Cut Your Own Matting Frames

Carol duvall host of hgtv s the carol duvall show shares her discoveries about matting and framing artwork.

Cut your own matting frames.

The supplies you ll need are. Before you begin cut your mat board to the size of your frame. Measure the reveal area you want around. Here s how to cut your own picture mats.

All it takes is a few supplies some art or a photo to frame and you ll be creating your own decor in no time. After tracing cut out the section of mat board using your x acto knife or other sharp blade. This do it yourself video explains all the steps of cutting a professional looking mat for your artwork. But for canvas art mats don t work.

Use an x acto knife and a metal ruler to cut through the mat board. Instead add a linen liner to create the same transition from art to frame that mats do for pictures on paper. A cheaper solution is to learn to cut your own mat frames using a handful of basic materials that allow you to fully customize the look of your framed picture. Linen liners can be added to any linen liner compatible frame and to 3 4 framed stretched canvas.

We begin by showing you a simple formula for measu. Place the mat board on top of the back of your frame backing and trace around it with a pencil. The addition of a sleek well cut mat can greatly enhance the look of any framed picture but having a mat cut and frame made commercially can sometimes cost more than the picture itself. Mats are great with photos posters fine art prints diplomas or watercolors.

Typically if you cut 2 3 of your own mats your tools will pay for themselves. Here the image is cut apart each section mounted on 1 4 foam. Measuring your mat board for the frame is pretty simple no architecture or engineering degree required. The logan mat cutter i use runs about 50 for the guide and cutting handle.

I ll be using its sturdy fixed guide rail for all kinds of consistent cuts but it s perfect for cutting mat board. Its guides allow for mat frames as narrow as 3 4 or as wide as 4 1 4 hurray for accommodating both the subtle and the chunky came with both a mat knife and a push style bevel cutter i m ready for action. How to cut your own picture mats video tutorial all in all this project took us about 15 min per mat after the first one. I ended up with five frames for my new travel gallery wall reveal next week and the total cost per finished frame including all supplies from list above was 40.