White Border or no white border on prints

<p>I am sending some photos to my on-line lab to print 10 x8 and 12 x 8 prints. for my local club photo competitions.. These photos will have a matt border.</p>

<p>Not sure whether I should request a white border around them?</p>

<p>If you think it will look good what size should the border be?</p>

<p>Would I request the above sizes plus the border - or does will the 10 x8 or 12 x 8 request remain the same.</p>

<p>Sue</p>

I would think it really depends on the individual photos, as well as what color mat you're using and if the club has specific guidelines for

submissions. As for the size with and without borders, check with the lab to see what they do to be sure, and if they even offer more than

one size of border.

Generally speaking, I personally wouldn't put any border around a print if I was going to mat it.

<p>If the mat is covering the print to hold it down, then a white border would mean that you wouldn't have to obscure part of the image- but otherwise it's purely a matter of which you prefer.</p>

<p>With exceptions, generally a standard print size such as 8x10 will be printed on an 8x10 sheet of paper so if you want a border, the border would be included within the 8x10 dimension, meaning the size of your print itself will be less than 8x10. If your club has specific restrictions on borders, you will of course want to adhere to them or you may be disqualified. If they don't have restrictions about borders, the border is part of your presentation just as is the type of paper you choose and the type of ink they use. Depending on how your photos will be shown you may or may not want to standardize your presentation. I generally have the lab include a border for the reason JDM mentions. If I am going to mat the prints, I will cover the border with mat but not lose any of the print. If you have no border, the mat will necessarily hide the edges of your print. There are times when I will include a paper border even when I am matting, depending on the print. The size of the border, just like the size of the mat, will depend on the print or may be consistent throughout a particular presentation. Such aspects of presentation are a subtle but significant aspect of showing photos. The decision, if not dictated by your club, is part of your artistic statement. It's up to you. Before I had my first show, I went to a bunch of museums and galleries and paid particular attention to the variety of ways people presented their work. It was very helpful.</p>

Back in the old days, most people used a Saunders easel under the enlarger. The blades of the easel covered 1/4 inch of the photo paper sides to hold the paper flat and thus produced a 1/4 inch white border on the print. I think the white border made it look more like a photograph. When dry mounting, I would trim off the white border since I left a 1/2 inch space between the edge of the photo and the overmat.

<p>Thank you all for your helpful responses</p>

<p>Sue</p>

<p>When I made prints for competition I normally mounted them on a mid grey board without any white border ... for projection at the 'usual' size I think a five pixel white border enhances many of them ... that is at 1024x768 or 1400x1050 pixel sizes. You club may have different standards for projected images depending on what equipment they invested in.<br>

When I had a darkroom I had nails set in small tin lids full of lead. The nails bent over so they held the corners of the print down and steady. The small white areas that resulted were easy to retouch prior to showing and one used the full paper size instead of the 'waste' when using a frame to hold the paper as James D outlines :-)</p>

<p>thank you for your contribution</p>

<p>I usually include borders on anything <strong>less</strong> than 8X10, but it depends on the image. </p>

<p>One potential problem with using fine line borders as part of the overall image may become apparent only in JPEG. JPEG compression will usually introduce artifacts by mushing together the fine lines and adjacent color. White may become light gray, black may become dark gray and bright reds, greens, etc., will become mushy. Even at 100% save quality in JPEGs it's often difficult to retain full quality in fine lines and small details with brilliant colors. This flaw is often seen in JPEGs in which the photographer uses red in his or her signature or copyright notice on the photos.</p>

<p>If your printer can handle uncompressed files such as TIFFs, this won't be a problem.</p>

<p>If you are going to mat them, why not do an overmat and leave a border around them that way? When I mat prints I use an overmat with a 1/4" border around the sides and top and a 1/2" border on the bottom (for signature). For 11x14 and larger prints I use 3/8 and 5/8" respectively.</p>