How do I mount and frame my own artwork?
A window mount and a frame do two different jobs: the mount holds the work away from the glass, and the frame holds everything together. Getting the materials right matters more than the mitres.
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Time
- 1 hr 30 min
- Read
- 2 min
- Safety
- caution
Short answer
Use a window mount to keep the artwork off the glass, hinge the work at the top only with a reversible tape so it can expand, and use acid-free materials next to anything you want to keep. A slightly larger bottom border looks correct even though it measures uneven.
Framing is where a lot of home-made artwork is quietly damaged: taped down all round so it cockles, pressed against glass so it sticks, and backed with card that yellows and stains it. None of that costs more to avoid, it just needs knowing.
Safety
Step by step
- Keep the artwork off the glass.This is the main structural reason a mount exists. Work pressed against glass will stick to it over time, especially anything with moisture in the room, and condensation on the inside of the glass then goes straight into the paper.
- Use acid-free mount board and backing for anything you value.Ordinary card is acidic and leaves a brown line — a mount burn — along the window edge within a few years. It is not reversible.
- Hinge at the top only.Two small hinges of a reversible tape at the top let the paper expand and contract with humidity. Taped all round it cannot move, so it buckles instead, which is what causes the ripples people blame on the paper.
- Use a reversible tape, not ordinary sticky tape.Gummed paper tape or a purpose-made archival hinging tape can be removed later without tearing the work. Pressure-sensitive tapes yellow and eventually cannot be removed at all.
- Cut the window with a bevel and a proper cutter.A bevelled edge shows the thickness of the board and catches light, which is what makes a mount look finished. A vertical cut with a craft knife reads as homemade.
- Make the bottom border slightly deeper.Equal borders look bottom-heavy because of how the eye reads a frame. A little extra at the bottom looks even. This is convention, not measurement.
- Choose glass or acrylic deliberately.Acrylic is lighter and does not shatter, which matters for large frames and for anywhere a falling frame would be dangerous. It scratches easily and can attract dust through static.
- Seal the back against dust.Tape along the join between backing board and frame. Most of what accumulates inside a frame arrives through that gap.
- Hang it out of direct sunlight.The single largest cause of fading, and no glass except specifically UV-filtering glazing meaningfully prevents it.
Questions people ask
Is it cheaper than professional framing?
Considerably, once you own a cutter, and the saving grows with each frame. The first one costs more than having it done, because of the tools.
Can I frame something without a mount?
Yes, using spacers hidden in the rebate to keep the work off the glass. What you cannot safely do is press the work directly against the glass.