Flattening Your Print And Displaying Suggestions
How to flatten your print
You will need:
A clean flat area larger than the size of your print that will not be disturbed for 24-48 hours.
2-4 heavier books.
1-pair of clean white gloves if you have them.
Flattening instructions:
1. Find a clean flat area larger than the size of your print that will not be disturbed for 24-48 hours. Make sure there are no debris on the surface, so the print does not get scratched.
2. Remove the print from the shipping box. Remove the protective tissues or materials around the print.
If you have a pair of clean white glove, wearing them would be helpful here as not to put finger smudges on the print. Otherwise, wash and thoroughly dry your hands, and try to handle the print from the side edges.
3. Unroll your print on top of the flat clean surface.
Put a heavy book on each end of the curl edges of the print. Take care not to bend any edges.
If your books are not large enough to cover both corners of a edge, use 4 books, and place a book to cover each corner and their edges.
The more surface the book can cover on the print, the better. But most important thing is to hold down the curl edges and their sides.
You want to flatten the print by keeping the book on top of the print for 24-48 hours, your print should be flatten. Sometime, the paper is stubborn and still slightly curled, just keep it weighted down a day longer or so.
There are other quicker techniques to flatten a print, but they also might damage the print in the process. This method take a little bit longer, but it is the safest way to flatten a print.
Displaying your print:
Directly on the wall
You can display the print as is on the wall. Using clips, or tape on back or however methods you want to attach the print to the wall.
Periodically, you can dust the print by use a dry clean soft cloth to lightly wipe down the surface. Do not use any water whatsoever!
Displaying in a frame:
1. Framing it as it is
You can put the print in a frame to avoid dust, wear and tear on the print.
The prints will usually come with a white border due to the proportions of the original artwork. The print is printed to a ready-made frame size already. You can purchase a read-made frame in the size of the print, put the print directly inside and close up the frame on the back. Display the print, and you are done.
Be aware if you are putting screws to string a wire on the back of the frame for hanging, make sure the screw length is shorter than the frame's thickness. You don't know how sorry you'll be if you had used screws longer than the thickness of the frame because the screw would poking through the frame on the front side.
2. Framing with mat
You can customize the framing with a mat border for a sophisticated polished gallery look.
For this approach, you will need assistance from a framer to cut a mat for the artwork image to the size of the print. You usually want to go with a light or pale cream color for the mat for less distraction because the purpose of the matting is to unify and enhance the viewing experience of the image.
The framer can trim the print down to a ready-made or custom-made frame size, then put a mat around the image. You would want to keep in mind the mat will add additional dimensions to the final framed piece, and there are many frame size options in a frame shop or art and craft supply store that you can explore.
Please be sure to talk to a framer for their expert advice and suggestions before you cut into the print.