How to Prepare Your Oval Picture Frame for Hanging
Posted on October 31, 2009
Filed Under Digital Camera Features, Good Digital Cameras |
Now that you’ve selected your oval picture frame it’s time to properly prepare your photo to go inside the frame. Although this isn’t difficult to do, here are some tips help make the process easier and help you avoid making any mistakes.
1. Before you start to cut your picture to fit the oval frame, you need to make sure the picture you’ve chosen will look good inside an oval frame. The best way to check is to take the frame apart and put it over your photo to see how it looks. To do this, first remove the back of the frame and then take out the glass and set them carefully aside. Place the oval frame over your picture and center the frame around the subjects in your photo. This step will help you decide if you like how your picture looks inside an oval picture frame.
2. Next, take the glass from your oval picture frame and carefully place it over the photo where the frame had been. Adjust for best fit and eye appeal. Be careful when moving the glass so your photo doesn’t get damaged.
3. Take your time in aligning the glass as the subject or individuals in the frame need to be straight in the picture. Aligning a subject in an oval frame isn’t as simple as aligning a rectangular or square picture frame so make sure it looks right. Ideally, the individuals in the photo should be centered in the frame and have equal amount of space around them. For vertical spacing, the subject’s head should be about 2/3’s of the way up from the bottom of the picture. Positioning the subject’s head in the center of the frame leaves too much space above and throws off the picture’s eye appeal.
4. When you’ve found the perfect placement for the picture, gently and carefully trace along the outside of the glass with a thin pen to create your cut line. Always avoid using thick pens or markers for tracing as they may bleed on the picture.
5. Now you are ready to cut. Use a sharp pair of scissors and cut along the line you traced. If you have a mat knife you can certainly use it, however most people only have scissors available. Be sure the scissors are sharp because dull scissors can tear or crease the picture. Once your photo is cut, make sure to clean the glass and give it plenty of time to dry so it won’t cause any moisture damage on your picture.
6. Check to see if your oval picture frame came with frame backing. If it did, all you have to do is put the glass, photo and frame back on and you’re all done. If it didn’t come with frame backing, you can make your own frame back with either a piece of cardboard or a nice archival mat board. The purpose of the backing is to securely keep your picture and glass in place. If you need to make your own frame back and your picture is important to you, then you should only use archival mat board. The problem with cardboard is that it has acid in it that can degrade your photo over time.
The first step to making your own frame back is to place the oval frame face up on the cardboard or mat board. Next, you’ll need to trace along the outside edge of the oval picture frame back so it will fit perfectly in your frame. Once you have cut it out and placed it in the frame, you’ll need to use brad nails about 1/4 inch long to secure the frame backing. You do this by placing the brad nails on the board and pushing them into the molding on the back of the wood picture frame. Once the brad nails are securely holding the frame back, it’s now time to hang your oval picture frame.
As you can see, preparing and assembling an oval picture frame does take a little time but can be a simple process if you follow these basic steps. And once your oval picture frame is hanging beautifully on the wall, you’ll be glad that you took the time to do it.
Leave a Reply