Number 5A Mounting Maps and Prints Compiled by Hans Kok
One way to prepare a mount
It is strongly recommended that a map or print should not be cut to fit an available mount or frame. Even wide-margined maps should be accommodated without cutting. Also, maps should never be fixed onto a card or board, gluing the whole surface.
The widespread practice of mounting prints by attaching them on all four sides to the upper mat should bot be applied to antique maps. Admittedly, when attached on all sides and sprayed with water from behind, they will dry and stay nicely flat due to the tension thus generated, but they might develop tears as soon as temperature or humidity changes.
It is preferable that the map should be attached along the top margin only, and to the lower mat instead of the upper one, and to accept the result, even when the map looks slightly uneven. Top
A. Tools for the amateur
No job is easily done with proper tools:
A pencil, an eraser, a sheet of paper to make simple calculations, a pair of scissors.
A pen, and ink in the proper colour, if you intend to draw decorative lines around the cut-out.
A small jar of startch- or dextrine-type glue and a small brush to apply it.
A ruler of sufficient length (two to three feet or sixty to ninety centimeters) and with no sharp edges in order to avoid damage.
A cutting board of adquate size in relation to the passe-partout or mount. The board should be of fairly soft material; otherwise the cutting blade will become blunt very quickly. Cutting boards are cheap and should be considered consumable material. They are available at artist-supply shops.
A cutting device, capable of cutting at right angles (90 degrees) to cut the card (passe-partout carton) to the required size.
A cutting device, capable of cutting at 45 degrees, to make the inside cut-out of the top mat (upper frame). Generally the cutting devices are available at artist-supply shops in combination with a ruler to guide them.
Spare blades, if required. Cutting blades wear out after about 5 to 10 mounts, depending on size, type of cutting board and thickness of the board to be cut. Blades, cutting at 90 degrees, have four cutting edges, those for 45 degrees have only two. The latter wear out twice as fast as a consequence. A worn blade causes uneven cutting. As you work on the reverse side of the mount, you might not notice until later, when you turn the sheet over. Make sure the blades are mounted according to the instructions that come with device (normally with the profile of the blade visible, when the device is ready for use). Devices can be used by both right- and left-handed people.
Note 1:
The preceding assumes a rectangular mount as well as a rectangular cut-out (frame) are required. For ciruclar and oval shapes, equipment is available, but this is quite a bit more expensive and in general not cost effective for the few cases required. I recommend that they be done at a professional shop or the artist-suppply shop.
Note 2:
Figuring out where to cut the board often involves some calculation as the cutting blade touches the board at a given distance from the ruler's edge. This distance normally varies for the 90 and 45 degree blades, making calculations more complicated and easy to confuse. When purchasing your cutting device, pay attention to this problem and select the unit with the easier system. A Logan unit (brand name) is available, which cuts without offset, at least for the 45 degree cuts. Top
B. Materials
Use acid free archival card only, for both mats of the mount. This is generally available in white or creamy colour only. Refrain from using card which has an acid free surface but a core of acidic material (turns brown at the edges with time). Where a coloured map is required as top mat, consider inserting strips of acid free card between map and top mat. The lower mat should be of acid free card or board. Use strips of linen tape to serve as a hinge between the two mats. The tape should be about an inch wide and is available from artist supply shops in standardized format with acid free glue, ready for use. Buy a sheet of Japan paper to be cut in strips to attach the map to the lower mat.
Note 1: All types of card/paper are hygroscopic and will absorb humidity from the air over the years.
Note 2: Acid free card is available in varying thinkness and sheet size. Using the minimum sheet size to fit the mount is not always cost efficient, as the excess card will not be usable later. Cutting from a large sheet may result in leftovers, large enough for another mount.
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C. Preparation
For an official exhibition, mounts are often produced to a standard format to facilitate transportation and proper use of the display area. For the private map collector they are mostly make to suit the individual map. Making several mounts in sequence speeds up the process considerably, as the "learning curve" is steep
To avoid handling antique maps at inopportune times, I recommend that all required measurements for all maps are taken at one time. The following measurements are needed and should best be recorded in an organised manner:
1. Height and width of the printed area. Antique maps are not always rectangular: take the larger measurement left/right and/or or top/bottom. Determine whether titles etc. outside the map area need to be shown in the cut-out.
2. Add a standard quarter inch(6mm) to all sides; this normally allows the plate mark to show inside the cut-out. Where the paper margin is less than 6 mm, adapt as required. Six mm is an arbitary increase, which suits most maps. The sum of 1 and 2 gives the size of the cut-out to be made.
3. Add 9 + 9 = 18 cm (7 inches) to reflect the heft and right border width: 1 + 2 + 3 determines the total width of the mount.
4. Add 9 + 10 cm (7.5 inches) to reflect the top and lower border height. 1 + 2 + 4 determines the total height of the mount.
The extra centimeter is added to the lower border for reasons of perspective. In the oblique view the upper border looks larger than the lower one. When you expect to hang your map very low on the wall, the top border should be larger instead; when you expect to be moving the map around on the wall, there is no great harm done when you add a standard 9 cm to all sides evenly. The number 9 cm is an aribary figure; in general bigger maps require a bit more, smaller maps a bit less. Very small maps (say 4 x 5 inches) may look better with a very wide margin. Before you decide, look at exmaples, at home or in a print shop.
In rare cases the map margin may be greater than 9 cm. To prevent having to cut the paper, increase the border width and height, applying the same increase to both.
Having noted down the numbers above on a sheet of paper and having identified to which may these numbers relate, we are now ready to start the actual production process. Top
D. Production
Cut two mats in the size as calculated for total width and total height. Account for the proper offset to be used with your cutting device (90 degree cutter) and draw your pencil lines on the reverse side of the mat-to-be. The two mats may be of different thickness card. I prefer a thicker lower mat (for adequare stiffness) and a slightly thinner quality top mat (for ease of cutting the cut-out). A thin top mat does not accommodate a good 45 degrees cut; at least it does not show as such. The larger the map, the thicker the card to be used. After cutting, check that both mats are equal in size.
Now refer to your list to verify the size of the cut-out (upper frame). Take care when you need a "portrait" instead of a "landscape" format; otherwise you will find the increased lower border at the side instead of at the bottom where it should be. Mark up with pencil lines where to put the ruler next, now accounting for the offset (if any) of your 45 degree cutter. Measuring the (in my case) 9 cm from the outer rim - corrected for offset - and 10 cm from the lower rim - corrected for offset - is the fastest way to work. Before starting to cut, however, check the size of the cut-out-to-be and compare it with the figures in your list. Frequently you will find a slight mismatch, caused by tolerances in card sheet size or your cutting of the mats. Now is the time to correct it; after the cut-out has been made you are too late and may have to make a new mat. Mark the increased border with a pencil mark, to avoid attaching the wrong side the the lower mat later on.
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