarios: Even borders, Uneven borders (Frame dependent), and Uneven 
borders (Margin dependent).

Rich
www.rcodaphotography.com

Re: Matting Dimensions

2003-09-23 by Tom Husband

Thanks Rich.  I just did a real simple one in Excel but it's not 
nearly as complete as yours.

Tom  

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Coda" 
<rcoda@y...> wrote:
> It can be done in Excel:
> 
> www.rcodaphotography.com/test/PhotoMatCalculator.xls
> 
> Just plug in your own numbers over mine. It works for three 
> scenarios: Even borders, Uneven borders (Frame dependent), and 
Uneven 
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> borders (Margin dependent).
> 
> Rich
> www.rcodaphotography.com

Re: [Digital BW] Matting Dimensions

2003-09-23 by Tom Husband

Thanks Justin,

It's pretty simple I guess.  I probably just need to do it a bunch of 
times.

Tom

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Justin 
Florentine <justin@b...> wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> Tom, here's what I do:
> 
> Start with the frame.  You wanna use a 16 x 20?, so get a 16 x 20 
mat.  
> Figure out the total amount of area you want to cut out of the 
mat.  
> This will be the display area.  So print an 8x10 image on an 11x14 
sheet 
> of paper, about 1/8th of an inch north of center so you have room 
for 
> your signature.  Assuming you want the total display area centered 
> within the mat:
> 
> 16 - 8 1/8 = 7 7/8 / 2 = 5 3/8
> 
> Draw a line 5 3/8 inches south of the north edge of the mat (in 
> landscape position).  Do the same for the south edge of the mat.
> Make sure you're drawing on the BACK of the mat :).  Now repeat the 
> calculations for the other dimension.
> 
> 20 - 10 = 10 /2 = 5
> 
> Draw lines 5 inches from the east and west edges.
> 
> BANG!  Cut out your mat, and place it over your matted print, 
assuming 
> the matted print is mount 1/8th of an inch north of center.  This 
is 
> what I did for all my silver prints with wacky dimensions, and it 
worked 
> out quite nicely.  Once you get good at it, you can save a lot of 
money 
> on framing.  I rock the target sales and pick up 16x20 frames for 
$10-15 
> bucks a pop, and then buy uncut mat board (no hole in the center) 
cut to 
> 16x20 for about a buck a sheet.

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