Printing and mounting your images for competitions and exhibitions
Useful advice from Torben on printing and mounting images, as delivered at the recent Members Evening.
Printing
If you have an A3 printer already then that’s great you’re ready to go, as you will normally want to print your images larger than A4. If you haven’t got one the question of whether or not to buy an A3 printer arises – they are large and relatively expensive to buy, and their size and the cost of inks can be off putting for some.
An alternative would be to have your images printed externally. There are a number of Print companies out there of course, but one which members use successfully and is cost effective is www.dscolourlabs.co.uk - they produce a 15” x 10” or 16” x 12” print for 95p or £1.15 respectively on good quality paper. Postage is £4.99, so you might like to get several images printed at the same time – I would suggest using the ‘Lustre’ finish, as gloss can be problematic and not popular with some judges!
A more local alternative in Hatfield is:- https://www.simlab.co.uk/photo-prints/
In both cases if you upload you order before 1pm or 12.30pm then they will ship the same day – or in Simlab’s case you could collect them.
An alternative would be to have your images printed externally. There are a number of Print companies out there of course, but one which members use successfully and is cost effective is www.dscolourlabs.co.uk - they produce a 15” x 10” or 16” x 12” print for 95p or £1.15 respectively on good quality paper. Postage is £4.99, so you might like to get several images printed at the same time – I would suggest using the ‘Lustre’ finish, as gloss can be problematic and not popular with some judges!
A more local alternative in Hatfield is:- https://www.simlab.co.uk/photo-prints/
In both cases if you upload you order before 1pm or 12.30pm then they will ship the same day – or in Simlab’s case you could collect them.
Mounts
Once you have your prints you will want to mount them. All competition print mounts must be 50 x 40cm.
The easiest solution for mounting is to go to Artscape, who will do it all for you – for a price! They are at 32 Coldhabour Lane, Harpenden, AL5 4UN, which is a turning on the left at the bottom of Station Road, quite far along on the right. A good option to get you started perhaps?"
The alternative is to buy pre-cut 50x40cm boards and then invest in a suitable mount cutter to cut the apertures with. A popular company to buy mounts from is Cotswold Mounts http://www.cotswoldmounts.co.uk who can supply a wide range of colours and sizes at a reasonable price, especially in packs of 4 for 88p each + 61p for backing boards. I would suggest sticking to a light cream for colour prints and whiter ones for b/w.
Mounts - https://www.cotswoldmounts.co.uk/products/camera-club-blank-mount-boards/camera-club-cream-core-blank-mount-boards/camera-club-cream-core-backing-board-a2-ccwc-a2
Most people also stick a backing board on after mounting the print (with tape on the top side of the print only), although it’s not compulsory.
https://www.cotswoldmounts.co.uk/products/backing-boards/bb-additional/a-lightweight-backing-boards/lightweight-backing-board-50x40cm
The easiest solution for mounting is to go to Artscape, who will do it all for you – for a price! They are at 32 Coldhabour Lane, Harpenden, AL5 4UN, which is a turning on the left at the bottom of Station Road, quite far along on the right. A good option to get you started perhaps?"
The alternative is to buy pre-cut 50x40cm boards and then invest in a suitable mount cutter to cut the apertures with. A popular company to buy mounts from is Cotswold Mounts http://www.cotswoldmounts.co.uk who can supply a wide range of colours and sizes at a reasonable price, especially in packs of 4 for 88p each + 61p for backing boards. I would suggest sticking to a light cream for colour prints and whiter ones for b/w.
Mounts - https://www.cotswoldmounts.co.uk/products/camera-club-blank-mount-boards/camera-club-cream-core-blank-mount-boards/camera-club-cream-core-backing-board-a2-ccwc-a2
Most people also stick a backing board on after mounting the print (with tape on the top side of the print only), although it’s not compulsory.
https://www.cotswoldmounts.co.uk/products/backing-boards/bb-additional/a-lightweight-backing-boards/lightweight-backing-board-50x40cm
Mount Cutters
The most economical but good Mount cutter is the Logan Compact 301 S - £108 on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logan-747020-Compact-301-Mount-Cutter/dp/B004J1B0BO/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1546961828&sr=1-1
You’ll also need some Picture Framing Tape (Artscape or Amazon) – 25mm is fine or 38mm
+ some fairly narrow double sided tape (for sticking the backing board on)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logan-747020-Compact-301-Mount-Cutter/dp/B004J1B0BO/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1546961828&sr=1-1
You’ll also need some Picture Framing Tape (Artscape or Amazon) – 25mm is fine or 38mm
+ some fairly narrow double sided tape (for sticking the backing board on)