A painting without a frame is like an actor without an audience. Both are incomplete. Nothing decorates an image more than a skillfully selected frame and mat. This adds effectiveness and completeness to it. A painting, like a photograph, becomes an independent object that attracts attention and delights.

What is passe-partout and what is it used for?

On the question of definition. A passe-partout is a wide frame made of multi-layer cardboard that frames a drawing, photograph, collage or other work of art. This creates a boundary between the painting and the frame. It is customary to highlight portraits in this way.

The passe-partout frame is used for several purposes. The main ones include:

• emphasis on individual details of the image, enhancing the impact on the viewer;
• facilitating the perception of the work due to its separation from the rest of the interior;
• protection of a piece of art from the negative effects of the environment.

In addition, mats often act as an element of art.

Why is symmetry harmful?

Most of the finished mats have the same dimensions on all sides. This move is justified from a commercial point of view; it can be used for both directions: book and landscape. However, this mat format is not always appropriate from an aesthetic point of view.

This fact is explained by the peculiarities of human visual perception. When considering vertical objects, the most harmonious will be the one whose lower part has more weight. This fact is known and widely used in the press. For example, the Latin letter S or the number 8 are asymmetrical. Their underparts are slightly enlarged, but overall they look very harmonious.

The same thing happens with passe-partout. If it is slightly enlarged in the lower part, then the whole picture will be perceived better.

It is worth noting that a symmetrical mat frame is not always a bad thing. For example, if the image itself has a bright accent at the bottom, then no additional enhancement is required. Another situation where there is no need for an asymmetrical mat is educational and scientific illustrations.

Selection principles

The first thing you need to pay attention to is the color of the cardboard. Firstly, it must be different from the shade of the frame. Then everything is built on the effect that you want to achieve. If you need to highlight an image, it is better to place it on a very light background, almost white or even completely snow-white. When it is necessary to reduce the design, it is limited to a dark mat. The most neutral shade is gray. He practically does not interact with the image.

When choosing a matte shade, it is recommended to choose calm and muted tones. Let it be a little similar to the shade that is used in the image itself. Then the mat for the drawing will effectively emphasize the advantages. In some cases, this method can muffle or completely hide imperfections.

In addition, ornaments and lines can be applied to the mat. Then they simply must form a single whole with the object of art.

The second point is the choice of frame. It should fit perfectly with the image. A common mistake is choosing a frame to match the furniture and the color of the walls.

There are times when you should abandon the mat - these are oil paintings and a huge image format. In the first case, there is simply no need to further decorate them, and in the second, the size of the frame can disrupt the perception of the piece of art. There are also situations when the engravings themselves already contain decorative elements located along the edges. Then they also do not need to be put away in the mat.

A few words about cardboard

Its thickness usually varies from 0.5 to 3 millimeters. Passepartout cardboard can be colored or plain. In the second case, the color of the cut does not differ from its front side. But the first option has a different shade on the cut. There is such a mat that its surface has a textured pattern.

In addition, cardboard can be different in composition. The most popular one has a neutral level of acidity. It is made from cellulose, which contains lignin. The latter undergoes oxidation and spoils the drawing paper.

Museum quality cardboard has the best properties. It is less susceptible to fungus.

On the last step there is cardboard with conservation quality. It is made of natural cotton and does not allow fungus to develop at all.

How to determine the size of a passe-partout?

Fields that are too small will not perform their function. But, on the other hand, an overly wide mat will distract attention from the object of art. As a result, the image will simply be lost.

For the side and top margins, there is a rule: the width of the mat should be between a third and a half of the side of the image that is smaller. This is in most cases. But there are special situations when the side parts can be made larger. An example would be an unbalanced or very dense image.

A wide mat can be used in the following cases:

• a large object is depicted over almost the entire drawing;
• portrait or still life;
• the landscape lacks the sky (enlarge the strip at the top) or the sea (make the bottom even larger).

An example of a passe-partout frame for a 10 x 15 photograph would be the following dimensions: on the sides 5 cm, on the top 4 cm, on the bottom 6 cm.

What are the options for passe-partout?

With edging. This is a plank made of wood or plastic. Its appearance can be quite varied. From smooth to carved, from tinted and painted to aged. The edging plays the role of a partition between the passe-partout and the drawing and is an additional decor.

Multi-layer passe-partout . When two or three cardboard options are used. They have different shades, but are sure to be combined with the image. Moreover, the inner layer can be made lighter or darker than the outer one.

Methods for arranging a passe-partout

First: passe-partout under the picture . In this case, the image is fixed on a solid sheet of cardboard. For this purpose, you can use rubber glue, which can be easily removed without damaging the design. Another approach is to use corners or double-sided sticky notes.

This method will not work if you plan to place the photo under glass. It may stick tightly and be irretrievably lost. It should be noted that such a mat for drawing will add rigidity to the children's craft, as a result of which it can be easily placed on the wall.

Second method: passe-partout over the drawing. It looks like a tight frame under which the finished product is placed. Here you need to take two sheets of cardboard. The thinner one will go on the substrate, and the thicker one will be used to make a frame. In the latter, you need to cut a window to the size of the design, leaving an allowance of 3 mm. It will make an inclined cut at an angle of 45 degrees. This bevel gives a smooth transition from the image to the mat. You need to attach the picture to the backing, and then glue the top frame to its edges with double-sided adhesive tape.

The latter option requires more material costs, but also looks more solid. In addition, with its help you can cover a photograph with glass and not worry that after a while it will be impossible to get it out.

In order for embroidery, a picture of dried leaves or a panel to have a finished look, it is necessary to place them in a passe-partout frame. I took a lesson on how to do this myself correctly from the work of technology teacher L.K. Rybalchenko. "Basics of floristry. Making a decorative frame-passepartout for a floral collage"

http://festival.1september.ru/articles/210601/

Passepartout

Passepartout- this is a sheet of thick cardboard with a cutout in the middle, which serves as an additional framing element of the graphic sheet. Passepartout performs not only decorative, but also protective functions: it emphasizes and shades the image, giving it emotional depth.

Passepartout frames can be of any size, shape and color. Even the simplest of them is suitable for decorating a finished panel.

Many years of practice allowed designers to identify such an optical effect. The lower field of the passe-partout is always made deeper than the upper one, otherwise the entire structure will look flat on the wall rather than three-dimensional.

Main principle: The mat needs to be matched to the painting, and not to the interior or the color of the walls.

Passepartout can be in a variety of colors. Dark mats enhance the intensity of the colors in the painting and, depending on the shade, can highlight warm or, conversely, cold tones in its range.

When choosing a mat, keep in mind that they must be combined with the color scheme of the collage. It is better if there are no more than 4 colors in the work.

You can do it differently and first create a collage, and then, based on what happened, choose the color of the frame and mat.

4. Practical work: Making a decorative frame-passepartout. Instruction card

Cut out four pieces from cardboard: (Fig. 1)

• 15 x 20 cm - (frame base).
• 10.5 x 14.5 cm - (base mat) - tinted cardboard or velvet paper.
• 10.5 x 14.5 cm - (back side of frame).
• 20 x 3 cm - (frame stand).

On the wrong side of the large rectangle, draw a frame, retreating 2.5 cm from the top and sides, and 3.5 cm from the bottom (Fig. 2)

Draw the diagonals of the inner rectangle and carefully cut them. (Fig. 3)

Rice. 2. Fig. 3.

4. Fold the cuts (triangles) along the lines of the inner rectangle to the wrong side. (Fig. 4)

5. Draw lines on the bent triangles, departing 7-10 mm from the fold lines and make bends in the opposite direction from the first folds. (Fig. 5)

Rice. 4. Fig.5.

Glue the base of the mat from the front side of the frame to the bent triangles, the tinted side up. Glue the second rectangle to the back of the frame. (Fig. 6)

7. Make a stand for the frame. (Fig. 7)

Rice. 6. Fig. 7.

Teacher: Get to work, guys. Don't forget to follow safety rules when working with scissors.

Everyone: good afternoon! I bring to your attention my MK for cutting PASSEPARTOUT, Passepartout is the “second frame”. But I would call it more poetically: PASSEPARTOU is clothing, this is a dress for my work!. It makes the paintings look more confident, more noble... and in general I like it SO much better! We will need: business cardboard (that’s what we call it in our craft store), but you can also use whatman paper or other quality cardboard. The main thing is that it is dense and cuts well. Some types of cardboard do not cut, but crumple and tear under the cutter. Therefore, better is better! The result is worth it. Cardboard preferably of different colors. Preferably not bright and harsh colors. All the same, the role of the mat is to highlight and emphasize our work, and not overshadow it with its beauty!!!

We will need: a metal ruler or something similar to it, but it must be straight and metal. This is for safety purposes. They say that all safety instructions are written in the blood of the dead. Here are my instructions too... DO NOT USE wooden rulers - the cutter may go askew and, in addition to a damaged ruler, you can cause injury to yourself in the form of cuts. I've passed this stage! It's better not to experiment! We also need a sharp awl and the main tool - a cutter (a knife like a stationery knife, but larger, more powerful so to speak!, with a strong blade that should not bend.) Well, also glue, a pencil and a brush (later I’ll tell you why)

I have prepared strips of thick cardboard of different widths, marked 3 cm. 4 cm. 5 cm, etc. this is so as not to draw out the internal size of the mat with a ruler, but I immediately take 30*40 cm for the frame, width 4-5 cm .

The most important thing is that we will cut on hardboard on its rough underside. This is so that the table does not spoil, and on the wrong side, this is so that there is no slipping of paper or cardboard and so that the knife does not accelerate too much. Let's get started... cut out the required size of cardboard. It should be the same as glass. Then apply cardboard strips Along the edges we make marks in the form of crosses with a pencil.

I don’t see, can you see these crosses in the corners? We do all this from the wrong side!

Now, with a sharp awl (be careful with sharp objects!) we make small punctures at the intersection of our lines (in the center of the cross). Now you will find out why this is needed!

Now let's prepare our knife or cutter for work. To do this, you MUST renew the blade, that is, break off a piece from it. (a dull blade will tear the cardboard)

Now the most important thing. Without fanaticism! We place the blade in the hole from the awl with the sharpest tip. we put metal. straighten the ruler straight from one hole to the other, press it firmly so that it doesn’t move with your fingers, and start cutting. For those who will be cutting for the first time, try first, as if drawing a blade along a ruler, and then a second time with force. when you cut out a dozen mats, your hand will feel with what force you need to cut. LEISURELY! We move the cutter from one hole to another, the knife itself will stop in the hole, and you will not cut through too much.

Ideally, after one movement of the cutter you should have a hole. We repeat this on all sides. When you do it the last 4th time, the cardboard should come off freely.

Since we’ve already started, let’s make several pieces of different sizes and colors - they will come in handy. Sometimes we need to try which mat is best suited for our work. (well, like a dress!)

And now I will show you how to make a passe-partout with an edge. To do this, you need to take a strip of cardboard that is contrasting to the main color.

We develop our eye. Cutter and metal. Using a ruler, cut strips 1-1.5 cm wide in the amount of 4 pieces.

Now we spread short strips of glue along one edge and glue them to the side edges of the inner cutout from the inside (make sure that from the front side our edges peek out only 3-4 mm and EXACTLY! Without experience, do not rush - let the glue dry.

Or the production time for the mat is set to be long, but the embroidery, for example, is intended for a gift and the deadlines are running out; agree that there can be a lot of reasons. If you have the desire and a little skill in working with cardboard and paper, there is always a way out. True, without a special professional tool it will not be possible to achieve a chamfer of 45° here, but you can get a thin strip 1-3 mm wide, which from a distance of about half a meter will be indistinguishable from a chamfer.

We will need:

1. Metal ruler, preferably at least 4 cm wide

2. Knife with replaceable blades

We buy in finishing materials stores, or in construction stores.

3. Double-sided tape

4. A sheet of good cardboard (that’s what it’s called - cardboard for passe-partout),

5. Paper (40x60 cm) for drawing with pastels (it comes in different shades, I think it was made in Italy).

We buy it at a stationery store, or at an artist supply store.

If there is no paper of the required color, and the size of the mat does not exceed the size of an A3 sheet (this size is determined by the printing capability of a color printer), I simply use graphic programs to select the desired shade, “fill” the sheet, and then print it on the printer and use it in further work. Moreover, those printed on a string printer are much better than those printed on a laser printer.

The mats in the photo were made using sheets printed on a printer.

On the back side of the cardboard I mark the required dimensions of the mat, then using a knife and a ruler I very carefully cut out a frame from the purchased cardboard.

Of course, you need skill, you can practice on small pieces.

It is not possible to cut immediately in one cut, especially at the corners, so sometimes you have to cut the knife twice. Is it better to cut on special mats or on a piece of glass or mirror? I cut on thick glass.

If the color of the mat is not suitable for this design, I continue.

I cut out a mat of the same size from purchased paper of a suitable shade. I cut out the inner window 1-1.5 mm larger than the original one, this is done so that a light strip is preserved along the inner perimeter, which visually looks the same as the “chamfer” cut into the baguette, cut at an angle of 45°.

On the cardboard passe-partout from the front side I paste strips of double-sided tape around the perimeter. At the same time, I retreat from the inner window by about 3-5 mm. Why I am doing this will become clear at the next stage.

Then I carefully “plant” the paper passe-partout onto the cardboard. I precisely place the cutout on top of the protective layer of tape.

It is most convenient to start gluing with one of the horizontal stripes.

One by one, carefully bending back the paper passe-partout, I remove the protective layer from the strips of tape and secure the horizontal and then the vertical sides.

Paper is still a delicate thing, subject to slight stretching or displacement, and when gluing it is not always possible to ensure that the remaining light strip at the passe-partout window is the same width (up to a fraction of a millimeter) on all four sides.

Using a knife and, again, a metal ruler, very delicately (so as not to cut through the cardboard mat) I trim the paper mat.

This is not difficult to do, you just need to either accurately mark it, or carefully and carefully navigate by eye.

The trimmed paper is easily removed, since (remember?!), the glued tape does not reach 3-5 mm to the inner window.

Voila! As a result, we have a ready-made mat of the desired color with a light outline of the same width

If you want to highlight the design even more and get a volumetric effect, we do contrasting outline - double passe-partout.

I usually make a similar second frame out of cardboard and connect them with double-sided tape.

But in this case, the size of the finished work is 60x45 cm, and I didn’t want to weigh it down with additional cardboard.

Therefore, I stick tape on the wrong side and attach the top passe-partout to a sheet of contrasting paper.

Then, using a knife and a ruler, I cut out a window inside, leaving a strip 1 to 3 mm wide, depending on the desired, intended result.

Thus, within a maximum of half an hour, a double passe-partout is ready.

And the remaining “middles” are used to make smaller ones for subsequent works, which at home leads to certain savings on consumables for designing your own works.

The photo shows some of my designed works with self-made mats.

Due to the nature of my work, sometimes I have to deal with the owners of framing workshops in our city; they are always very surprised when I tell them that I made these mats myself. And they are always surprised at how I stretch my embroideries and how, in a good sense, I “experiment” with the frames ordered from them.

Homemade passe-partout
Sometimes we don’t have enough to decorate our creations, for which the framing workshop wants a lot of money. I'm talking now about the passe-partout. But real craftsmen are not afraid of any difficulties!
Today I will show you how a real needlewoman Oksana offers to solve the problem of framing our works once and for all: a homemade mat!
Today we will decorate cross stitch and as a result of the work we should get something like this beauty with our own hands:

Embroidery design with homemade passe-partout
Well, let's get started... We will need a purchased frame with glass and a backdrop, cardboard, embroidery,
iron and regular rulers, paper knife, scissors, pencil, corrugated cardboard, glue, stapler or thread with a needle, pliers.

At the very beginning of the work, you need to cut out a piece of cardboard of the size required for the mat. You can simply attach the back of the frame.
We cut out a passe-partout from cardboard with our own hands

Next, you need to determine the center of the embroidery and the mat (they do not always coincide), and draw a rectangle of the required size on the mat. Set aside 2 mm from each line and draw two more rectangles - larger and smaller than the size of the first rectangle, equal to the size of the embroidery.
Draw a hole on a homemade mat

After this, you need to cut with a paper knife along an iron ruler along the internal markings, and with the blunt side of scissors or something else that is not too sharp, press along the external markings. In the corners, make cuts from one corner to the other and bend the resulting margins inward.
Bend the corners of a homemade cardboard passe-partout
This is what the inner corner of the mat should look like:
DIY passe-partout corner

Now it's time to secure the embroidery to the back of the frame. To do this, you can use a stapler, glue, thread (hooking it onto the embroidery and pulling it over the edge to the inside of the backdrop, and again hooking it onto the embroidery on the opposite side) or double-sided tape. Be careful so that you don’t have to do it twice (and in the case of glue, you’ll cry bitterly over what you’ve done) by miscalculating the alignment. To control, apply mat from time to time.
We fix the embroidery on the back of the frame with a stapler
Now, to give volume to our mat, we need to cut strips of cardboard with our own hands (slightly narrower than the future mat). Thin corrugated packaging cardboard works best.
Strips of thin packaging corrugated cardboard for the volume of homemade passe-partout

Lay out and glue the strips of cardboard to the back of the mat closer to the outer edge:
Glue strips of cardboard to the mat and add volume with your own hands