Number one choice of backings.
Professional picture framers and artist that display their
work at shows and galleries have made foam core (foam board) the number one
backing for their images . At www.matcutter.com
, foam core backs are 80-90 percent of the backing sales.
What is foam core? Foam
core, also called foam board, is a lightweight, warp resistant, strong yet
easily cut material. It is generally
made up of 3 layers. The top and
bottom layers can be clay coated paper, acid-neutral paper, archival paper or
archival cotton rag paper. Although
not as common, you may also see brown kraft paper.
The center is polystyrene foam . Foam
core comes in thicknesses of 1/8”, 3/16”, 1/4” and even 1/2” is
available. Although there are some
bright colors of foam core, the majority is White or Black.
Foam core or foam boards sell so well because of its
resistance to warping due to changes in humidity, ease of cutting and smooth
consistent “base” for attaching art work.
At www.matcutter.com,
we sell the following variations”
1/8” White, clay coated foam core.
The least expensive and most used, the surface is extremely smooth due to
the clay coating. The clay coating
was originally created to provide a smooth base for screen printing.
It was later adopted by the art industry.
3/16” Black foam core.
Black paper on both sides with black foam in the middle.
3/16” White, self-adhesive foam core or foam board.
This is foam core that has the standard white paper cover on both sides.
However, one side has adhesive applied with a cover sheet protecting the
self-adhesive. You would peel off
the cover sheet to expose the adhesive and then apply your image to the foam
core.
3/16” Black, self-adhesive foam core.
The same as the white foam core above except all layers (top paper layer,
middle foam layer and bottom paper layer) are black.
1/8” White, archival foam core. Archival grade paper is used on the top and bottom layer to protect the image\art work the board is backing. The center foam materials do not emit vapors that may be harmful to art work. Archival products provide the most protection for your images over the longest time.
1/8" Black, archival foam core. The same grade as described above. However, all layers are black.
1/8” White, cotton rag foam core.
Cotton is the highest grade archival product available in mat board.
This foam core has cotton rag paper paper adhered to the top and bottom
of the foam core so the art work is “sandwiched” between cotton mat board
and the top cotton layer of the foam core.
The only negative of foam core is that is may be too thick
for use with small sizes (8x10 and smaller) of framed art because the
“rabbit” or space between the glass or plastic front of the framed piece and
the back of the frame may be too small to accommodate 1/8” or larger
thickness. In this case paper-based
backs provide a thinner alternative. However, other than this one case, foam
core is superior to paper based backings and its price is similar to most high
quality paper backings.
