What is conservation framing?  

Also referred to as Archival framing is used for long term preservation for items such as original art, family heirlooms, family photographs and all types of memorabilia. A key requirement of conservation framing is that the item being framed must not be cut or trimmed nor permanently mounted (glued) to the backing board. Archival (museum) quality materials such as matboards (mounts) are acid free  Nothing lasts forever and any accelerated deterioration of your valued and sentimental pieces can be considerably slowed by using conservation framing methods and materials,using a UV protective glass. We offer bespoke conservation framing, using only the highest quality acid free materials, matboards (mounts) and Tru Guard™ Conservation Series® and Museum Glass®.  

                                                                                



Picture Hanging Environment

An object of art or photographs are framed to offer both protection from the immediate surrounding environment and to provide the owner with the satisfaction of admiring it once it is hung to obtain the best display advantage.

The local lighting environment of which UV (ultra violet rays) make up a proportion of the light spectrum, can damage artwork and digital prints by fading, drying, cracking dyes, paints, inks. Traditional wet type chemically processed photographs processed in a lab will also suffer the same fate, as they breakdown. With New Zealand having a harsh UV exposure environment, we need to be more aware of looking after our treasures and memories. Protection avoids loss and expensive labour intensive restoration processes in the future. Often we hear, I don’t need UV protection as I am hanging my art in a hallway or not near a window area. What folks do not realise is the UV rays are present in the light spectrum and are present wherever there is light. Also artifical lighting such as provided by display lighting halogen or LED spots, also does not help.  

Also its not only about light; humidity and temperature fluctuations are also very harmful. Moisture combined with dust particles can cause mold, which in turn can lead to discolouration, staining or foxing.

Never hang your frames or artworks near a direct heat source such as a heat pump, fireplace or gas heater. The picture glass will heat much like a glass house and can create permanent damage through cockling. This is where the artwork or photograph paper expands as it is heated and shrinks when it cools, resulting in ripples and waviness which causes irreversible damage. We have endeavoured not to blind you with science by getting into too much technical detail and a custom framer can advise you further.  

So what is non conservation framing? 

General everyday framing materials and techniques are used for items of low commercial or non sentimental value, for example open edition prints, posters and digital photographs. Lower cost materials are used. The standard of non conservation framing being offered and applied by custom picture framers should not be confused with the cheap ready made products sold by the big box retailers, where price and volume sales are king and quality of little importance.