As a custom picture framer, there are many things to consider to ensure your custom framing work meets archival standards. The goal is not only to make the client’s art or memorabilia look good; it must also be preserved and protected.

Archival custom picture framing is achieved by using inherently acid-free materials. You must also consider sealing the frame to prevent any dirt or dust from entering.

• What type of glass should you use? Silicate or acrylic? You want to use a glassing with UV filtering.
• What type of frame? Metal or wood?
• Should you use decorative, conservation or museum grade mat board?
• What type of hardware and hanging systems should you employ?

On top of discussing these options with your client, you must also educate them on how to properly store their framed work. Remind clients to:

• Store their framed piece away from intake or outtake vents
• Be aware of swings in temperature and humidity where the framed piece will be displayed
• Keep the framed piece away from direct sunlight

Pro Tapes® can help you with the critical art of archival picture framing. Below, we’ll take a look at three tapes that can help you create archival framing.

For Permanent Picture Framing Solutions

Pro® 410 ATG is the ideal pH Neutral adhesive transfer tape to use for permanent bonding. It can be applied by hand or via dispenser gun.

Pro® 410 ATG has a double coated tissue carrier with an acrylic adhesive. The solvent based acrylic adhesive won’t yellow over time. It has excellent resistance to ultraviolet light.

At 89 oz per inch, it is super strong and ideal for object or memorabilia framing. It is also great for mounting artwork, attaching dust covers and adhering mats.

It’s a highly versatile product and can adhere to a wide variety of substrates such as cloth, paper, vinyl, rigid and flexible plastics and more.

For Fillets, Slips and More for Picture Framing

Pro® Fillet Tape is the go-to adhesive tape to adhere to the backside of fillet or slip.

The premium grade polyester carrier and acrylic adhesive are highly resistant to ultra violet light.  The solvent based acrylic adhesive is pH Neutral. 

Pro® Fillet Tape’s high tack was designed to adhere to metal as well as wood. It’s a fantastic product for creating decorative linings and increasing the depth between the artwork and the glass.

For Hinging the Work to be Framed

Hinging is the process of mounting artwork by suspending it with tabs of tape. Professional picture framers love to use our Pro® Artist Tape for hinging, and here’s why:

Pro® Artist Tape is engineered with SRA technology (Synthetic Rubber Adhesive). This single sided tape is repositionable and removes cleanly. The White color in particular is pH Neutral and won’t yellow over time. It also will not stain or ghost after removal.

Looking for the right tape to suit your needs? Ask the Pros!

We offer many more tape solutions for professional picture framing. Reach out to us, and our experienced customer success team will be happy to help you find the tape that meets your needs. Contact us today at sales@protapes.com.

The post Archival Picture Framing: The Top 3 Tapes You Need appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

More about our tapes featured in the video – specialty tapes for framers

Pro® Fillet Tape

Forget about messy glues or cutting other tapes to size. It can also be used to adhere smaller keepsake items when shadow box framing. Want to find out where to buy Pro® Fillet Tape? Use the form below and we’ll connect you with a dealer.

Pro® Felt Tape

Many framers will use additional strips towards the bottom of the piece to replace using typical rubber bumpons which can fall off over time or leave their own impression on your wall. Pro® Felt Tape is also great for quickly lining the sidewalls of a shadow box frame. We’ll have more on that in an upcoming video where we mount a football jersey in a shadow box frame using Pro® Felt Tape.

Pro® ATG

ATG tapes are adhesives dispensed by an Adhesive Transfer Gun (ATG). Pro® 154 and Pro® 410 ATG tapes are must-haves for any professional framer. They can tackle most tasks where glue would be the typical go-to. ATG tapes are becoming more popular amongst scrapbookers, card makers and other hobbyist who favor the cleanliness,  zero-dry-time and ease of applying ATG tapes over the use of glue. Pro Tapes® makes two popular ATG products.

Pro® 154 ATG tape is our most popular ATG tape. Its dispensed with our Pro® ATG dispenser and as its dispensed, the liner is consumed by the gun leaving only adhesive behind. It’s the simplest one-step application of uniform, strong, clean adhesive. Perfect for professional framing and all crafts.

Professional framers use Pro® 154 Adhesive transfer tape to apply dust covers, splice dust covers together, floatmounting and generally any task where messy glue would otherwise be an option.

Pro® 410 ATG tape is similar but infused with a tough membrane to give it extra holding power. You’ll notice the difference as soon as you apply it. Its stronger, has more adhesive tack and a more tape-like feel than its Pro® 154 counterpart. Pro 410® is for heavier-duty applications when a stronger bond and more durability is required. As you’ll see in our video, framers find Pro® 410 particularly useful when bonding a mat to a foam core board or building out the back of the mat to adjust for the height of fillets.

Pro® 183 Kraft

Pro® 183 Kraft Tape is a diverse product for which professional framers find countless uses in their shops. It’s a lightweight kraft paper tape and easy to tear. Most commonly, it’s used by professionals to wrap their finished framed worked in kraft paper.

To find out more about any of these products, please complete the form below.

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How these tapes are being used in this video

To start, we have our fillet assembled and our mat prepped with a reverse bevel ready to accept the fillet.

Next, Pro® Fillet Tape is applied to the backside of the mat close to the mat opening.

Then we strip away Pro® Fillet Tape’s release backing so the mat is ready to receive the fillet.

The fillet is installed, just add a bit of pressure to engage the adhesive qualities of the tape.

As you can see, most fillet installed into a mat opening will expose roughly up to 1/8″ thick of fillet material on the back of a mat. Apply Pro® 410 ATG Tape to the back side of the mat in order to securely lay down foam core strips to hold the fillet in place and make a level flat surface more receptive to hinging the printed artwork.

Using our blue Pro® ATG HD Dispenser apply Pro® 154 double sided ATG Tape to the outer edge of the backside of the picture frame.

Apply the backing paper over the exposed ATG to bind it to the frame.

Then use a safety razor to gently trim the excess backing paper away.

After attaching your picture frame wire hanger, use the Pro Tapes® Pro® Felt Tape cut in small tabs (seen here) to keep the hanging hardware from scratching the wall it hangs from. Some framers will uses larger 3″ strips to completely cover the hardware.

Finally, nothing makes for better presentation than using Pro® 183 brown kraft tape when wrapping your frame job!

The post Watch a professional framer use Pro Tapes® adhesives to frame with fillets appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

To operate the ATG gun you squeeze the trigger, releasing the roller and then press the nose against the surface to be glued and pull back. The roller rolls out the double-sided adhesive, peeling up the liner as it goes, threading it back into the gun.

Video Tutorial

Step by Step

Step #1
Starting with the dispenser open, position the roll in the unwind portion of the dispenser. Make sure that the roll is notched into place.

Step #2
Holding the handle and the trigger with one hand, begin to pull the leader (starter part of the ATG Tape) with your other hand. Pull the leader over the first rubber roller. Pull the leader under the second rubber roller. Continue to pull the leader over the roll of ATG.

Step #3
Secure the leader on the rewind portion of the dispenser.

Step #4
Close the dispenser.
Step #5
Squeeze the trigger, releasing the roller and then press the nose against the surface to be glued and pull back.

Tips from the Pros

• If you’re new to loading an ATG Gun, you may want to pull the leader before you begin loading the gun.
• Remember to have the sticky side down when you load the gun!

Pro Tapes stocks a variety of tapes on a 1″ I.D. Plastic Core suitable for use with the Pro ATG HD Dispenser. Pro 154 ATG is 2 mils thick and available in 36 or 60 yards in length and 1/2″, 3/4″ and 1/4″ widths. Pro 156 ATG is 5 mils thick and available in 18 or 36 yards in length and 1/2″, 3/4″ and 1/4″ widths. Both the Pro 154 ATG and Pro 156 ATG tapes have a heat resistance of up to 250ºF. Pro 410 ATG is 4.33 mils thick and available in 1/2″ width and 33 yards in length. Pro 410 ATG tape is heat resistant up to 212ºF.

The post Step by Step Instructions on How to Load the Pro ATG HD Dispenser appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

ATG tape is double-sided adhesive dispensed using an ATG gun. Its already the go-to tape for professionals in many fields. Now, more and more people are turning to ATG for their arts & crafts projects.

Here’s 3 reasons you should be using ATG on your projects:

2. Easy to apply

Pro 154 and Pro 156 ATG tape are dispensed using an ATG tape gun. The gun is lightweight and easy to load. A see-through cover allows the operator to monitor the amount of remaining ATG in the dispenser. Our ATG has a quick initial tack. Although the tape is very sticky, using the gun makes any project simple and clean; the gun removes the liner so you don’t have to touch the tape with your hands. To operate the ATG Gun squeeze the trigger, releasing the roller and then press the nose against the surface to be glued and pull back. It’s simple and a great choice for bonding two surfaces such as: paper, foil, most metals, foam, plastic film and wood.

3. Compatible with alkaline papers

The non-yellowing adhesive properties featured in Pro 154 ATG and Pro 156 ATG leaves no stains on prints or mats and no deteriorating effect on artwork. That is why these products have become synonymous with the picture framing industry; they’re known as “Picture Framing Tape”. It’s excellent for frame backing, putting fillets in place, adhering dust covers and for gluing mat boards together.

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ATG adhesive is reverse wound, meaning the adhesive is on the outside of the roll. ATG Tape is designed to dispense with an ATG gun. On a 1” I.D. plastic core, ATG will fit all ATG guns. Standard widths are ¼”, ½” and ¾”.

• Pro 154 ATG is a 2 mil reverse wound, double coated acrylic adhesive transfer tape.
• Pro 156 ATG is a heavy duty version, at 5 mil.

The post 3 Reasons You Should Be Using ProTapes ATG Tape For Your Arts & Crafts Projects appeared first on Pro Tapes®.