The 6 Essential Qualities Of All Good Acrylic Photo Frames 6 essential

The 6 Essential Qualities Of All Good Acrylic Photo Frames

Acrylic Photo Frames & Understanding The 6 Essentials For A Good Decision

Framing your photos with an acrylic photo frame can be a bold move, one that showcases your photos in a way that traditional frames cannot match. But there is a perception that acrylic photo frames are not high quality products. This could not be further from the truth.

The reality is it is not the frame that is the issue, but the lack of education on how to chose the best quality of acrylics used in the frame itself. Following the guidelines listed here can assist you in selecting the best frame at the best value. What you need to look for are these six factors: smoothness of the material, clarity of the material, consistency of the material, thickness of the material, quality of the fixings, finish or polish of the edges, and the overall price.

Poorly Made Acrylic Frames Are Easy To Spot

desktop acrylic photo framesAcrylic that is poorly made often has visible flaws. These are things like ripples, waves, bubbles, and ridges. The quality acrylic on the market is smooth, flawless, and lacks imperfections. Since acrylic can be either extruded or cast in a mould you should be aware that mould casting often creates a better product. It cost a little more, but is likely worth it.

Be aware if your photo framing needs are great that you select frames from a maker that uses cast acrylic instead of extruded acrylic.

What makes acrylic photo frames good is the extremely high clarity of the material. It can be even more clear then glass can be. While it is softer, and it can be scratch if one is not careful, clarity is still a very highly sought after quality of acrylic products. Keep in mind that smooth acrylics are typically the ones with the highest clarity and those are often cast acrylic as well.

Acrylic Photo Frames & Tooling

Consistently in both the base product, raw materials, and the finished product, the photo framing tools themselves is very important. If either one is off then the product will likely disappoint. Smaller production batches can make the difference in consistency and quality. Not only are the acrylics likely to be higher quality but they are also more likely to arrive with their protective film still in place which prevents scratches and other damage in shipping.

Thicker Acrylic Photo Frames Are More Expensive

Thicker acrylic is often more costly then thinner acrylic. But you get what you pay for when buying acrylic photo frames. Selecting a single millimetre thickness frame will end you up with a flimsy thing that cannot retain its shape when hung. Plus larger frames need to be formed of panels thick enough to support themselves and the photos being framed. Quality frames should be at least two millimetres thick.

On the other end, you can find frames made of up to eighteen millimetre thick pieces. When taking cost into account and looking at style, most of the extremely attractive pieces will have a ten millimetre thick back and a five millimetre thick covering panel.

Another thing to consider are the corner post fixings used in photo framing. If these break your acrylic frame is useless. Making sure you get good quality fixings is very important. Because the overall quality of the frame depends on not just what these look like, but also how well they are made, it pays to ask what they are constructed of, how they are finished, what colour and size they are, and if the maker has had issues with breakage.

Poorly Finished Edges Will Spoil Your Acrylic Frame

Acrylic edges are harsh and sharp when cut. for safety it is imperative to ensure those edges are finished well. This is doubly true with acrylic photo frames. There are a number of methods used in achieving the perfect finished edge. This includes vapour polishing, flame polishing, and mechanical polishing. Vapour polishing uses a solvent to chemically polish with a solvent vapour.

The finish on this type of edging tends to be of a translucent finish. This type of treatment is ideal for complex shapes created by machining. Flame polishing works by applying a hot flame to the raw edges. Although it takes a lot of skill to perform a flame polish, it can create a superior finish. Additionally, there is the option of machine polishing or buffing.

Making successive passes with finer and finer grades of polishing surfaces can create a very good finish as long as the operator knows that too much pressure and speed is a bad thing on such a soft material. If machine polishing is not done with care it can leave a haze or spotty clarity on the final piece and raise the chances that the acrylic will fracture due to stress.

Cheap Photo Frames Can Be A Poor Option

Like with most things in life cheap is not always a great deal. One needs to take care when looking at acrylic photo frames and keep in mind that shaving cents off the cost might end up requiring you to replace a valuable photo due to the frame malfunctioning. It pays to check around and make sure you are getting a quality product for your money because that is where the real value is. With the way that acrylic frames are made it makes sense to make sure you have the best raw materials, the best fixings, and the best service, even if you have to pay a tiny bit more for it.

Acrylic Photo Frames In The Modern World

acrylic photo frames
Acrylic photo frames are fantastic for modern photo framing requirements.

You can avoid the pitfalls of getting a inferior product by paying attention to the six essential qualities that will help you select the best frame. This means getting the greatest value for your money, not the cheapest frame out there.

Look at the quality of the material, how smooth and clear it is. Look at how thick the acrylic sheets are and how the cut edges are finished. Investigate the fixings and how well constructed they are. Most of all, make sure the maker is consistent in how the product is made and handled. Cheap is not better. Well made for a good price is better. And you can get the best frame using these guidelines.

By now, making an informed choice about your acrylic photo frame should be easy. There are a number of places to buy acrylic photo frames online, but you won’t do any better than to Click Here and choose from this well laid out & competitively priced Acrylic Photo Frame Store.

Author: Steve Hogg

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