We have divided mat board into two categories: Standard Core and Archival Core.

Standard core are mats that are paper based and normally have calcium carbonate added to help neutralize the natural acidity.

Archival mats are made to a much higher standard. I WOULD NOT BUY MATS FROM SOMEONE WHO ADVERTISES ARCHIVAL, ACID FREE MATS. They are generally just plain old standard core, acid neutral, mats. They can be excellent mats but not archival if you are expecting archival quality.

The best archival mats are cotton rag. Cotton is naturally acid free. Some paper based mats, called Alpha Cellulose because it sounds fancier than "paper", are also excellent mats that meet archival standards. They have had additional cleaning to extract the ingredients that cause paper mats to become more acidic.

Please note that archival mats are more than simply "acid neutral" or "acid free". Archival mats have been cleaned to remove such ingredients as "lignin" and "metals" that could be harmful to your art. Good archival mats also use pigmented inks to resist fading of the color.

Alpha Cellulose mats are mats made of paper like Standard Core mats. However, the materials go through additional cleaning and purifying so they approach the archival standards of Cotton Rag, the standard in archival mats.

In addition, the quality of the ingredients are increased. For example, pigmented inks are used in the top paper cover, the one that provides the overall color of the mat. Pigmented inks resist fading more than other inks. This increases the general longevity of the mat.

Cotton Rag mats are made from 100% Cotton (not rags, it is a traditional industry term). 100% Cotton mats are historically used by museums and galleries because cotton is naturally free of acid. They are a solid sheet or board of cotton rather than a core with a top paper cover and a bottom paper cover.

Alpha Cellulose mats are made of paper. They were created primarily to allow greater color flexibility. Since they have a paper cover, they come in many more colors than cotton rag.

Alpha Cellulose mats are cleaned and purified more rigorously than standard core mats so they approach Cotton's natural archival properties.

Yes.

Yes. Why is this an issue? Some less expensive mat cutting machines only cut with one knife. Therefore, you get a beveled edge on the mat window AND on the outside edge of the mat. This bevel cut is sharp.

Our machines cut with two knives. A 45 degree bevel for the window and a straight cut blade for the outside of the mat.

Traditionally, fine mats have been cut with a knife. The window(the part of the mat cut out so you can see the art) has a 45 degree beveled edge that slopes from the top of the mat down to the art.

This bevel cut exposes the core of the mat and is more elegant than typical cheap mats that were stamped out with a die. The bevel can be used to accentuate the art. For example, a black core in a white mat produces a black accent around the art.

Our mats are industry standard 4 ply except for our Very Thick 6-ply. More specifically, standard core mats are .050 to .055 in thickness, cotton rag mats tend more toward .060 and Very Thick mats are about .090 in thickness.

Let's take a real world example. An 8 x 10 with a 5x7 window.

The mat industry has adopted photography, paper and now digital printing sizes. It is easier for the customer to relate to image sizes like 5 x 7. And, they are usually expressed in whole numbers, no fractions.

However, mat windows are not usually cut equal to or larger than the image. You would see the edges of the print and the print would not be held down against the back.

So, the 5 x 7 window (HERE COMES THE FRACTIONS!) is really 4 1/2" x 6 1/2". A mat window that is 1/2" smaller than the print allows it to overlap the print by 1/4" on all sides (1/4" + 1/4" equals 1/2").

There is also one other advantage. It allows you to be a little less exacting when mounting your prints. Something you will appreciate after mounting 100 prints or so!

Orientation comes in 3 flavors. Centered (the window is placed in the center of the mat) Portrait (the window is taller than it is wide). Landscape (the window is wider than it is tall).

Centered windows allow you to turn the mat in any direction and the window will be just fine. So it can be used for both vertical and horizontal pictures.

Portrait mats have a vertical image. Because the mat has a larger Bottom Margin than the Top Margin, the mat can only be used with a vertical image.

Landscape orientation has a horizontal window. It can only be used with a horizontal image because the Bottom Margin (the distance from the bottom of the mat to the window) is larger than the Top Margin (the distance from the top of the mat down to the window).

For those of you who want a PHD is this subject you can consider that a mat could be a portrait mat with a landscape window, a portrait mat with a portrait window, or a landscape mat with a portrait window, a landscape mat with a landscape window or you could simply purchase a centered mat and go out and buy a frame that can hang either way!

Riddle: What is a mat that doesn't have a window? A Back!

No, because there are so many different kinds of backs and different preferences; the mats and backs are sold separately. Artists just don't seem to fit into a "cookie cutter" format.

One exception is our ONE STEP program. There, you can purchase a mat ALREADY ATTACHED to the back and get the resealable Plastic Presentatin Bag as well. See ONE STEP in the main MAT menu.

Mats don't have to have a window that is proportional to the mat and centered. In other words, an 11 x 14 mat with an 8x10 window centered in the mat. Sometimes it is more dramatic or interesting to do a 16 x 20 mat with an 8 x 10 window centered or even raise the window farther from the bottom to make a "portrait" orientation. A good selling mat is an 11x14 mat with a 5 x 7 window. The extra space provided for the mat actually makes the small 5 x 7 stand out more than if it was in a standard 8 x 10 mat. It is more "dramatic".