best way to display prints without a frame

Hey guys

My uni wants to display some of my work at the uni cafe. These will be on sale. I can get them printed for $20 at 12x18 but then framing would cost a fortune. To maximize my profits I'm looking for the best / cheapest way to display them.

I'm thinking that i'll use foam core.

can photos be pulled off foam core?

Any ideas/advice?

Cheers

Cal

Hey guys

 

My uni wants to display some of my work at the uni cafe. These will be on sale. I can get them printed for $20 at 12x18 but then framing would cost a fortune. To maximize my profits I'm looking for the best / cheapest way to display them.

 

I'm thinking that i'll use foam core.

 

can photos be pulled off foam core?

 

Any ideas/advice?

 

Cheers

 

Cal

Foam core is probably the simplest, cheapest and most durable way short of framing, and easy to do yourself with stuff available from an art / crafts store.

Why do you want to pull them off foam core?

In case the person wants to frame them. - i'm not really sure how foam core works. I havent seen it in person yet.

Can you frame it with foam core attached?

Cal

If your customer wants to frame one, perhaps you could make another print for them... Just a thought....

Mike

true!

except its a pretty lazy sales pitch. Basically the prints will be hung on a wall in the cafe with a price tag attached. The cafe doesnt want much to do with it besides pocketing 20% and I wont be around the cafe very often. So simple = best for this particular little enterprise .

I would think most or at least many frames would accommodate foamcore prints. Double matteboard is also a good option.

I would think most or at least many frames would accommodate foamcore prints. Double matteboard is also a good option.

What I have done is to stick the print to a double width matboard with 3M positionable adhesive. Then put a white 4x thick over mat with a hinge and hang those on the wall with a bit of Velcro. Anyone buying them has them already matted. You can use foamcore but it is a bit thick for most of my frames. I would also probably put up a few framed with nice cheap black museum frames (frameusa.com) and offer them for a bit more $.

Bill

Many art supply stores carry poly bags sized for prints. Just get those, seal them up (has an adhesive flap like an envelope) stick a price on it and you are done. If you don't know or want to cut your own mats then store bought ones are more expensive and will cut into your profits.

Stu

It's really a matter of presentation, and what type of clientel your talking about. A framed picture usually sells for three times more than an unframed one, however inexpensive the frame is. If your paying 20 bucks a pop just for printing how much are you selling the print for? You can buy a decent printer,last years model, of an Epson R1800 for under $300.00 and produce excellent quality prints. A simple frame and ...

I have done exactly what you are thinking of doing, My cost for a large framed print is around $16.00 each, paper,ink,frame, and extras. Look around and try to find some local deals to lower the cost of framing. The bottom line is " A framed picture produces more Profit".

Great responses !

Thanks guys!

Epson r1800 - that sounds really exciting!

So total cost for a framed print (including frame) for you is $16? thats incredible!

Cal

I have a carpenter friend, whenever he has some spare material left over (fancy trim or expensive scraps) I takes him just a few seconds to cut and miter different lengths. We also have several craft stores here that make it simple to build your own frame and border. I don't know what your resources are over there buy you sound like the kind of person that can make it happen. Good luck and keep us informed

Even though the photography is not directly relevant to the forum, you may want to read through what Brooks Jensen has to say about selling prints and have a look at his straightforward display methods.

Hi Cal,

What about a digital frame, it's dynamic, no printing costs, label, identify and cost each image with a type overlay and keep the frame when you're done.

Mary

I have been getting alot of my pics framed for me. The pics are mounted on foam core board around 3mm to 5mm thick.then the pics have surrounded by 2 matt boards of varying colour and then framed.

When mounted, the pics can be easily removed from the frame and put into another frame.I try and get them printed at standard sizes to keep costs down for framing.

I have used the same photo store and framer for a few years now and get cracking deals from them for both services.Having this friendship has saved alot of money.

Some of the pics are odd sizes, but again, you get involved in picking the matt board colours and the frame design and colour.Its great watching your pics come to life before your eyes.

After all this people then have the choice of buying it in the frame as displayed and you get good money from them or, if they don't like the frame you just take it out and sell to them without the frame, or again as suggested, if they like the pic but not all the mounting you can offer them a print.

Hope this helps a little.

Is what you call foam core board the stuff we call corflute? (the white stuff that real estate agents and rich politicians put their ads on)

On your question if foamcore can be framed. Yes it can. In fact, I always mount my prints on foamcore before framing them. If you're not interested in frames and the foamcore will be the "final" display, do ask to have the foamcore either cut a tiny tiny bit smaller than the printed image and if possible on a "slant". This way the foam core edge will be less prominant, and your image will appear to "hover" on the wall. (Unevenly cut foamcore edges are not pretty).

You can get a protective photo that you can spray on the image which will offer some UV protection for images that are not framed behind glass and/or you could stick the mounted photo in a cellophane /poly photobag to further keep it "fresh" for the potential buyer while displaying it. But don't stick the sprayed image in a poly bag before it has properly dried or they will stick.

It's probably not "inexpensive" but around here the lower-cost retail department stores like Target, etc. sell these glass frames - two sheets of glass with little pinch clips that you just 'sandwich' the photo between. They've also got wire hardware for hanging.

The glass protects the print from dust and grease exposure (fingerprints, or cooking grease if displayed in a restaurant). The photo kind of 'floats' - which could be a bad thing depending on the quality of the wall finish behind it. But most importantly they're very easy to unclip and remove photos to swap out.

If you could find something similar there and 'invest' in a few frames, they could get re-used as photos circulated in and out of them. But probably a bit more up-front costs than your original question was really looking for.

I like Margo's tip about back-mitering and undercutting the foam core a little, too - that's a great but simple tip and I can easily imagine how it would help the visual impact of the photo itself.

if you are looking for something that isnt intended to work as a final display you can just use 15 x 20 cardboard and plastic shrink wrap type material (or poly bags)

OR

if you wanted something that can be presented and later framed you can always use black presentation boards. they are about $2 each at most art stores and come in 15 x 20 and occasionally some larger sizes. Easier to work with than foam core (they look like matte board but black on both sides and a bit heavier)

that what we use when presenting in classes, its cheap and it works, plus it can be cut down to frame easily or depending on how you mount it pulled off without making a mess of things (like foam core will).

just remember that if you are mounting on anything black you should mount it to a solid white bristol board first to prevent the colour from showing through your prints, then black out the edges with a pigment liner so you dont have white lines.

Mike