Frames & Borders around images

BillN_33

BillN_33

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Frames & Borders around images

I have been trying a few options over the past few days but I just cannot decide if they improve the visual effect or what

a). When posting images on Forums

b). When printing images on hard copy

What do you guys think?
 
:agree: I think they ruin an image, but it all comes down to personal taste as Tommy says.
 
If you must then make it small otherwise as others have said (n)
 
Thanks all

so presumably the general feeling is that the first image is preferable for web posting and printing

SA_3.jpg


SA_2.jpg


SA_1.jpg
 
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Pic 1 definately works the best for me as the frames detract from the image in the other two shots but if you like frames there's nothing stopping you from using them as what do the opinions of a load of strangers on a form mean :exit:
 
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Rob87 said:
Pic 1 definately works the best for me as the frames detract from the image in the other two shots but if you like frames there's nothing stopping you from using them as what do the opinions of a load of strangers on a form mean :exit:
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Thanks

two considerations for me

1). when posting on here

2). When getting some prints done to record the shots taken in South Africa
 
Its always going to be without a border for me so I am going to bow out and see if anyone else has an opinion on this :)
 
I quiet like the first "small white" with "larger black" outside border on the beach picture. I think it reinforce the intensity of the colour in the picture. (personal taste!)
Not so keen on the grey. (personal taste again!)
Sometime a white border is nice too?
I had a bad experience in a photo lab a couple of years ago. My picture add white border incorporated in the jpg and the jpg was the right ratio. I asked the lady at the counter to print a few to see how they came out before printing 150+ photo. She maintained it will come out exactly the same way it was display on her screen, don't worry.... When I came back the print were done, but the printer had resized my picture and crop the bottom and top border. She argue I should pay. I argue I've told her before and she didn't care. I talked to the manager. Didn't pay and never went there again!
I don't know if it's a common problem when printing I would have thought that photo lab printers keep the right ratio aspect?
 
We do not have to get too "heavy" on this as some thread can do

Clearly it is a matter of personal taste, but I am really interested in all your opinions, so please keep them coming, (before I go ahead and get one of those photo "books"), printed
 
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the frames detract from the image
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It is a clichéd response often heard in discussions regarding photography, but not once have I heard the same thing said about paintings.
 
redsnappa said:
It is a clichéd response often heard in discussions regarding photography, but not once have I heard the same thing said about paintings.
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Printed art / photos in a wooden (or insert own material here) frame is different though as it would look odd just stuck to a wall and so would a photo. Adding a 'digital frame' for lack of a better word for what the OP is doing to an image just looks odd and draws away from a picture.
 
Rob87 said:
Printed art / photos in a wooden (or insert own material here) frame is different though as it would look odd just stuck to a wall and so would a photo. Adding a 'digital frame' for lack of a better word for what the OP is doing to an image just looks odd and draws away from a picture.
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So are you saying generally that a "frame" should be three dimensional?

certainly if you look at most images, say on News web sites, none are framed ……. i.e. for internet posting

but I am asking asking about the printed media
 
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personally yes and would always print without a frame but as i said further up if you like the frame, why not print with the frame as they are your pictures :)
 
Well it's not the grey one, whatever happens!

Most times it's best to keep it simple and let the image speak for itself. If you must have a border on a print you're going to hang, keep it plain and white. But if the print's mounted, the mountboard will supply this function.

For a photo-book, no borders!
 
Sometimes your web sized image looks better online with a thin black line around, just 2 pixels will do it.
I do quite like the concept of a frame incorporating some text but it seems to shrink the image too much in a forum layout as a rule.
 
I had a client ( family member) ask for this




as said personal taste and that of the customer too



Les ;)
 
If it's work for a client, you do what the client wants, sure.


However..... borders suck and look amateurish. They detract from the image. Borders with text doubly so. I suppose I have to put the obligatory "IMO" after this as I seem to have to tell people that what I write is my opinion in here. I'm not sure who else's it could be... but when in Rome... LOL


BillN_33 said:
So are you saying generally that a "frame" should be three dimensional?

certainly if you look at most images, say on News web sites, none are framed ……. i.e. for internet posting

but I am asking asking about the printed media
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No.. print with no border. If you feel the image needs a border within the frame, then window mount or matte. Don't actually print with a border.
 
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I think it depends on the image, although I think black and white photographs are more suited to a digital frame, a simple black or white border 250 pixels wide. Back in the darkroom days you would often want to print with a border, if for no other reason than for keeping your paper flat during exposure.

For me this image works well with a border, its just a thin black line that tells the brain where the image starts and stops.
View attachment 20104
 
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My reply will be based on the following :- experience as a working photographer who owns and runs a printing and picture framing business.

on a printed picture, i would suggest 3 options

1. Very small black line (approx 0.1 - 0.25mm) to contain the image on the paper.
2. No border at all.
3. what your client wants.


to clarify

1. if the image contains lots of light colours / white on the edges the small black line contains the image, and will allow the image to be matted with a space around if desired.
2. line detracts from aesthetics of the image.
3. after all the client is paying for the final product so take into account what they want, gets you more business in the long run.
 
Most of the time I think that I am now happy with a small white then small black border, frames the subject no matter if the background is a light or a dark colour

e.g.

Violet_DW.jpg


M3.jpg



That's an attractive shot Paul.
 
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Darkblue said:
I think it depends on the image, although I think black and white photographs are more suited to a digital frame, a simple black or white border 250 pixels wide. Back in the darkroom days you would often want to print with a border, if for no other reason than for keeping your paper flat during exposure.

For me this image works well with a border, its just a thin black line that tells the brain where the image starts and stops.
View attachment 20104
Click to expand...


If you are printing do NOT have a thin border like this on the edge. This is not a personal opinion, does it work or not work thing, an even border on the edge of a print is virtually impossible to achieve in a print lab due to mechanical tolerances in printer and the paper cassettes. Further, to compensate for these mechanical tolerances, most labs will increase the magnification of each image a touch to ensure no white space on the print.
 
I've put a white border around my pictures for as long as I can remember. I think it's because my dad always did it or it might be because that's how they used to come back from the chemists when I was a kid. It's an ingrained habit now.
 
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Stuart M said:
I've put a white border around my pictures for as long as I can remember. I think it's because my dad always did it or it might be because that's how they used to come back from the chemists when I was a kid. It's an ingrained habit now.
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The problem is that you do not see a white border most of the time when posting on the forum or internet
 
BillN_33 said:
The problem is that you do not see a white border most of the time when posting on the forum or internet
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Yes! but this habit began long before we had ever heard of the Internet. I remember us having plastic templates that my dad made in work to give a precise border area around 5 x 7s and 8 x 10s that we used in our darkroom (kitchen). I'm talking back in the late '60s here.
 
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Stuart M said:
Yes! but this habit began long before we had ever heard of the Internet. I remember us having plastic templates that my dad made in work to give a precise border area around 5 x 7s and 8 x 10s that we used in our darkroom (kitchen). I'm talking back in the late '60s here.
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I agree - I have made quite a few scans of very old B & W photos for my mother, she is just over 90 years old - I always refresh the white border that was on the original shot

All I was saying is that if you want to show the white border on the internet ……. because of the normal white background you have to put a thin shadow pixel border around the white border
 
testbloke said:
If you are printing do NOT have a thin border like this on the edge. This is not a personal opinion, does it work or not work thing, an even border on the edge of a print is virtually impossible to achieve in a print lab due to mechanical tolerances in printer and the paper cassettes. Further, to compensate for these mechanical tolerances, most labs will increase the magnification of each image a touch to ensure no white space on the print.
Click to expand...

Thats an interesting point, and for me it it begs the question of how you apply a border. Do most people add a border that covers a part of the image, or resize the canvas? I resized the canvas for the picture posted above.
 
Darkblue said:
Thats an interesting point, and for me it it begs the question of how you apply a border. Do most people add a border that covers a part of the image, or resize the canvas? I resized the canvas for the picture posted above.
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For canvas prints this is not really an issue as most are ink jet printed and have large wraps and surplus canvas before being stretched. The issue is with lab prints where you are using the full width of the paper so cannot oversize and trim.
 
I also find when reproducing images from my scans of old film shots that a white border feels appropriate

(I have put the small black border around otherwise you would not see the white border on the threads white background)

Here's one

A_dam.jpg
 
Borders on digital images look to me like either; you've messed up resizing the image and canvas in whatever programme you're using. Or, you've gone to town in MS Paint and just started drawing lines all over the place. Hurting, not helping.

Printing borders - can't say I've ever seen it done (besides to allow room to fix behind a matte). But as said earlier, that's what mattes and frames are for.
 
Jayst84 said:
Borders on digital images look to me like either; you've messed up resizing the image and canvas in whatever programme you're using. Or, you've gone to town in MS Paint and just started drawing lines all over the place. Hurting, not helping.

Printing borders - can't say I've ever seen it done (besides to allow room to fix behind a matte). But as said earlier, that's what mattes and frames are for.
Click to expand...

It was normal to have white borders as above in the "old" days of film ….. white borders were then standard before borders-less prints came into fashion
 
BillN_33 said:
It was normal to have white borders as above in the "old" days of film ….. white borders were then standard before borders-less prints came into fashion
Click to expand...

Actually, I tell a lie. Seen quite a few printed not to the edge of the paper, and then pinned to walls in exhibitions.

Doesn't really hit me as a border as such... rather, just not printing to the edge. (I know, that's a border). It's not like a designed line with black, white, and grey, or anything horrible though - it's just, the rest of the paper.
 
Thanks

maybe it's just my traditional, old fashion streak coming out by I have now fixed on #34 and #24 as the borders that I will use ……. I just feel that they complete my images
 
I used to apply a dark grey border around my images to keep consistency across online platforms. I'd be editing on grey, showing on black on my website, Flickr shows black or white depending where you're seeing the image and on here it'd be white, all changing the way the picture is perceived. I've given up now as it's too time consuming. Plus considering that most normal people won't be seeing it on a calibrated monitor anyway it was only really for my benefit in the end.
 
Personally don't like them, tried them and hated them. Borders are like fashion items and they certain are not keepers and do not come under the test of time well.

A well presented image shouldn't need border as the image and its details or story should be loud enough to present. All it needs is a background to stand out of. A border seems like a cage almost...restrained of creativity as well as the field of view of the viewer.
 
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