Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Photo/poster framing and picture collages

I figured the variety would come from the different types and colors of the shots, but it would all be unified by the type of frame. I'm sure there would be a way to make it work with different types of frames, but I'd doubt my ability to tie it all together. It's already daunting.

I don't like the look of frames, they are so last century. I mount all of my photos in clear Lucite. I don't know brand which the local art store carries, but they are similar to these: http://www.boomusa.com/boom_item.php?type=accessories&id=6713 but are fastened with clips instead of magnets, which make it easier to use a mat (rather than relying on the back plate color).

I have made some picture frames. Without fancy wood working tools, it requires a Good framing clamp. Key is the word "Good". Trying to line up, glue and tighten 4 individual pieces of wood together without having them pop out on the corner can be very challenging. Luckily, I was going for the rustic look with old barn board so imperfect joins added to the look rather than detracted.

Of course, that was before I owned a router and now a lot of better jointing methods are available to me to help solve that problem.

Here is a good page of pictures of joining methods from a quick google that will help..
Wood Joining Pics.

Chris brings up an interesting possibility:

Years ago, I did a gigantic job right out of photography school: $13K worth of food photography prints for a department store chains' cafeterias. To keep framing costs down, I mounted each photo onto Gaterfoam (Foam core board) to make each photo rigid (Shut up, Peter) and then mounted an undersized frame behind the photo to help it stand off from the wall and "float". In other words, with 30x40 prints, I made simple 1x2 frames that were, say, 26x36.

If you do, this, you avoid traditional matting & framing. You can also make the 1x2 "frames" yourself because they don't have to be perfect...they're behind the photos. Finally, and maybe best since we're talking collages, you can make some frames with 1x1s, some with 1x2s, some with 1x3s, etc., so that some photos "float" further out from the wall and can therefore overlap ones under it a bit.

A can of black paint comprises the "finishing" stage, and hanging them is easy!

I would have them professionally mounted though (shut up, Peter!).

I like your idea Mark.

That's a very good idea. That sounds like the way to go.

Thank yuuuu. Thank yuu verry much....

(Please read in early, pre-fat Elvis voice)

A cheaper and lazier version of Mark's idea would be to mount the posters to the foam core and just use four wood blocks (of equal size and depth) near each corner to make them float off the wall. You could drill in to the top blocks at a 30° angle upward from the horizontal and use those holes to grab screw (or nail) heads for mounting, like so:



The anchors might be overkill, but I got carried away...

What part of "shut up, Peter" didn't you understand?

Thanks for the idea.

I used full frames to add rigidity to the large prints but, yes... Peters right and a simple cleat along the top would likely do fine.

I'd use a French Cleat to attach the whole thing to the wall, though....