Why do your own mat cutting

Why do your own mat cutting, two main reasons

First of all why use picture mats? Two main reasons are to hold the picture or photo away from the glass and to use color to guide the observer to the main subject of your picture. Second, save lots of money.

All expensive art work should be matted to keep the art away from the glass. The picture should be matted and mounted with archival mat board and mounting board and using archival materials to suspend the art.

Benefits of cutting your own mats

There are many benefits of cutting your own mats. The first and most important, you can get the mat color that you want and you can cut the mat with any size opening that you want. The second and equally important reason is cost. You can save a tremendous amount of money cutting your own mats.

Just some rough figures. At the time I'm writing this the Logan 301s mat cutter is $68.99 and a full sheet of Matboard is $6.79 for a total of $75.78. If you were to start with the largest size mat you could get from a half sheet of mat board, 20 x 32 inches and using the opening that is left for the next smaller size mat or 16 x 20 with a piece 16 x 8 left over to make an 8 x 10, besides the inside opening piece you could work your way down to where you would have several more mats.

Using both halves of the mat board working down to the smallest size, using current average prices for pre cut mats to purchase the mats they would cost $75.76, $.02 less than the cost of the mat cutter and one sheet of mat board, so the first sheet of mat board would pay for the mat cutter.

Another fun figure with more practical sizes of 8 x 10 and 5 x 7. You can get sixteen 8 x 10 mats at $3.75 for a total of $60.00 from 40 x 32 and the openings left for sixteen 5 x 7 mats at $2.90 each for a total of $46.40, a grand total of $106.40 worth of value from your purchase of $75.78

Cut your own mats for excellent gifts

Another good reason to cut your own mats is that you can make your own excellent gifts.

How often have you given a relative or a friend a portrait of a child or a really fine enlargement of a school picture, but never have seen the picture displayed? Same with that sunset picture or pastoral mountain farm scene that you were so proud of and printed on good paper to give to those you love.

You don't need to go to the expense to frame the pictures when you give them, although on some occasions it's nice to do that. When you give someone a matted picture you can almost hear them thinking that they have the perfect frame for that picture tucked away in a closet, or they have the perfect place for the picture and they need to put a frame on their shopping list.

Make outside dimensions of your mats common standard picture frame sizes.

Always be sure that the outside dimensions of your mats are common standard picture frame sizes. You wouldn't want to generously give a matted picture with an odd outside dimension, so the people you give the picture to would have to have the expense of custom framing. That would just about guarantee not seeing the picture on the wall.