By Angie Felix

The Mystery of Matting

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Matting is like framing a picture, it provides a nice polished touch to a photo.

It’s called the Golden Rule of Patterned Paper: Always mat your photos on a solid paper.

So what is matting and why is it important? Matting is simply putting a paper frame around a photo (or other element) to make it stand out. Matting is important because it creates a visual separation between your photos and background paper. In other words, matting is a way to make your photos “pop” off the page and keep them from getting lost in the background.

There are a number of ways to mat your photos.

Simple Matting: For a simple single mat, just glue your photo onto your solid matting paper (or cardstock). Cut 1/8” to 1/2” away, creating a border around the picture. Think of it as framing a picture before you hang it on the wall—the “frame” or mat provides a nice polished touch. A quick tip to save time: Glue your photo near the corner of your matting paper, leaving the desired space between the edge and your photo. That way you’ll only need to cut two sides!

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Using multiple mats helps to draw the eye to a photo.

Multiple Matting: When you really want to draw attention to a photo, try using multiple mats. Begin with a neutral solid color, then use a patterned paper followed by another neutral. The neutral layers provide a nice transition between the photo and the patterned background. You can also use three solids, making the center layer a different color, or vary the width of the mats.

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Add texture to a photo mat by tearing the edges of your matting paper.

Textured Matting: To give your page texture and your photo more dimension, try adding texture to a mat layer. Glue your photo to your matting paper and tear along the edges. Use this technique between cut edges or layer several torn edges for a soft effect. Textured cardstock and vellum work great for this.

How do you select the color of your mat? Realistic Scrapper LeNae Gerig takes into consideration the primary (dominant) color and the secondary colors in her background paper, then mats her photos with a solid paper of the secondary color. For example, if the paper is mostly pink with some white, LeNae will select white to mat her photos. When in doubt, LeNae turns to black and white, both classics that can be used with nearly anything.

Another tip? If the pattern is particularly large or brightly colored, LeNae will give her photo a wider mat, around 1/2” to tone it down.