What do I need to know before ordering?
Copyright
The Frame House respects the copyrights of artists and photographers.
It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure that all material presented for printing is free from any third party claim or copyright.
In placing the order the customer is certifying that there is no third party claim to copyright and that in any case of a dispute of copy right arising from the printing of any material presented to the The Frame House, it is the sole responsibility of the customer.
The Frame House cannot be held responsible in any way. For more information, see our Blog pages
Oil, Acrylic and similar media
Please allow adequate time for your media to dry thoroughly before bringing it for framing or printing.
Shiny surfaces such as varnish and some additives used with paints, reflect the light from the scanner resulting in poor quality scans and extra proofing time.
If your oil painting is already mounted, the stretcher bars may affect the scans; the Frame House Team will rectify this as they scan, but the painting must be thoroughly dry
Watercolour, pastel and pencil paintings
Pastel media can respond to static by lifting off the substrate, and pencil may smudge. Fixatives are available, but some artists feel that using a fixative change the media colour. These paintings need to be carefully protected and encased in a glazed frame. They are not dry mounted as this can make the picture appear flattened because the texture is lost and is some cases will de-value the original.
Digitising your image
The final print relies on the quality of the initial digital image.
The Frame House uses a professional photographer or our profiled scanner to digitise your images.
We scan images in at 400 – 600 pixels per inch. This allows us to restore or enhance the image, which is then printed at 250 – 300 dots per inch.
Problems can be caused by:
- Using the wrong resolution for digital files – especially if the printout is larger than the original image
- Clipping (bleaching or blacking out) in highlights and shadows.
- By artwork with uneven or shiny surfaces – photos which have been handled develop a ’shine’ which is picked up by the scanner
- By changing the size of the prints from the original artwork
- By certain colour combinations
We can advise you before you create your own digital images. Please don’t hesitate to ask.
Follow the links, visit us at Consett, Co. Durham or Telephone 01207 588850 for more information.
Natural wood frames
Natural wood frames will have slight variations in grain and pattern. We always match these as closely as possible in each frame but here may be some variations in multiple or repeat orders.
Canvas substrate
We can gloss or matt laminate your canvas artwork to protect it from light accidental damage if you do not want to use glass. It is possible to dispense with a frame, but we do not normally recommend this as the edges of the canvas may become rubbed or chipped.
A canvas can be stretched around a solid wood stretcher and the printed area can either stop at the edge of the frame or be continued over the edges. If this involves creating extra area on your original, please discuss this with the Frame House staff first.
We can dry mount the canvas onto a rigid board and use a moulding chosen by you.
Caring for your artwork at home
Avoid heat
Ideally pictures should not be hung above radiators. Extreme or rapid changes in temperature cause paper and wood to dry out and adhesives to fail
Beware damp
Damp can cause pictures to ripple. If the ripples touch the glass, the picture might stick and be hard to remove. Damp also encourages fungal growth – likely to show as brown stains. Conservation framing can slow these effects, but it is always best to avoid hanging framed pictures in humid conditions. Allow six months before hanging pictures on newly plastered walls
