[Michael Smith]

I want to print a set of photographs with a wide white border around each one, similar to a matted photograph. Are there any guidelines, rules-of-thumb, etc., regarding the width of the border vs the size of the paper or the size of the image? Also, I have read that the border should be wider at the bottom than at the top - but I can't find a reference as to how much wider. Any advice would be appreciated.

Mike

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by Michael Smith

I want to print a set of photographs with a wide white border around each one, similar to a matted photograph. Are there any guidelines, rules-of-thumb, etc., regarding the width of the border vs the size of the paper or the size of the image? Also, I have read that the border should be wider at the bottom than at the top - but I can't find a reference as to how much wider. Any advice would be appreciated.

Mike

I don't recall having seen any guidelines of this nature...

Something you might try is checking out the "upload and see what your pic will look like matted/framed" at this site: http://www.pictureframes.com/ to get a sense of what looks good/not-so-good.

[waterwin]

Looking how it looks is always the best thing, if you make the white borders really big you can cut of till you like it (like cutting of the legs of a 4-legged chair ....).
What I did in my B/W darkroom printing time on high quality paper (Baryte) was something like 1 cm external for 3 sides and 2-3 cm for the bottom, The paper sizes 13x18 18x24 30x40 more or less the same white borders. 1 inch is roughly 2,54 cm.

[laradfreder]

there really are no "rules" but certain things have been referred to as rules because "as a rule....they look better (following the rule)".

If you want the look where the bottom mat is larger...generally it is half again the size of the other 3 sides. (I used to do framing aand matting) e.g. if the other 3 sides are 2 inches, the bottom is 3 inches...if the other 3 sides are 1 inch the bottom is 1 1/2 etc..