How to frame a giclée print without ruining it

There are a hundred ways to ruin a print between buying it and getting it on the wall. Here are the four that matter.

1. The mat must be acid-free

Cheap mats are made from wood pulp that turns yellow within a year and bleeds acid straight into the paper edge of your print. Look for rag or alpha cellulose boards. They cost a few dollars more and don't slowly destroy your work.

2. UV-filtering glass, every time

Plain glass lets through enough UV to fade pigment-based inks in a couple of years. Museum glass blocks ~99% and costs about 3x as much. The middle option — "conservation clear" — is the right answer for most homes.

3. The wall actually matters

Direct sunlight is the enemy. If a wall gets a strip of midday sun for an hour or more, that's the worst place in the room for a giclée. Hang it on the adjacent wall.

4. Pick a frame that gets out of the way

Black, white, walnut. That's it. The frame isn't the art, the print is. If your eye lands on the frame first, you've gone wrong.