Picture Framing Glossary

A

Acid-Free: A term that describes paper materials with a pH of around 7.0. These materials are considered acid-free and are less likely to damage artwork or discolour over time. Paper materials with a pH below 6.5 or above 8.5 are not considered acid-free for the purposes of picture framing.

Acid-Free Paper: Paper manufactured in such a way that active acids are not included or are eliminated. A paper that has a neutral pH factor of between 6.5 and 7.5 at the time of manufacture. Acid-free paper can be produced from virtually any cellulose fibre source (cotton, wood, or others) if measures are taken during manufacturing to eliminate active acid from the pulp. No matter how acid-free a paper may be immediately after manufacture, over time, chemicals from processing or pollutants from the air may lead to the formation of acid in the paper. The presence of an alkaline buffer will reduce or eliminate the damaging effects of these acids for the duration of the buffer's effectiveness. The most common buffering additive is calcium carbonate. Some acidic materials are chemically neutralised with the addition of alkaline products; other materials are processed to remove the acid.

Acid Migration: The movement of acid from an acidic material to a material of lesser or no acidity.

Adhesive Boards: A board with an adhesive coating on one side that may be heat-activated or pressure-sensitive.

Air Space: The space between the art and the glazing in a picture frame.

Anti-Reflective Glass: Special glass designed to minimise light and shadow reflections, enhancing the visibility of the framed artwork or mirror. Please inquire about the different qualities available.

Antiquing: A process that enables one to mimic the look of an antique picture frame. Antiquing can involve the use of a buffing chemical, scratching, and painting.

Archival Components: Framing materials such as mat board, mount board, and acrylic that are designed to help preserve and protect the artwork from damage and degradation caused by acids, light, and pollution. This includes components made pH neutral or slightly alkaline to assist with acidity, those with UV protection to help with light, and those with zeolites to help with pollution.

Archival Framing: A framing philosophy that aims towards protecting and preserving the photo. With archival framing, only materials that are acid-free should come in contact with the photo. The mounting techniques employed are also reversible, meaning the photo can be removed from the frame without causing any damage to it.

Artwork Sandwich: The stack of components, e.g., mat board, backer board, and glazing.

ATD: Short for Anti-Theft Device. Often used in commercial settings such as hotels, requiring a special key to remove framed items from walls.

ATG Tape: A name brand for adhesive transfer tape, which is similar to double-sided tape. ATG actually stands for Adhesive Tape Gun, and ATG tape is dispensed from the Adhesive Tape Gun. Used for photos, framing, matting, crafts, and scrapbooking.

B

Backing Board (Frame): A backing board is commonly used to describe the final board that encloses the back of a picture frame. Typically, a 2-3 mm hard brown board is used for this purpose. In the past, this material was a thin solid wooden sheet, but it is now more commonly medium-density fibreboard (MDF). This backing board should not be confused with the backing board for the picture mount, which must be acid-free to protect artwork.

Backing Board (Mount): A backing board in the mount sits between the artwork and the frame's backing board. Its purpose is to protect the artwork and act as a buffer against the potentially acidic frame backing board. Mount backing boards should be acid-neutral and are typically made of conservation mount board or foam core board. Occasionally, the backing boards (frame and mount) can be combined into a specialised product known as Aqua board, which is only 2 mm thick but combines an acid-neutral white face on one side with a brown water-resistant face on the reverse. This product can be useful in frames with only a shallow rebate available.

Back Paper: Also known as a dust cover, back paper is a liner paper adhered to the back of a frame. It protects the frame package from dust and insects, helps reduce humidity fluctuations, limits environmental gas infiltration, and provides a professional appearance to your framed artwork.

Bauhaus: A German art school in the early 1900s that merged crafts with the fine arts. The Bauhaus style is characterized by clean, simple geometric shapes and a lack of elaborate decorations.

Bead: In framing, a bead is a small round form used for decorative purposes.

Bevelled Edge: This refers to the inside edge of the mat board window cut at a 45-degree angle. All of Frame Destination's mat board windows are cut with a bevelled edge, allowing about 1/16" of the core colour to be visible.

Blade Depth (Mount Cutter): The blade depth indicates how deeply the mount cutter blade penetrates the mount board and into the slip mat below. Ideally, the blade should cut completely through the mount being cut but only lightly score the slip mat's surface. If the blade cuts all the way through the slip mat, an adjustment of the blade depth is likely necessary.

Bleed: Bleed is the area outside your finished design used to trim the artwork to the correct size. Without adding bleed, the artwork must be trimmed, resulting in a finished size smaller than expected. Bleed facilitates edge-to-edge printing.

Bone Folder: A tool made from animal bone, used to crease tape and paper without causing damage or leaving shiny marks.

Botanical Art: Artwork focusing on accurate depictions of the plant and fungi kingdoms, executed in a variety of media including watercolour, graphite, coloured pencil, and pen and ink.

Bottom Mat: The mat board positioned closest to the artwork.

Bottom-Weighting: The practice of making the bottom border of the mat board wider than the other borders, based on the concept that the optical centre (where a viewer's eye spends most of its time) is slightly above the true geometric centre in a rectangular area.

Bradawl: A commonly found tool in woodworking, similar in shape to a screwdriver but with a pointed end. It is used to make an indentation in wood to ease the insertion of a screw or nail. In picture framing, it is primarily used for making indentations in the rear of the frame for attaching D-Rings, screw eyes, hooks, or other picture frame fixings.

C

Canvas: A support for painting that consists of a heavy woven fabric, such as cotton or linen. The canvas must be adhered to a stretcher frame for display.

Canvas Floater Frame: A type of custom frame used to display a gallery-wrap canvas, allowing the entire front surface of the canvas to be visible. Any colour applied to the canvas wrapping the sides of the stretcher bars will be somewhat visible in the 'float' space.

Chop (Chopping): The act of cutting picture frame moulding to the specific length needed for framing.

Cityscape: A genre of art where the urban environment is the principal subject. Cityscapes, the urban equivalents of landscapes, include street scenes and skylines.

Clip Frame: A frameless framing package typically comprising two pieces of glass or acrylic clipped together at the edges, with the artwork sandwiched inside.

Cold Mount: A technique for mounting artwork without using heat, employing spray, wet, and pressure-sensitive adhesives.

Components: A term describing the contents of a picture frame, which include the mat board, glazing, and/or mount board. For more information about picture frame components, refer to our Visual Guide to Custom Picture Frame Ordering.

Conservation Framing: A type of framing designed to keep the artwork as unaltered as possible, using materials that minimize the artwork’s deterioration by environmental factors.

Core: In matboard terminology, refers to the central or innermost part—the material between the face paper and the backing paper. Less expensive paper mats may have a cream-coloured core, while some mats feature a white or black core. High-end rag mats have a core the same colour as the top and bottom.

Cotton Rag Paper: A high-quality paper made from cotton fibres, primarily used for art, important documents, and currency. Cotton rag paper is superior in holding pigments and inks compared to wood-based papers.

Close Framed: Also known as Full Bleed, this framing technique involves framing the artwork up to the edge of the paper without a mount, allowing the artwork to sit behind the frame's rebate.

D

D-ring: A picture hanging device. Two D-rings are required to hang a picture, one on each side. The hangers are normally positioned one-third of the way down from the top of the frame. A screwdriver is used to tighten the set screw, and the hanging wire is threaded through the eyelet.

Distressed Finish: A decorative painting technique that results in an aged appearance.

Double Mount: The use of two mounts, with the upper mount being narrower to reveal the mount underneath. Consider using mounts of different colours for added visual interest.

Dry Mounting: A process where artwork is bonded to a mount using archival adhesive, often used to flatten and effectively display artwork.

Dust Cover: A liner paper adhered to the back of a frame. The dust cover keeps dust and insects out of the frame package. It also helps reduce humidity fluctuations, limits the infiltration of environmental gases, and gives your framed artwork a professional appearance.

E

Easel Back: A frame with a backing board that includes a folding leg, enabling it to stand on a table without additional support. 

Églomisé: Derived from the French word meaning 'gilded glass', it involves the process of applying gold leaf to the back of a piece of glass. 

Embossing: This refers to the process of creating a small indented pattern on the front face of the picture mount. This effect is achieved with an embossing tool, similar to a bradawl but with a rounded head. When pressed and drawn across the mount board like a pencil, this tool creates a subtle embossed line. The embossing tool should be used alongside a straight edge (such as a ruler) and a measuring gauge. The primary purpose of embossing a picture mount is decorative, adding visual depth to the subject matter. 

F

Fading: A gradual change in the colour of paper due to the effects of light.

Finger-Jointed Wood: Many picture frame mouldings are made from finger-jointed wood. This is a process where short lengths of timber are bonded together to produce longer lengths. Finger-jointing reduces wood waste by utilising short pieces to create a dimensionally stable and environmentally friendly product.

Fillet/Spacer: An optional inner frame placed within the rebate to create space between the glass and artwork, typically used in box frames.

Float Mount: A mounting technique where the edges of the artwork are left uncovered by a mat board, making the artwork appear as if it is floating within the frame or mat board window. Artwork can also be float-mounted on a piece of black or white foam core without a mat.

Foam Board: The board upon which artwork is mounted inside a picture frame. Foamcore mount board is a light yet stiff material, commonly available in white and black. Acid-free varieties are available for conservation framing. See also Mount Board.

Frame Depth: The overall dimension from the face of the frame to its back.

Frame Profile: Refers to the shape of the moulding used in framing.

Frame Width: The visible width of the face of the frame.

G

Gallery Wraps: A gallery wrap is a method of stretching an artist's canvas so that the canvas wraps around the sides of the stretcher bars or strainer bars and is secured to the back of the wooden frame.

Glass Cutter: Glass cutters are used to cut glass to the required size for fitting into a frame. They are primarily hand tools but can sometimes be integrated into the head of a board/sheet/mount cutting system. A hard straight edge is essential to ensure a straight cut when using hand glass cutters. The cutter's head typically features a small precision-ground carbide wheel in a V shape. The optimal cutting technique involves lightly oiling the wheel before making a cut, then applying firm, uniform pressure throughout the cut. After cutting, the glass can be broken along the score line by gently lifting one end of the scored line and pressing down approximately 30mm either side of that line. The glass should break cleanly along the scored line. Practice is key to mastering this technique.

Glass Pliers (Nipping Pliers): Glass (nipping) pliers are designed to assist with the glass cutting process. They are useful for removing ragged edges that may occur when a cut does not go as planned, by 'nipping' off small pieces at a time. Some glass pliers also come with a head designed to help break the glass along the scored line if you prefer not to do this manually.

Gesso: Traditionally, gesso is a mixture of animal glue binder, chalk, and white pigment, used as a primer coat on wood panels, canvas, and sculpture. Modern versions of gesso may be acrylic or soy-based and are available in a variety of colours.

Giclée: A high-quality fine art print produced using an inkjet printer.

Glare: Bright and dazzling reflected light.

Glass: A type of glazing used in picture framing, typically composed of sodium carbonate, lime, and silica (sand).

Glazing: The generic term for glass or acrylic used to cover and protect artwork in a picture frame.

Gilver: A bespoke colour achieved by blending silver and gold.

Gold Leaf: Gold that has been hammered into very thin sheets, used for decorative purposes such as gilding.

H

Hangers (Picture Frame): This term refers to a variety of picture frame fixings used to hang a picture. They can include D-Rings, Screw Eyes, Screw Rings, Strap Hangers, Heavy Duty Picture Hangers, Canvas Hangers, Photo Hangers, Gummed Cloth Hangers, Foam Board Hangers, Brass Bezel System Hangers, Saw Tooth Hangers, Triangular Hangers, Clip Over Hangers, Picture Plate Hangers, Key Rings, and Slotted Hangers. Each has its own application, and sometimes the choice even boils down to personal preference, but all are used to facilitate the hanging of pictures on a wall.

Hanging Kit: Contains the components necessary to hang an assembled picture frame. A wood frame hanging kit will contain screw hole hangers with screws, hanging wire, and protective wall bumpers. A metal frame hanging kit will contain D-ring hangers for attaching the wire to the frame, hanging wire, and protective wall bumpers.

Hardwood: Refers to the hardness of the wooden mouldings. Woods naturally come in softer, medium, and harder species. The most commonly used woods in picture framing include soft woods such as pine, redwood, and cedar; medium hardness woods such as basswood, ramin, obeche, and mahogany; and hardwoods such as oak, walnut, cherry, and ash. Hardwoods have strong grain patterns and are quite attractive in appearance. Dense hardwoods like oak can be problematic to work with. Softwoods, on the other hand, are much lighter in weight, easier to work with but are more prone to warping.

Hinging: A term for adhering the components of a picture frame together, including hinging the mat board to the mount board, hinging the picture to the mat board, or hinging the picture to the mount board. See also T-Hinge and V-Hinge.

Hockey: A term used to describe frames whose cross-section resembles that of a field hockey stick.

Hot Press: A hot press machine is used in the Dry Mounting process. It heats a sheet of thin adhesive (activating it) sandwiched between the art and the backing board. The machine also removes all the air to prevent any ripples from appearing.

I

Image Size: The horizontal and vertical dimensions of an image, excluding any surrounding support or paper.

J

Japanese Paper: A high-quality paper produced from the fibres of the mulberry tree. It is favoured for making hinges because it combines strength with a lack of bulkiness and does not discolour or weaken over time.

K

L

Landscape: A genre of art where the natural outdoor environment is the primary subject, with natural features forming the basis of the composition.

Landscape Orientation: A layout that is wider than it is tall.

Linen: A textile produced from the fibres of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen fabric is one of the traditional supports preferred for oil painting due to its strength, durability, and archival integrity over cotton.

M

MDF: This refers to Medium Density Fibreboard, and is commonly used as a picture frame backing board in a thickness of either 2 or 3mm. It is a manufactured material that is made from compacted, bonded hard and soft wood fibres. MDF is quite cheap to buy, but can be susceptible to warping out of shape when exposed to moisture. The 2mm boards warp quite easily in damp environments. 

Metal Frame (aluminium frame): Metal frames are made from aluminium with a coloured finish.  One of the benefits of metal is it very strong material for creating a narrow picture frame with. Aluminium frames are cut with an electric mitre saw with a special blade for aluminium. They are assembled and held together using right angled flat locking plates. Bow springs are used to hold the artwork, mounts, glazing and boards in place, and custom hangers have to be fitted in order to allow hanging. Metal frames are available as pre cut self assembly kits. 

Microfiber:  A term that refers to synthetic fibers that measure less than one denier. (A denier is a measure of linear density used to describe the size of a fiber or filament.) Microfiber is used to make non-woven, woven and knitted textiles, such as our Microfiber Smooth Towel and Microfiber Terry Cloth . The shape, size and combinations of synthetic fibers are selected for specific characteristics, including: softness, durability, absorption, wicking abilities, water repellency, electrodynamics, and filtering capabilities. 

Mitred Corner: The point where frame profile lengths are cut at 45-degree angles and joined to create the frame. 

Mitre Saw: A saw designed to make angled cuts for frame moulding and other woodworking applications. 

Moulding: The length of timber cut and joined to create the frame. 

Mount Opening: The cut inner edge of the mount that reveals the artwork. 

Mount/Mat/Passepartout: A board used as a border around artwork, serving both decorative and protective purposes. 

Multi-Opening Mat Board: A mat board with more than one window opening. Multi-opening mat boards are often used for photo collage projects. 

N

Non-Glare Acrylic: Acrylic with a matte finish etched on one side to reduce glare from lighting. It is optically pure (without tint) and may cause a slight loss in sharpness. Frame Destination sells 1/10" (2.5mm) framing-grade Non-Glare acrylic. When framing with non-glare acrylic, remember that the matte side should face away from the artwork.

O

Offset Clip: A Z-shaped metal plate with pre-drilled screw holes, used to secure a canvas to a canvas floater frame. 

Oil Paint: A type of paint consisting of coloured pigments suspended in a binder, such as linseed oil. Traditional oil paint must be thinned with a solvent and has a long drying time. 

Oval Mount (Oval Cutter): Oval and circular mounts require a specialised hand tool known as an oval cutter for their creation. Oval mounts are often used with old black and white or sepia-toned portraits to give them an old-world look, as many old photographs were traditionally set in oval mounts. The oval mount tends to focus the viewer's attention on the centre of the picture, making it useful for creating mounts for portraits. It is also most commonly used in portrait format, rather than landscape. 

Overlap: A term that refers to the amount of the artwork that will be covered by the mat board. A standard mat window opening overlaps the artwork by anywhere from 1/8" (approximately 3mm) to 1/4" (approximately 6mm). 

P

Panorama: A picture that depicts a wide, horizontal view, particularly of a landscape. Panoramas are significantly longer in the horizontal dimension than in the vertical dimension.

Pantone Colour Guide: A standardized colour matching system used by artists, designers, printers, manufacturers, marketers, and clients across all industries worldwide for accurate colour identification, design specification, quality control, and communication.

Paper: A material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood, rags, and certain grasses. It is processed into flexible sheets or rolls by deposit from an aqueous suspension and is used chiefly for writing, printing, and drawing.

Pastel: An art medium in the form of a stick, used for drawing onto a support. Pastels come in various forms including hard, soft, pan, oil, and water-soluble.

pH Scale: A logarithmic scale that measures how acidic or basic a substance is, ranging from 0 (acidic) to 14 (alkaline), with the neutral point at 7.

Picture Frame: Provides an attractive border and functions as a structural support for the artwork.

Plexiglas®: A brand of conservation-grade acrylic glazing.

Ply: In mat board terminology, a ply (plural - plies) refers to a layer within the mat board. High-quality mat boards are manufactured in plies, dyed for colour, and laminated together. Mat board comes in 2-ply, 4-ply, 6-ply, and 8-ply, with standard mat board being 4-ply and approximately 1/16" thick. Some mat boards are not manufactured with separate plies but may often be referred to as 4-ply to indicate the approximate thickness.

Portrait: A depiction of an individual's likeness, including styles such as head-and-shoulders, bust, three-quarters, and full-length.

Portrait Orientation: A layout that is taller than it is wide.

Poster: A printed illustration that is usually mass-produced and intended to be framed and hung as decoration.

Preservation Framing: Defined by The Library of Congress Preservation Guidelines for Matting and Framing as "the appropriate housing to display the intrinsic beauty and interest of an object while prolonging its life by securing the object in a mechanically and chemically stable environment."

Print Size: See Artwork Size.

Profile: Describes the appearance of picture frame moulding when viewed from one end, including its height, width, contour, and rabbet.

Q

R

Rabbet or Rebate: The inner lip or groove of the picture frame, which holds the frame's components, including the glazing, mat(s), artwork, and backing.

Rabbet Depth: The height or depth of the rabbet. This measurement indicates how much room there is inside the frame for its components.

Removable Tape: A pressure-sensitive tape featuring a low-tack adhesive that allows for easy removal from artwork without causing damage.

Reveal: A term used to describe the small bottom or middle mat border that is left visible in a double or triple mat application, adding depth and interest to the presentation.

Reverse Bevel: A reverse-bevel cut positions the bevel inside the mat window so that it is not visible, giving a clean, straight edge to the mat window.

Riser: The distance between the top edge of the stretcher bar and the broad flat surface of the stretcher bar. The riser determines the gap between the canvas and the top face of the stretcher bar, affecting how the canvas sits in relation to the frame.

S

Security Hangers: A display hanging system designed to prevent framed artwork from being easily removed from the wall. Commonly used by museums, some security hangers feature a key for enhanced security.

Shadow Gap: The space between the artwork and the frame, often seen in tray frames or when artwork is floated, creating a subtle shadow effect.

Sight Edge: The inside vertical edge of the frame, located between the frame face and the rebate.

Silver Leaf: Silver beaten into very thin sheets, suitable for decorative purposes.

Single Mat: A single mat board whose window (opening) surrounds the image, providing a visual border.

Slip: A decorative inner frame positioned between the frame and glass or between the glass and artwork, adding an extra layer of aesthetic detail.

Split Batten: A hanging system commonly used for mirrors, designed to distribute the weight of the mirror evenly across the width of the batten.

Spacer: Used to maintain a distance between the artwork and the surface of the glazing. Spacers can be made of plastic, wood, mat board, or foam core.

Softwood: Refers to wood that is naturally less dense. Common softwoods used in picture framing include pine, redwood, and cedar. Medium hardness woods include basswood, ramin, obeche, and mahogany. Hardwoods, known for their density and durability, include oak, walnut, cherry, and ash.

Standard Acrylic: Acrylic glazing without any coatings, finishes, or tints, known for its translucence and optical purity.

Standard Sizes: Refers to commonly used dimensions for papers or frames. Standard paper sizes include Metric: A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, etc., and Imperial (US): "Letter", "Legal", "Ledger", and "Tabloid". Common standard frame sizes (available pre-assembled) include Metric: A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, and Imperial: 4×5", 4×6", 5×7", 6×8", 8×10", 8×12", 11×14", 8-1/2×11", 9×12", 10×12", 10×13", 12×16", 14×18", 16×20", 20×24", 22×28", 24×30", 24×36", 30×40".

Straight Edge: Refers to any tool with a true straight edge, such as a steel ruler or a freestanding mount cutter ruler. A true straight edge is crucial in picture framing for achieving perfectly straight edges on mounts. For manual trims of a mount, a sharp blade guided by a steel rule ensures a straight cut without damaging the ruler.

Stretched Canvas: A canvas mounted onto a stretcher bar support framework, ready for framing or hanging.

Stretcher Bar Frame: A heavy wooden frame onto which a canvas is wrapped and secured.

Stretcher Bars: The four pieces of wood that constitute a stretcher bar frame.

T

Tray or Float Frame: A frame style used for framing artwork on canvas or board, where the artwork is inserted from the front like a tray. This method allows the edges of the canvas to be visible, giving the appearance that the artwork is floating within the frame.

Triple Mat: Consists of three mat boards (top, middle, and bottom). The window (opening) of the bottom mat surrounds the image. The middle mat covers the bottom mat and features a larger window, allowing a small border of the bottom mat, known as the reveal, to be shown. The top mat covers both the middle and bottom mats, and its even larger window allows a small border, also referred to as the reveal, of the two lower mats to be displayed.

Triptych: A type of artwork composed of three separate pieces. Triptychs often convey a narrative or depict variations on a theme, offering a broader scope for artistic expression.

U

Underpinner: This term refers to a custom picture framing machine used to join mitre-cut mouldings together to form a picture frame. The machine fires custom V-Nails of various sizes upwards into the underside of the mitred mouldings to create the joint. Each type of moulding requires a different size of V-Nail. Underpinners can be operated either by foot or power.

UV Glass: Glass with a UV protective barrier designed to reduce light damage to artwork, helping to preserve the integrity and colours of the piece over time.

UV-Filter Acrylic: Acrylic that incorporates a UV filter to block most ultraviolet radiation. It possesses a slight yellow tint, which may impart a warming effect on the displayed artwork.

W

Washline Mount: Traditional mounts drawn by hand to complement the colours of the picture, currently experiencing a resurgence in popularity.

Watercolour Paint: A type of paint made from pigments suspended in a water-based solution.

Weight (Paper): Also known as basis weight or grammage, this term refers to the area density of a paper product.

Window: Also known as the exact mat opening, the window is the opening cut in a mat board through which the image can be viewed. The average ready-made, retail store frame for an 8" x 10" image typically has a window of 7-1/2" x 9-1/2", allowing the mat to overlap the image by 1/4" on all four sides. Custom frame shops will usually cut a window for an 8" x 10" image at 7-3/4" x 9-3/4", so that less of the image is covered.

Wood Glue: To ensure a robust picture frame corner, it is vital to use a suitable adhesive in addition to V-Nails or pins. The most commonly used wood glue is a PVA-based adhesive, which is widely available.