Mounting a print

[Animal]

Hi, everyone, I am not a professional framer, I did introduce myself and the guy that runs the forum said it's ok to join!

I have accumulated, over the years a lot of old, lovely picture frames. I also have some old paintings all 'rescued' from second hand shops.

My first question is, I have some prints that I would like to mount in the style of an oil. I have an ornate gold frame, with no glass and an inner solid mat (sorry don't know what this called). I would like to mount this particular print with no (card) mat and no glass. The frame is solid, so needs no work, there is still the backing hardboard that the original oil was attached (hanging on!) to. My question is what is the best way to mount the new print? It's not an expensive print.

Thanks.

[prospero]

If it's a repro of an oil painting, a common practice is to overpaint it with a clear medium to give the appearance of an oil. The medium (there are special ones made for the purpose) should be thick enough to hold brushstokes. So it will look like a varnished oil. The Victorians were very keen on this and sometimes went to the length of mounting the print on canvas and stretcher bars. (A lot of people think they have a nice old Victorian oil painting when in fact it's a print. )
It also seals the surface for protection. You do need to stick the print to a solid substrate though - MDF or hardboard. A heat press is the thing for this, but you can wet mount prints with PVA as long as you let them dry under weight.

An overpainted print of a watercolour will look phoney though. You don't have to use a window mount on things of no value, but without a window mount the paper is likely to go wavy unless stuck down to a board. This style of print needs glass. Ideally the glass should not rest on the surface of the print. Small card spacers slipped under the rebate lip will lift the glass off.

The "inner solid mat" of which you speak is a liner - if it has a rebate. If it is just a flat section, it's a slip. Both these can either be under or over the glass if there is any. If under the glass it acts as a spacer to keep the glass off the print, other wise it is purely cosmetic.

[Animal]

Thanks for your reply, I wondered about the 'oil' effect, I have seen it before. It looks real, but on closer inspection...
Where do I get the medium from?

The actual print I have in mind is not a print of an oil, so I won't use the glaze for this one, but I would like to give it a go for some others.

I think I will go ahead with using glue as I think it will look nice without a mat/window mount.
You said "... but without a window mount the paper is likely to go wavy unless stuck down to a board. This style of print needs glass..." Do you mean if a print is mounted traditionally with a matt, I will need glass? This is what I thought. But if I stick on hardboard with glue, I can get away with no glass?

Thanks for info on inner liner/slip. I see them a lot on old frames, but don't like them all.

Thank-you!

[prospero]

A paper surface still needs something to protect it. Both from dirt in the atmosphere and accidental damage. It is very vulnerable.
Sticking down is to hold the paper flat. Paper expands and contracts with changes in humidity. In a frame with the edges restricted, if it 'grows' it can't move outwards so it goes like this ~~~~~~~~~~. In a window mount the print is normally hinged along the top edge so it can expand and contract, thus (hopefully) staying flat. Wavy prints are very unsightly. Glossy ones even more so.

[Animal]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.
I have removed the liner, and will cut some glass to fit instead of leaving it unglazed.
I guess I may as well ad a mat too, and mount and hinge properly. I just liked the idea of it with no mat. The print is a cartoon and it looked good just with the frame alone...