leaving a margin for a signature

[DanK]

Until recently, I have never left a margin for a signature when framing photos. I simply made the mat overlap the print by about 1/8 (32 mm). That makes minor errors in placing the photo unimportant.

However, I am now beginning to show photos in places where a signature is expected. After some experimentation, I have decided that a margin of about 3/8 inches (1 cm) is best for photos that are roughly 13 x 19 (A3 +, I think).

It's easy enough to cut the mat to have that much extra space, but precise positioning now becomes important. Even minor discrepancies caused by looseness in the hinging of the mat to the backing board can be visible.

I just did two prints that I have to submit this week. One is quite precise, but the other looks (to me) very slightly off center--one margin is very slightly larger than the other. And getting them this close took a lot of fussing and trial and error.

I googled (well, duckduckgoed) but found no good suggestions for making this positioning easier.

Does anyone have a technique other than eyeballing the print?

Thanks

Dan

[Manfred M]

The best suggestion that I have is to go with fairly wide borders. With narrow borders those small misalignments are easy to notice, but with wider ones, not so much.

I tend to have at least 1/2" of white space showing on a 13" x 19" / A3+ print. I find a wide border looks better too, just like a wide matte. I've gone up to 3/4" on that print size. I've seen some people go even wider.

[DanK]

Manfred,

Thanks. I think you are right that the errors are more obvious with narrow margins.

I generally order frames online, and the place I use only goes to 3/8." However, I cut my own mats to reuse the frames--and occasionally from scratch--and in those cases, I could go to 1/2".

I actually prefer the appearance with no white space at all. I know some people who have that preference and sign the mat, but since the mat can be separated, that doesn't seem sensible for something that you might sell.

BTW, one of the nice things about using Lightroom for printing is that you can save pretty much everything as a template. For example, I have two templates for Canson Baryta Photographique in 13 x 19, one set to maximize the image size (which I use when I don't want to leave white space) and one for prints I will sign. When I select one, all of the other settings are as they should be (medium type, turning off printer control of color, setting "chroma optimizer" for uniform application, etc. etc.). I check them anyway, but it still is a great time saver. Now that I have done a test and found that the uprezzing seems to be the same as the best of Photoshop's, I'm going to stick with this.

Dan

[Manfred M]

One of the photographers I know well uses asymmetrical borders and has a slightly wider (1/4") on the bottom to leave more room for the signature and title. Another one I know does limited editions (no more than 10 prints of an image) and that goes there too; 1/10, 2/10, etc..

Rag papers are usually signed in a medium-hard pencil and other (baryta or lustre coated) papers with a fine black graphics pen (0.5mm or narrower). The folks I know tend to use either Pilot or Staedler brands.

[billtils]

I googled (well, duckduckgoed) but found no good suggestions for making this positioning easier.

👍

[DanK]

One of the photographers I know well uses asymmetrical borders and has a slightly wider (1/4") on the bottom to leave more room for the signature and title. Another one I know does limited editions (no more than 10 prints of an image) and that goes there too; 1/10, 2/10, etc..

Rag papers are usually signed in a medium-hard pencil and other (baryta or lustre coated) papers with a fine black graphics pen (0.5mm or narrower). The folks I know tend to use either Pilot or Staedler brands.

I use a Pigma Micron pen for coated papers. After trying a few widths, I settled on 0.25mm.


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