matting photos for portfolio

I'm in the process of trying to put a portfolio together for presentation to a local art gallery. I'm going to put matted photos in a presentation box.

My question is do you mount the photos to the matting, and what do you use? I've never done this before, and I'm not sure how the prints should be secured to the matt.

Thanks for any advice
Kevin

You'll likely get a variety of opinions, but I use linen tape. Whatever you use, it should be archival (acid free).

Thanks robert,

Are you taping just the corners, or all around the matt?

Do you place each matted print in a sleeve or something?

Personally, I just put one small piece of tape at the top and bottom. But that's for framing so the backing board holds the print flat. And with matted but unframed prints, I still include a backing board that's secured to the mats with a small piece of hinged tape on each edge. That way they can just drop it into the frame.

Here's how the Library of Congress recommends, http://www.loc.gov/preserv/care/mat.html.

Something to think about: I haven't found anyone who has objected to viewing my loose prints. In fact, I'd much rather have folks handle loose prints (which are cheaper to replace) than handling my clean white mats/mounts (which will be more expensive to replace). Matting/mounting is fine, but not expected or required. I used to mount/mat all my presentation work, but no longer, and it hasn't made a bit of difference.

If your mounting/matting is unique and will help drive sales, then by all means show it. If it's standard, I wouldn't bother unless the gallery requests. Just take one large finished/framed piece as an example, and show the rest as smaller loose prints.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, very much appreciated.

Hey Michael Gordon,

You've peeked my curiosity. What do you use to show your loose prints? Or, how do you show your loose prints?

Thanks