Mount card colours choice(s) to better suit the subject?

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I have ordered some cut mounts of a range of colours as 'a library of reference colour mounts' to lay over a print but it also struck me as follows:-

Is there a readily available way of creating in, for example, PS CS6 (or other softwares that you might suggest?) a wider canvas duplicated with various colours to drop the images into and see them side by side to "get the feel of which one to choose".

Obviously, it would be onerous to have to create them each time so they need to be template like..........................e.g. if you could open such a set (white, red, blue, green...even a white with black core.... etc) and drop the subject image into them all in no more than a couple/few keystrokes :)

I hope that makes sense :)

TIA for help & insights.
 
Coloured mounts? We're straying out of the realm of photography and into the realm of interior decoration here.

A photograph needs to be able to speak for itself, and for colour work having a board mount (acid-free, of course), a muted off-white board is usually a pleasing and dignified solution.

For mono work, a crisp bright white may or may not be preferred to the above.

I came across a book recently containing the work of a certain (late) photographer, by a small publisher who obviously wasn't tutored in the presentation of photographic material, since all the pages containing the mono images had the same faint grey background, giving a dispiriting result that I found impossible to shake off.
 
Coloured mounts? We're straying out of the realm of photography and into the realm of interior decoration here.

A photograph needs to be able to speak for itself, and for colour work having a board mount (acid-free, of course), a muted off-white board is usually a pleasing and dignified solution.

For mono work, a crisp bright white may or may not be preferred to the above.

I came across a book recently containing the work of a certain (late) photographer, by a small publisher who obviously wasn't tutored in the presentation of photographic material, since all the pages containing the mono images had the same faint grey background, giving a dispiriting result that I found impossible to shake off.

Until now I have only ever used pure white rather than off white but it was put to me, by the curator of an exhibition, that as is more common with art (rather than photography) that a picture can be enhanced by using a mount colour that compliments the image.................this can either be a black core white mount to give some edge definition or e.g. a pale blue mount that echoes the sky and/or the sea in a landscape picture. (NB yes, an interior design principle of pick a colour and compliment it in the surroundings)

Yes, the photograph needs to 'speak for itself' but as many (all) photographs are enhanced in their post processing why not the colour of the mount (a double mount [duo colour such as white & grey] can be an option?) & the colour of the frame to be included as part of the process.

Just by way of an example that I saw and it was bought by someone ~ a Red Poppy in a field, processed as selective colour, the Red of the poppy, in muted monochrome background, this was framed in a black frame with a black mount. Very effective though IMO the sort of picture for a very specific placing & usage.

Therefore, yes you may be right re: interior decoration but if selling is that not what it will be used for by the buyer ;)

Purity of intent in the PP of the photograph that is placed in white mount may not always appeal to a buyer when it comes "that is nice but where can I hang it in the house......." NB by making the final print mounted/mounted & framed a self contained presentation it should be able to be hung in a wider range of room settings even if it does not match/compliment the decor...............but with a plain white mount?.......................that is what I am struggling with, hence the question :)
 
At that rate we 're going to have the possibility of red photographs in pink mounts hung in green rooms? Another reason for neutrality in the mount. You can't pre-empt the buyer's decor, but you can be as universal as possible.

A good photo or painting is a bit more than decor, anyway, more like food for the soul.
 
At that rate we 're going to have the possibility of red photographs in pink mounts hung in green rooms? Another reason for neutrality in the mount. You can't pre-empt the buyer's decor, but you can be as universal as possible.

A good photo or painting is a bit more than decor, anyway, more like food for the soul.

No doubt someone, somewhere has or would love that :LOL: but no one I know of!

FWIW I am not talking about trying to pre-empt what any buyer's would like to see but more about the balance between the purity and neutrality of the way a photograph is mounted/mounted & framed compared to considering, the colour/double mount/black cored mount, as part of the whole process of 'processing' the photograph for presentation display. Subtle ways of making the photograph more appealing, afteral do we not as required PP already to make the image more satisfying to look at???
 
I'm shopping for mountboard right now, swatches in hand, whilst aiming for an all-purpose stock. My current focus is on the Arqadia conservation-grade board in their shade 'Minuet' - a kind of quiet white with a hint of cream, so a bit warmer than cool.

The idea being to have a single, simple stock for exhibition and one-offs that I can cut to order and that works across colour and mono images.
 
In club competitions, the choice of a coloured mount is very much an individual taste.
If a judge agrees with your choice, all well and good, but although they are supposed to be marking the print, if the judge doesn't like your choice you can lose marks.

Personally I stick with neutral (off white) mounts these days, with the occasional black mount for a B&W print.
 
I print, mount and frame thousands of photos and artwork every year, for various different end uses, customers to hang at home, customers to hang in a gallery, for exhibition, for competitions, for camera clubs etc, you tend to see trends in certain ares but no trends in others, some I have listed below.
These are the trends but there are some exeptions.

Camera clubs - Bright White, Soft White & Black are usually the only colours used.

Art / Photos for sale - Soft White, cream, occasionally black.

For exhibition use Photos - Bright Whight & Soft White.

For exhibition use Artwork - This is where it varies quite a lot and lots of double mounts are used.

Customers to hang in own home - Varies massively as most people dont frame for the image but for the room its going in, some wont take any input fro me as they have an idea they want and wont be changed, others are open to input, here bright White & Black are the least used.

The most popular mountboard colour is a light cream textured mountboard, this outsells all other colours by 10 times easily, I stock about 60 different colours, with another 150 to order if i have to match them.

This all varies around the country and also with what your customer demographic is, as a friend of mine from suffolk frames for a lot of animal photographers and green and black are his most popular mountboard colours.

Forgot to say, the mount colour also has a massive impact on how the image looks when it has a frame on it, change the frame and you may have to change the mount colour (bright white on a B&W print with black frame may look great, change that frame to oak and the white mount looks crap, you may have to go to light cream or a very soft off white / light cream depending on the colour of the oak) I change hundreds of mounts on pictures people buy and bring in for framing, as the mount on the image they bought just doesnt work with their chosen frame.

Just an insight from what I encounter on a daily basis, remember the customer doesnt see things as we as photographers and framers do, as they have to live with it in their home, work, office, business on a daily basis.

hope this helps.
 
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In club competitions, the choice of a coloured mount is very much an individual taste.
If a judge agrees with your choice, all well and good, but although they are supposed to be marking the print, if the judge doesn't like your choice you can lose marks.

Personally I stick with neutral (off white) mounts these days, with the occasional black mount for a B&W print.

Thanks for the insight and reflection on the camera club scene.

But i see nothing has changed in decades on regard to judges & judging ;)

I print, mount and frame thousands of photos and artwork every year, for various different end uses, customers to hang at home, customers to hang in a gallery, for exhibition, for competitions, for camera clubs etc, you tend to see trends in certain ares but no trends in others, some I have listed below.
These are the trends but there are some exeptions.

Camera clubs - Bright White, Soft White & Black are usually the only colours used.

Art / Photos for sale - Soft White, cream, occasionally black.

For exhibition use Photos - Bright Whight & Soft White.

For exhibition use Artwork - This is where it varies quite a lot and lots of double mounts are used.

Customers to hang in own home - Varies massively as most people dont frame for the image but for the room its going in, some wont take any input fro me as they have an idea they want and wont be changed, others are open to input, here bright White & Black are the least used.

The most popular mountboard colour is a light cream textured mountboard, this outsells all other colours by 10 times easily, I stock about 60 different colours, with another 150 to order if i have to match them.

This all varies around the country and also with what your customer demographic is, as a friend of mine from suffolk frames for a lot of animal photographers and green and black are his most popular mountboard colours.

Forgot to say, the mount colour also has a massive impact on how the image looks when it has a frame on it, change the frame and you may have to change the mount colour (bright white on a B&W print with black frame may look great, change that frame to oak and the white mount looks crap, you may have to go to light cream or a very soft off white / light cream depending on the colour of the oak) I change hundreds of mounts on pictures people buy and bring in for framing, as the mount on the image they bought just doesnt work with their chosen frame.

Just an insight from what I encounter on a daily basis, remember the customer doesnt see things as we as photographers and framers do, as they have to live with it in their home, work, office, business on a daily basis.

hope this helps.

Thanks and nice to get an industry suppliers feedback ~ all grist for the mill of understanding......... planning :)
 
Customers to hang in own home - Varies massively as most people dont frame for the image but for the room its going in
This seems to echo a recurrent dialogue about content versus surface. Is the remit about how it looks, or about its meaning? To me the look ought to be trivial, and the meaning all.
The word decor comes to mind. I would hope something better than that for my photographs.

Other people's mileage might differ.
 
This seems to echo a recurrent dialogue about content versus surface. Is the remit about how it looks, or about its meaning? To me the look ought to be trivial, and the meaning all.
The word decor comes to mind. I would hope something better than that for my photographs.

Thats the big kicker you do what you want with your photographs, but as soon as you sell them / part with them, you loose all control and all bets are off with what happens to them.

One persons decor is another persons meaningful image, asthetics or emotion or both.

I have stopped trying to work out what people think when they have stuff framed,
I know some of my customers frame only for their decor in the house and it has to match, the image is meaningful to them but it must also be asthetic and look good in the room.
One customer has me reframe artwork every few years when she redecorates or moves the work to a different room. At the end of the day its their money.

I have one customer who is an artist he paints superb lifesize fantasy art, and always frames it before exhibition and sale, they look superb when done and are not cheap to do, on 2 occasions he has come back and said he needs to reframe it in a black frame as someone will buy it but only if its in a black frame, the thing is it just doesnt look no where near as good when its reframed in a basic black frame, but its what the end customer wants, its like he says, if it sells his work he will do it, even though he doesnt like the look, but his customer is happy.
 
I'm glad you raised this @Box Brownie. I tend to always mount mine in either black or off white, but I sold an image to someone and they mounted it in a dusky pink! Apparently chosen after discussion with the framers. It did make me wonder if I should be more adventurous.

I don't know a lot about photoshop, but if you put the image onto a black canvas and then use overlay with a layer of the colour you're interested in - would that work as a display on your computer? I think the colour only shows where the black is if you use overlay blend mode - if I've remembered correctly.
 
I print, mount and frame thousands of photos and artwork every year, for various different end uses, customers to hang at home, customers to hang in a gallery, for exhibition, for competitions, for camera clubs etc, you tend to see trends in certain ares but no trends in others, some I have listed below.
These are the trends but there are some exeptions.

Camera clubs - Bright White, Soft White & Black are usually the only colours used.

Art / Photos for sale - Soft White, cream, occasionally black.

For exhibition use Photos - Bright Whight & Soft White.

For exhibition use Artwork - This is where it varies quite a lot and lots of double mounts are used.

Customers to hang in own home - Varies massively as most people dont frame for the image but for the room its going in, some wont take any input fro me as they have an idea they want and wont be changed, others are open to input, here bright White & Black are the least used.

The most popular mountboard colour is a light cream textured mountboard, this outsells all other colours by 10 times easily, I stock about 60 different colours, with another 150 to order if i have to match them.

This all varies around the country and also with what your customer demographic is, as a friend of mine from suffolk frames for a lot of animal photographers and green and black are his most popular mountboard colours.

Forgot to say, the mount colour also has a massive impact on how the image looks when it has a frame on it, change the frame and you may have to change the mount colour (bright white on a B&W print with black frame may look great, change that frame to oak and the white mount looks crap, you may have to go to light cream or a very soft off white / light cream depending on the colour of the oak) I change hundreds of mounts on pictures people buy and bring in for framing, as the mount on the image they bought just doesnt work with their chosen frame.

Just an insight from what I encounter on a daily basis, remember the customer doesnt see things as we as photographers and framers do, as they have to live with it in their home, work, office, business on a daily basis.

hope this helps.
Thankyou for taking the time to post that, I find it really useful.
 
For club competitions and from what I can see national and international salons there is little variation. The vast majority use white or off-white, a few use black and very rarely someone uses a coloured mount. Usually, this is criticised but very occasionally it works. At one time I used ivory for almost everything until a very experienced and successful photographer demonstrated my image with different mounts and for B&W prints, they almost always looked better with a white mount. It is not just about the print because the mount affects how you see it. Choosing a coloured mount for a colour print, is feasible but very difficult to choose one to enhance the print thus most play safe and choose neutral.

For galleries, generally the person running the gallery should know what works.
 
To echo in part some of the above - bright white board is generally too much for colour images - it competes tonally over-much with the image - hence a quiet white is more suitable, whilst being for practical purposes neutral relative to the colour image and letting it speak for itself.

Bright white can make a stunning mount for a mono image with full blacks and whites, though - it can spark extra life into the print.
 
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