What Is Traditional Matting?

Okay! This border right here is called a mat board and it comes in all different colors, it comes in many different sizes and, also it comes in many different thicknesses. There's what's called four ply which most mats come in and there's also what's called eight ply which is essentially double the thickness of a normal mat. I love an eight-ply mat on photography. You've probably seen many photography shows where the mat looks just extra deep and this line right here, this part of the mat that goes right around the artwork is called the bevel and that's where you notice the depth of the mat. Whether it's a four-ply or an eight-ply this is an archival mat. It's 100% cotton and this is the quality that we use at our shop. We don't use the other mats, that are made out of paper and that brings with it the acidity. You might have heard me talk about the fact that we are a full archival (we only use archival materials) at The Picture Framing Co. and that it is there to benefit your artwork.