Printing For Cheap Glass

I have a number of old frames with cheap glass in them. I don't use them because the green glass darkens and muddies the look of the prints.

It finally dawned on me that I might be able to compensate for the glass before printing. I'm imagining creating a layer like a photo filter, making my adjustments below that layer, and then discarding it prior to printing.

Before I waste a lot of paper through trial and error, I thought I'd ask a few questions.

Does my plan make any sense?
Is there an easier way to accomplish my goal?
Does anyone have a formula for compensating for green glass that they would be willing to share?

Thanks.

To be honest if it was me and the frames are nice, I'd just have some new glass cut. It'll probably work out cheaper in the end, than the inevitable trial and error printing you'd have to do, costing a fair bit in paper and inks.

I agree with Paul. Replacing the glass is easier - quicker and cheaper than trying to decide how to compensate with color settings.

Me three. Obtaining a color compensation in your print that would negate the color of the glass would be hit or miss, I think. Also, if you decided at a later time to put the print under good glass, you'd have to reprint. I think it's best to obtain good glass.

-P

Newer glass would also block UV, and prolong life of the prints.


Kent in SD

Mark is this just old glass you are talking about, or is it antique glass? If it is the latter, you might want to contact someone that does building, or antique, restorations and realize a few "pennies" for yourself versus just throwing it away.

Just a thought...
don

You might spend more time and possibly money in misprints trying to perfect it. If the frames are nice and worth keeping getting new glass isn't really that expensive. You might want to check a glass shop, they may be able to cut you some glass for the frames at a much lower cost than a frame shop. They may even have UV glass.

If you are looking at doing a lot of framing in the future I would suggest investing in a mat cutter as they really aren't that expensive and will save you a lot of money, make sure you get one with a stopper so you don't over cut the mat though (I returned the cheaper one without the stopper that I bought first because it wasn't worth the small savings). Some art supply stores will sell mat cutters at just a little above cost because you will be buying mat board and other supplies from them. I got a mat cutter for $150 before a show I had where I needed to frame about 20 photos and it probably saved me $300-400 over having a frame shop cut the mats. There is a frame shop near me that builds pre-fabricated frames out of the scraps of their custom framing jobs which are of the same quality of a custom frame for way way less than having it custom built and they come with the glass. Including the mat cutter, mat board and about 24 frames, mostly 16x20 frames and a few larger and a few smaller I spent about $700 on framing for the show but that would have cost me about $2000-3000 if I had all the frames custom built and matted. Another cool thing about the mat cutter is you can get a glass cutter attachment for many of them so you can just buy large panels of glass and cut them yourself. Next I'm actually planning on building some of my frames myself. If you do your research you can save a lot of money on framing and can save a little or a lot depending on how much you want to DIY.

Cheapest glass is always at the hardware/home improvement store. And it's good glass. I've been getting my glass that way for years, and as long as they know it's for artistic purposes, they will make sure it never gets a single scratch/scuff.