I've been working on getting back up to speed in making our own mats and using prebuilt frames for selling prints. It's been fun doing all this but one area that can get tricky is all the calculating/layout for cutting mats. I conveniently have an old copy of AutoCAD which I've been using for laying out mats but to be honest I think that's overkill...
In digging around the www I ran into a really cool program that does the hard part for me and outputs a nice easy to understand printout for the calculating/layout of mat cutting. It's called Matworks and the best part is it's released on the GPL License which means it's FREE!!
I have the Windows version and in looking at the website for matworks it doesn't appear there is a Mac version. So I apologize to our Mac folks out there...
Want to do a matting& framing workshop? As a PNWNP benefit no less? I was all ready to get started matting & framing when I ran full force into the complexity of Photoshop CS, but if I can ever learn to produce a passable image I still want to do that framing & matting stuff....
Well I'm not one to claim being an "expert" mat cuttin dude but I would be more than happy to share my meager knowledge in a small group setting. Like 2 maybe 3 folks. Anymore than that and it would get too crowded around the mat cutting table.
Mat cutting like many things in life takes time to perfect but the cost savings is soooo worth it!! Plus one gets the added pleasure of knowing you did it all yourself!!
We must be on the same wave length... I just bought a Logan 750 and was wondering how I was going to calculate off-center matt openings. This program works great!!! Thanks Rick!
If anyone wants to come out to Hood River, I'll run you through my standard Photoshop routine and matting process. I was a carpenter for 13 years so when I matte photo, I revert to my production carpentry routes and really get rambling.
I've only done dead center matts though, and even then only single matts.
Well, thanks Rick, but you know, I have the same type of determination and stubbornness that Mark does. Like him, if there's something I want to do, I find a way to do it, and do it well.
I also used a much different mat cutter than you guys have. The Logan cutter is a table mounted long rectanglar thing. I had a wall-mounted gizmo where I could set dimensions for each side. Funny, I remember reading the manual about cutting a multi-opening mat and found a mistake in the manufacturer's example. So when I met him I told him about it. Until that point, I don't think anybody used his cutter for multi-opening mats. The trickiest thing about that mat was gathering and arranging the photos for it. I used family photos and made the thing primarily as a display piece for the frame shop where I worked. I cut a few multi-holers for customers after that, but never again one so large or with so many openings.
Discussion
9 repliesI've been working on getting back up to speed in making our own mats and using prebuilt frames for selling prints. It's been fun doing all this but one area that can get tricky is all the calculating/layout for cutting mats. I conveniently have an old copy of AutoCAD which I've been using for laying out mats but to be honest I think that's overkill...
In digging around the www I ran into a really cool program that does the hard part for me and outputs a nice easy to understand printout for the calculating/layout of mat cutting. It's called Matworks and the best part is it's released on the GPL License which means it's FREE!!
I have the Windows version and in looking at the website for matworks it doesn't appear there is a Mac version. So I apologize to our Mac folks out there...
Here is a link to the download:
MatWorks
This tool makes the calculating/layout of mat cutting simple and repeatable.
Enjoy!!
Harald
Mat cutting like many things in life takes time to perfect but the cost savings is soooo worth it!! Plus one gets the added pleasure of knowing you did it all yourself!!
I've only done dead center matts though, and even then only single matts.
And just to rub it in (because I can), way back when I was a pro at this, I cut a mat with 32 openings!
That was before computers, and everything was calculated by hand. AND... I only cut it once.
Lynne
I also used a much different mat cutter than you guys have. The Logan cutter is a table mounted long rectanglar thing. I had a wall-mounted gizmo where I could set dimensions for each side. Funny, I remember reading the manual about cutting a multi-opening mat and found a mistake in the manufacturer's example. So when I met him I told him about it. Until that point, I don't think anybody used his cutter for multi-opening mats. The trickiest thing about that mat was gathering and arranging the photos for it. I used family photos and made the thing primarily as a display piece for the frame shop where I worked. I cut a few multi-holers for customers after that, but never again one so large or with so many openings.