How Can Picture Frame Spacers Can Add or Ruin The Beauty of Your Artwork?

When framing pictures under glass, it’s a good idea that the picture won’t touch the glazing material. That is why picture frame spacers may come in handy. For those who don’t know picture frame spacers, these are basically little pieces of plastic, which are placed around the glazing’s edge and sit between the art and the glazing. Their sizes may differ and every size allows different air cushion levels. They are also available in several colors, mainly black and clear, so they blend in with your frame and art for unobtrusive effect.

Picture Frame Spacers and Their Importance

Picture frame spacers are used for art framing and custom art framing. These add some space within the frames and prevent glazing from contact with the photo, painting or any kind of visual arts, providing protection from damages.

If there are no picture frame spacers, the image might get stuck or buckle to the glazing, which could cause damage. This might also cause some problems once you reframe your art or photo in the future. Picture frame spacers enable air circulation, which prevents the formation of destructive mildew and mold.

Picture frame spacers are also important for the reason that these offer a smooth surface between the framing material and edge of the glass. It doesn’t only protect you from any possible injury when installing glazing into the rabbet of the frame, but also it will keep rough edges from digging into the materials of the frame, shedding paint particles onto the art.

How to Choose Picture Frame Spacers

Some of the best picture frame spacers to choose from include fillets, timber slip frames, and synthetic extruded sections that often come with double-sided adhesive coated to a surface.

If you like to determine the picture frame space to use for your picture or art framing project, these are the different factors that you should take into consideration

• Ease of use
• Picture frame spacer’s color
• Depth of the spacer required
• The material used

It is important to know the material used for a picture frame spacer, especially if you need something acid-free and archival. Most of the commercially available spacers are an extruded rectangular hollow tube or solid plastic strip. Such plastic spacers frequently have double-sided adhesive applied to a surface. The adhesive that was used for picture frame spacers is to make them in position to the glazing material’s surface. You can make a picture frame spacer from metal, timber, foam boards, and cardboard. The timer picture frame spacers can be just simple square edge profile that’s functional.

Usually, plastic spacers are available in different thicknesses. For deeper applications where colored liners are required, you may glue the mat board to the foam board and cut into the required widths. The strips can be glued to the frame that molds between the art work and glass. It’s an advantageous method if you like the picture frame spacer as well as the backing material to match, especially if you want an art work floating on the mat backing.

You may combine picture frame spacers with matting and framing using stepped frames to make an interesting depth in your photos while adding extra benefits of increased air gap from the acrylic front or glass.

What Are Picture Frame Spacers & What Is Their Relevance?

Everybody loves clicking pictures; they are the best form of visual representations of a captured moment and to cherish them lifelong, framing is practiced. They not only form a protective layer around your picture but also beautify it in the process. Picture framing is an intricate task that involves assembling of several components. If you've ever taken a closer look to a frame, you must have noticed there is a thin space between the picture and the glazing. That space is created with the help of a frame spacer. Talking about picture framing, most of the people have heard of terms like matboards and glazing. Frame spacer is something not many people are aware about even though they play an important role in the framing process. This blog focusses on the use and importance of the component.

As the name implies, frame spacers are used to create a definite space between the glazing material and your artwork. It is a tool you'll find in every picture framer's store. If you are going for custom picture framing, then frame spacer is something you should definitely know about. There are a variety of models available in the component, and the generic ones are described below.

Types of Frame spacers

S-Shaped

The spacer holds the artwork and glazing material together forming "S" shape. The closed curve is what holds the backing (art or picture) in its place. An important thing to consider while going for this spacer is thickness of the glass and depth of the rabbet.

Tube-Shaped

Tube-shaped spacer have shape of a rectangular hollow tube. These type of spacers have adhesive on one side which is stuck to either the glazed layer or backing board. The other side, that is the visible portion, can have glossy or matte finish depending on the frame and artwork chosen.

Custom shape

Custom shapes are preferred when any of the above mentioned spacer doesn't fit perfectly for a frame. The best application of a custom frame spacer is in deep shadow box. Popular material prefered for designing this spacer model is foam board.

Importance of Frame Spacers

Prevents wave formation across the paper

With continuous variation in the temperature and humidity of environment around the frame, the glass expands and contracts accordingly. However, there are other sections in the frame which stay unaffected. Due to this imbalance, buckling or waves are formed across the paper. Using a spacer ensures uniform distribution of heat in your picture frame, thus, avoiding creation of bucklings.

Protects artwork from moisture

Frame spacer makes sure the artwork doesn't come in contact with the moisture that is condensed on the glass. Normally, this condensation is observed under extreme temperature changes or when the ink of the artwork is not given sufficient time for drying.

You can design your memories in your own way with the online picture framer like PaintBox Soho. We have years of experience and expertise in the field of picture framing. This is a one-stop solution for all your needs pertaining to custom designed frames, hand-crafted frames, floating frames. Come add color to your artwork with utmost care and precision.