DIY & Crafts

Create custom matting for your photos

Create custom matting for your photos

Author: Canadian Living

DIY & Crafts

Create custom matting for your photos

Your last get-together was awash in good cheer, great fun, sumptuous food and fantastic presents -- and every moment was captured on camera. What to do with all those photos? Pick the best and design matting tailored to each. These special touches will make your holiday memories stand out wherever you place them.

Materials
• Frame
• Tape measure or ruler
• Glossy photo paper
• Matte photo paper or sticker paper
• Colour printer
• Utility knife or sharp scissors

Step 1: Print your photo
• Measure the opening of the frame and determine how large you'd like your photo to be (if using a digital image). Our frame is 8 by 10 inches with a 7-3/4- by 9-3/4-inch opening, so we sized our image to 5 by 7 inches.
• Print on glossy photo paper using your printer's best-quality setting.
• Trim your photo, if necessary.

Step 2: Create your matting
• Open a new document and size the canvas to 8-1/2 by 11 inches.
• Use your imagination to create an appropriate colour scheme and design for your photo. For the colour of our matting, we sampled the pink from the image on the baby's shirt. For the design, we looked through black-and-white clip art images from Microsoft Office Online until we found a simple flower.
• Copy your preferred clip art image or images several times and play with the size, colour and placement. Don't forget that the photo will be placed in the centre of the canvas. (You can insert your photo as a place holder while you create your design if that helps. Just be sure to delete it before printing.)
• Print on matte photo paper or sticker paper at your printer's best-quality setting.
• Trim the matting, if necessary

Step 3: Assemble your frame
• Cut out the centre of your matting.
• If using sticker paper, apply it to the matting that came with your frame, centre the photo onto the back of the matting and reassemble the frame.
• If using photo paper, lay the matting against the frame's glass, centre the photo on the back of the frame and reassemble. (Alternatively, you can lay the photo directly onto the printed side of the photo paper and have the design act as a border rather than a matting.)
• Display your beautifully matted photo.

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