Home  |  News  |  Programme  |  Galleries  |  Links  |  Archive

Map

Membership

Hints & Tips NEW

History

Hints and Tips on...
Mounting Prints

The Basic Way

For this you will need:

1. Space to work large enough to lay the original sheet of mounting board out flat
2. A good straight ruler not only for measuring with but to cut along as well
3. A sharp cutting knife
4. 1 can of 3m Spraymount
5. An HB pencil
6. A pencil eraser
7. A clean sheet of paper larger than the Printed image

1. Cut board of choice down to 50 cm by 40 cm

• The board when purchased is usually big enough for 2 sheets 50 x 40 to be cut from a single sheet
• It’s fairly safe to assume the original sheet is square
• Therefore from one “original” corner “0” mark at distances of 40cm and 80cm from that corner along the long side and on the opposite side
• Then from the same original corner mark 50cm away from it along the short side and again on the opposite side like this see pic 1.

Pic 1

• Doing the measuring from one point will help keeping it square

• Get a large piece of board to cut on and a long straight ruler and a cutting knife, the craft knives from B&Q are ideal
• Using a large flat board positioned on a table or even on the floor start cutting along the marked lines at the 40cm widths, not all the way through, then start cutting along the 50cm distance
• It usually takes about 5 cuts to cut all the way through with normal pressure
• Be careful what you are cutting on and cutting through
• If you press too hard you risk bending the blade and coming off the groove
• If the distances were marked out accurately you will finish up with two 50x40cm boards and they will be square

2. Pasting the printed image onto the board

• Assuming the Print is best viewed as landscape the mount will probably be landscape as well
• The border around the print is usually the same left and right, with the same amount on top with a thicker (wider) border at the bottom.
• If it was positioned central it would look too low in the mount, better to have more space at the bottom
• If there isn’t enough space to have the same space at the top and more at the bottom just make sure there is more at the bottom than there is at the top
  see pic 2.

Pic 2

• Once you have decided on the borders draw them lightly on the mounting board for one corner and sides only (see blue line on board)
• One of the easiest adhesives to use is 3M’s Spraymount, lightly spray on the back of the printed image and lightly position the top left corner of the print into the corner of the guide lines you have drawn
• A word of caution: Spray adhesive can be dangerous, use in the open air if possible
• Then after you are confident it is square and central across the width and with more space at the bottom lay a piece of clean paper over the printed image and press down to add a bit of extra adhesion.
• Remove the guide lines with a clean eraser

The benefit of this basic mount is that with Spraymount you can still remove the image for some time after mounting with hardly any damage to the surface and use the board for another image, already trimmed to 50 x 40cm.