Can Autographs Be Framed?

[musicfan]

Hey Everyone!

A Couple People On Here And My Dad Warned Me That I Shouldnt Put My Autographs Is Just a Frame...And Im Just Wondering Why?

Here's What I Do:

I Size a White 14x18 Piece of Paper And Then I Put VERY LITTLE Pieces of Tape on The Corners....I wAnted To Be Able To Show My Collection (In a Creative Way) And Now I Am Being Told Its NOT GOOD....lol.....So WHAT CAN I DO?
Please Help Me.

[scarybun]

Hey Everyone!

A Couple People On Here And My Dad Warned Me That I Shouldnt Put My Autographs Is Just a Frame...And Im Just Wondering Why?

Here's What I Do:

I Size a White 14x18 Piece of Paper And Then I Put VERY LITTLE Pieces of Tape on The Corners....I wAnted To Be Able To Show My Collection (In a Creative Way) And Now I Am Being Told Its NOT GOOD....lol.....So WHAT CAN I DO?
Please Help Me.

You're not really paying attention to what's being told to you but I'll spell it out for you:

buy: acid-free backing board, acid-free mat (either pre-cut or cut it yourself), acid-free tape (linen tape) or acid-free corner mounts, frame with glass (UV blocking and all that really isn't necessary since it's only direct UV light that harms things; so just keep it out of direct sunlight).

Take your backing board and either use the linen tape or the corner picture mounts to attach your photos to it. Make sure you tape down only the top two corners of your image so that the bottom of the photo hangs free (this allows your picture to expand and contract according to weather and moisture levels). If you use corner mounts, then do one top corner and the opposite bottom corner, not all four. Then cover this whole thing with your mat so that the pictures show through the holes cut in the mat (like making a sandwich). Put the whole shebang into your frame and hang it out of sunlight and away from sources of heat and humidity. Edit: alternately, you can attach your photos to the backside of the mat, rather than the backing board, using the same attachment methods.

If you still don't understand, try Googling any of these terms or ask your dad to read this. He'll understand.

[musicfan]

Hey Everyone!

A Couple People On Here And My Dad Warned Me That I Shouldnt Put My Autographs Is Just a Frame...And Im Just Wondering Why?

Here's What I Do:

I Size a White 14x18 Piece of Paper And Then I Put VERY LITTLE Pieces of Tape on The Corners....I wAnted To Be Able To Show My Collection (In a Creative Way) And Now I Am Being Told Its NOT GOOD....lol.....So WHAT CAN I DO?
Please Help Me.

You're not really paying attention to what's being told to you but I'll spell it out for you:

buy: acid-free backing board, acid-free mat (either pre-cut or cut it yourself), acid-free tape (linen tape) or acid-free corner mounts, frame with glass (UV blocking and all that really isn't necessary since it's only direct UV light that harms things; so just keep it out of direct sunlight).

Take your backing board and either use the linen tape or the corner picture mounts to attach your photos to it. Make sure you tape down only the top two corners of your image so that the bottom of the photo hangs free (this allows your picture to expand and contract according to weather and moisture levels). If you use corner mounts, then do one top corner and the opposite bottom corner, not all four. Then cover this whole thing with your mat so that the pictures show through the holes cut in the mat (like making a sandwich). Put the whole shebang into your frame and hang it out of sunlight and away from sources of heat and humidity.

If you still don't understand, try Googling any of these terms or ask your dad to read this. He'll understand.

Sorry I Posted This Before You Got Back To Me...lol.

[musicfan]

Hey Everyone!

A Couple People On Here And My Dad Warned Me That I Shouldnt Put My Autographs Is Just a Frame...And Im Just Wondering Why?

Here's What I Do:

I Size a White 14x18 Piece of Paper And Then I Put VERY LITTLE Pieces of Tape on The Corners....I wAnted To Be Able To Show My Collection (In a Creative Way) And Now I Am Being Told Its NOT GOOD....lol.....So WHAT CAN I DO?
Please Help Me.

You're not really paying attention to what's being told to you but I'll spell it out for you:

buy: acid-free backing board, acid-free mat (either pre-cut or cut it yourself), acid-free tape (linen tape) or acid-free corner mounts, frame with glass (UV blocking and all that really isn't necessary since it's only direct UV light that harms things; so just keep it out of direct sunlight).

Take your backing board and either use the linen tape or the corner picture mounts to attach your photos to it. Make sure you tape down only the top two corners of your image so that the bottom of the photo hangs free (this allows your picture to expand and contract according to weather and moisture levels). If you use corner mounts, then do one top corner and the opposite bottom corner, not all four. Then cover this whole thing with your mat so that the pictures show through the holes cut in the mat (like making a sandwich). Put the whole shebang into your frame and hang it out of sunlight and away from sources of heat and humidity. Edit: alternately, you can attach your photos to the backside of the mat, rather than the backing board, using the same attachment methods.

If you still don't understand, try Googling any of these terms or ask your dad to read this. He'll understand.

BTW THANK U.

[musicfan]

I Got Some Other POV's And They Said That Autographs CAN Be Framed...They Just Gotta Stay Outta The Light.....

[osiris]

They can be framed in the short term. But the acid in the paper & the fact that it's pressed against glass will damage them in the long term (they may well stick to the glass!). Scarybun's instructions will ensure they are not damaged in this way.

[musicfan]

They can be framed in the short term. But the acid in the paper & the fact that it's pressed against glass will damage them in the long term (they may well stick to the glass!). Scarybun's instructions will ensure they are not damaged in this way.

Scarybuns Didnt Answer This Question:

What If I LAMINATE Them First Then Put Them In The Frame With OUt The Acid Free Board? Will It Still "Ruin"?

Thnx!

[osiris]

What do you mean they didnt answer that question? You never asked that question!

I would never advise laminating. The website http://loricase.com/faq.html (which is dealing with old documents, but the principle remains the same) states...

"Lamination is not considered a safe conservation technique because the process may potentially damage a document due to high heat and pressure during application. Moreover, the laminating materials themselves may be chemically unstable and contribute even more to the deterioration of the document. Lamination also violates a cardinal rule of conservation, and that is to only apply treatments that do not alter the item and which can be reversed."

I.e. they may still have acid in them, and the heat might damage it too. And imagine if you apply it wrongly, you've ruined your autograph. Not to mention if you ARE successful in applying it, it will pretty much make any autograph monetarily worthless (should you wish to sell any in the future).

[musicfan]

What do you mean they didnt answer that question? You never asked that question!

I would never advise laminating. The website http://loricase.com/faq.html (which is dealing with old documents, but the principle remains the same) states...

"Lamination is not considered a safe conservation technique because the process may potentially damage a document due to high heat and pressure during application. Moreover, the laminating materials themselves may be chemically unstable and contribute even more to the deterioration of the document. Lamination also violates a cardinal rule of conservation, and that is to only apply treatments that do not alter the item and which can be reversed."

I.e. they may still have acid in them, and the heat might damage it too. And imagine if you apply it wrongly, you've ruined your autograph. Not to mention if you ARE successful in applying it, it will pretty much make any autograph monetarily worthless (should you wish to sell any in the future).

YEa I Did Ask That Question..In a PM... But He NEver Asnwered Back...lol..ITs Kool...Thanks For Answering.

[maxsoul9]

I work for a sports store and we specialize in framing memoribilia for people. The biggest thing you should do when displaying is keeping it out of direct sunlight.

When we frame anything, we use UV protected glass. It wont keep it from fading if placed in the sun for long periods of time but wil help keep the signature fresh.

The Matting discussed earlier in the thread is also a good suggestion. The way we do our matting in our store, the matting NEVER comes in contact with the signature, only the corners of the photo or index card.