All
About Glass!
There are quite a number of glass choices available to custom
picture framers. The glass that a custom framer uses for fine art is
not the same thing as common window glass. Window glass is not manufactured
to the same high quality standards as fine picture framing glass. Pictures
framed with window glass usually show very wavy reflection lines all
over it when the light strikes it at certain angles. Window glass has
other impurities, and small faults and marks in the glass itself. These
impurities show up readily on framed works of art. The minute glass
is put over a fine mat you see every impurity in the glass. For this
reason the best professional custom framers use only the best glass
available today.
This article will discuss several different types of glass:
Regular Glass
Non Glare Glass
Premium Clear Glass
Conservation Glass
Museum Glass
Regular Glass
The next best glass after window pane glass is a product
called Regular Glass. This is a thin glass used in almost all of the
ready-made frames you find in department stores, and even many frame
shops. This glass is probably the cheapest picture framing glass available
today. Which, of course, explains its wide spread use in ready-made
frames. Some frame shops also use this product in order to keep their
prices down. This is not a very high quality glass but is much better
than standard window pane glass.
Non Glare
Regular glass also comes in a form called Non-Glare glass.
This glass is also of a poor quality. It usually has a coating on both
sides, which breaks up the light waves and minimizes reflections. Because
of this coating on both sides you also do not see the true colors of
the artwork which lies under the glass. This glass is also used in many
department store ready-made frames that do not have regular clear glass
in them. You can find this glass by holding a piece in front of you.
You will find that you can hardly see thought it. For this reason this
glass should never be put on shadow boxes or possibly anything else
for that matter. To find this glass, examine a department store frame
or ask your custom framer to show you a piece. Sometimes this glass
is also called "Frosted Glass". It is a very poor quality
glass. Grignon's Art & Frame NEVER uses regular glass and non-glare
glasses in any of our custom framing. Do NOT confuse this glass with
"Reflection Control" glass.
Premium
Clear Glass
Premium clear glass is one of the most frequently used glass
by good professional custom picture framers. The quality is very, very
good. Several different companies make it. One of the largest makers
of this glass is a company called Tru-Vue™. Since Grignon’s
Art and Frame uses Tru-Vue™ glass exclusively, the rest of this
article is devoted entirely unto Tru-Vue glass products. Neither knowing
or using other companies products I will not comment on them except
to say that there are other very high quality glass makers out there
making very high quality glass!The clear glass we use is called Tru-Vue™
Premium Clear Glass. It is a very high quality glass free from defects
and impurity that other glass contains. This glass is thicker than regular
glass and piece for piece, weights considerably more. When placed over
the art the glass almost disappears from view. When light strikes it
from certain angles it will cause some reflections, as will all clear
glass products from any company. But the reflections on this glass are
not wavy like window pane glass. Most people really like this glass
and choose it for their framing of open edition prints.
Conservation Glass
Tru-Vue also makes a product called Tru-Vue Conservation
glass. This is looks nearly exactly like the clear glass above. The
difference being that this glass has a coating on one side which blocks
out 97% of the ultraviolet rays which causes works of art to fade. This
glass looks almost identical to Tru-Vue Premium Clear and most people
would not be able to tell the difference just by looking at it.
To be effective this glass needs to be used properly.
The invisible coating is applied only on one side and the proper side
has to be mounted next to the artwork. I have seen pictures mounted
with the wrong side out; this diminishes the value of the conservation
coating.
Exposure to ultraviolet light causes organic materials
to break down. This causes the colors in artwork and photographs to
fade, sometimes in a very short period of time, depending on the inks
and dyes used in the art. This damage is irreversible. If left unattended
your art will become yellow and brittle. Both the sun and fluorescent
lights give off ultraviolet light.
Conservation glass should always be used on any art that
is important or valuable. This is the glass to use on valuable and rare
works of art. It is extremely useful in framing limited editions, needle
work, and maybe grandmas favorite picture of granddad. It is more expensive
then Premium Clear glass.
Grignon’s Art & Frame uses conservation glass
on all the limited edition prints that we sell on this web site.
Refection Control Glass
Tru-Vue’s refection control glass is the same as
premium clear glass, except that it again has an invisible coating on
one side of it. This glass also must be mounted with the proper side
facing the artwork. Again, I have seen pictures mounted with the wrong
side out rendering the reflection control properties of this glass useless.
As with conservation control, it must be used correctly.This brand of
glass is one of the finest glasses available today. It does a great
job of reducing reflections and is very useful in rooms that have a
lot of stray sunlight entering. This glass must not be confused with
the non-glare glass that I wrote about earlier. Tru-Vue's refection
control glass is one of the finest glasses available today to reduce
reflections and glare from pictures. We at Grignon’s Art and Frame
use this glass constantly and highly recommend it. It costs about the
same as conservation glass.
Conservation - Reflection Control Glass
Then there is Tru-Vue’s Conservation - Reflection
Control glass. This glass is used where you need to control both the
reflections coming off your glass and you need to stop ultraviolet light
from damaging your artwork. This is a very, very high quality glass
useful in many situations.
Museum Glass
Museum glass blocks out almost all-ultraviolet light,
and almost all glare. It has been so finely manufactured that this glass
looks almost invisible. It is used by many museums. It is also very
expensive.
Plexiglas™
Plexiglas and other plastics are not really glass at all,
they are a form of hard plastic. They are much lighter than glass. They
can also withstand more bending than glass. They would be almost impossible
to break by dropping, as during shipping.Plexiglas and other plastics
come in large sheets making them very suitable for large works of art
which would be almost impossible to frame using glass. Plastics are
also great where framed pictures would be exposed to the prying fingers
of children, for example, at a day care center.
These plastics are suitable and have a place in the art world. They
also have a number of severe disadvantages. They have the annoying habit
of attracting lots of dust. Especially in houses in the northern part
of the country where the homes are heated many months out of each year.
Due to the fact that pictures framed with plastic attract so much dust
you are continually cleaning them. Plastics scratch easily. Due to the
frequent cleaning, and people touching the pictures, it usually is not
long before the pictures look bad. Pictures framed with plastics in
Maine, where wood heat is common, usually become scratched up within
two years.
The very cheapest type of picture framing glazing is 1/16
inch plastic. Pictures framed using this material are very light. The
backs of the pictures are many times just taped in and not built out,
and many times the backs don’t even have paper dust covering applied
over the picture. No matter what they may call it, this is NOT custom
picture framing. This type of framing is done at many poster frame shops
very art is sold fast and cheap. The best thing I can say about art
framed with plastic is that usually your custom picture framer can replace
it with glass!
What Glass Should I Choose?
You and your custom framer should decide upon the type
of glass you need to use in framing your picture at the time of designing
your framing project. You should give your framer all the facts that
he needs to help you decide. First and foremost, you need to decide
just how important this piece of art is to you. Then decide just how
well you wish to preserve it. If you have already decided that you want
to use the best matting and mounting for your art, you should probably
use the best glass that is necessary to preserve your art.
Your framer will also need to know the lighting conditions
in your home interior where you wish to hang your art. Is it sunny?
Dark? How is the room to be lighted? After these facts are given he
should be able to suggest to you what would be the best glass to use
for your art. It will then be up to you to decide.
Depending on framing conditions you impose on your custom
framer, there is a combination of choices of glass available for you.
We are fortunate to have so many choices made available to us today.
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