Mat color for sepia: I do not usually do much black and white or sepia, but I have a couple that were taken at a Civil war re-enactment that I am getting ready to show. Any thought on...

jcsnell Loc: SW Ohio

I do not usually do much black and white or sepia, but I have a couple that were taken at a Civil war re-enactment that I am getting ready to show. Any thought on what color of mat to use?
Thanks in advance.

suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

black white or warm gray

Robert Graybeal Loc: Myrtle Beach

For 'showing' white is usually the best.

twowindsbear

For Civil War pix -
USA - blue
CSE - gray

IMHO, of course

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Black is an obvious choice, but in this case you might also consider dark shades of taupe (grey/brown) to use with sepia images.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Duplicate post - sorry

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

For competitions or sales I usually use an off-white (very slight yellow undertone), Antique White. It's not as harsh as a pure white, but balances nicely with the warmth of a sepia tone print.

Yooper 2 Loc: Ironwood, MI

Photographer Jim is correct. White or black would not work. Use off white with a yellowish cast. You won't find it in the bargain bins. But the xtra cost will make the sepia work more saleable. A brown frame is best.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

jcsnell wrote:

I do not usually do much black and white or sepia, but I have a couple that were taken at a Civil war re-enactment that I am getting ready to show. Any thought on what color of mat to use?
Thanks in advance.

One of my instructors who used to work at a museum says white or light cream mats for everything. But a few students at our photo school challenged him with black or a color. And it is true, most museums or traditional galleries prefer white.

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

jcsnell wrote:

I do not usually do much black and white or sepia, but I have a couple that were taken at a Civil war re-enactment that I am getting ready to show. Any thought on what color of mat to use?
Thanks in advance.

Just a thought if you want to go "historical":
Thinking back to a few photos my grandparents had framed and hanging on their wall, they were the sepia prints, and each one of them with a creamy coloured mat. I have one of those photos (now about 125 yrs old) and while you can see where the frame covered the mat, the colour still is a decided creamy colour. It's like the lightest tint in the photo was picked to match the mat with.

boncrayon

I would also use a light cream tan to give an antique complement to the sepia print. In publications, I take the greyscale photo and add a 10% transparent yellow overlay to create a CMYK sepia appearance.

Don Fischer Loc: Antelope, Ore

I was told years ago that photographer's hate any color other than white. reason was they didn't want anything to de-grade their photo's! I've used a lot of a white called "Bakers White". Always in a double mat. But if I could keep lot's of different mat board on hand or get it quicker, I'd go with subtle colors. Using what I do let's me reuse the unused part's of the mat. I get all the miles I can from a 30x42 piece of mat board.

I think subtle white would work with sepia tone also but, if it was a special photo, I think I'd try a dirty white under mat and a light brown over mat.

alliebess Loc: suburban Philadelphia

jcsnell wrote:

I do not usually do much black and white or sepia, but I have a couple that were taken at a Civil war re-enactment that I am getting ready to show. Any thought on what color of mat to use?
Thanks in advance.

I would choose an off white to pick up the yellowish undertones of the sepia. White is the traditional mat color for photographs.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

jcsnell wrote:

I do not usually do much black and white or sepia, but I have a couple that were taken at a Civil war re-enactment that I am getting ready to show. Any thought on what color of mat to use?
Thanks in advance.

For that kind of picture I happen to prefer sepia just because it's a very old look.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

suntouched wrote:

black white or warm gray

:thumbup: