Do you have to Matte/Frame every photo?

I'm just wondering what you all do? I know if you have the bkground paper as a pp, then it is good to frame/matte the photos, but do you have to for each photo, all the time? This takes forever!

thanks

nope I just do what I want.

I mat sometimes and don't mat others, I also might mat a couple of pictures on the page but not all if I want the mat pictures to stand out more. You do what looks good to you!!!!

I do both. My friend Susan Dupree told me about using a Sharpie Marker to outline my photos. I almost always do this now even if I'm going to mat, too. If I want a white mat, I just cut my picture accordingly since I print all of my own pictures.

Here is an example of what I'm talking about with the Sharpie Marker.

The Best of Times **Bo Bunny** By -Robbie-

It just depends on the look you are going for - sometimes I mat all of them - sometimes I only mat one that I want to stand out. Other times you don't need to at all - you will see what works for your layouts

If I have a "busy" pp, then I will mat my photos to make them stand out a bit from the pp. Other than that, I usually don't.

For me it depends. Sometimes I'll mat it and sometimes I'll doodle around it, I might just give it corners, and sometimes I'll just put the photo and no framing whatsoever.

Do whatever looks good.

yeah, just do what is pleasing to your own eye

um ... yeah ... they don't call me madMATTER for nothing ...

I love to mat my photos and tend to mat almost all of them on a LO

I use the prefect layers matting system. It's a set of rulers and a knife that makes matting and double matting so easy. Not sure where to buy it,maybe from Stampin Up.

I also have a quick way to cut by "eyeball" on my fiscars trimmer. I think once you find a matting technique that you are comfortable with it will be more fun to you. Keep trying but only mat what you like, there are no rules.

I love matting my pics...to me it's the most fundamental part. But I have also seen many great layouts that do not--just personal preference

I tend to mat as I like the more finished look it gives, but I have done layouts without mats before. It does get time-consuming when you're doing a bunch of multi-pic pages! I have learned to not measure and just eyeball it.

I never measure my mats ... I just use the CM trimmer and eyeball ... easy peasy

• -Robbie- Said:

This is a gorgeous layout.

There is another thread that I just posted about Sharpie markers. From all the info I've read Sharpie markers aren't archival safe. Bic Mark Its are though, so you might want to switch brands. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

• cat_woman Said:

The water based paint marker Sharpies are acid free and archival safe.

I love the look of matted photos, but I don't always do it. I like to order my pics from Kodak.com and get the white frame around them when they're printed.

I mat my photos 99% of the time because I like the "finished" look it gives my pages. I just eyeball the mat and it usually comes out fine, even the double and triple mats. Just do whatever feels right for the LO at the time!

I keep it consistent with the book. On the last two projects, I had one book that I matted every photo. And then played with patterns on the mats.

I've been experimenting with using coordinating sets with the last 2 books, so I haven't matted--but I've been using larger percentages of patterns in my layouts.

whatever floats your boat- really.
i used to be a big matter...now it doesn't matter.
BUT...on pages with lots of shots and one focal point pict, i usually mat it just to make it pop.

I mat sometimes and sometimes I don't. Just do what feels right!

Just a reiteration... Do what looks good to you.

I have even done pages where I have some photos matted and others not --ON THE SAME PAGE!