Do You Need a Mat in Your Picture Frame?

The mat is the board that surrounds the image inside the frame, creating a border between the print and the frame itself. Whether you need one depends on the image, the frame, and the look you're after.

What a Mat Does

A mat serves three purposes: practical, visual, and preservation.

Practically, the mat prevents the image from touching the glass. Without a mat, glass can adhere to a print or photograph over time — particularly in humid conditions or with inkjet prints. The mat creates a physical gap that prevents this.

Visually, the mat creates a border of space around the image. This gives the image room to breathe, draws the eye inward, and creates a presentation quality associated with galleries and professional framing. A mat makes a small image feel more significant.

For preservation, an acid-free mat board prevents the yellowing that comes from acidic materials in contact with paper over time. For a print you intend to keep in good condition long-term, acid-free matting is worth specifying.

When to Use a Mat

A mat works best for: fine art prints and limited editions, where the presentation quality it creates is appropriate to the work; photography, particularly black and white photography where the mat border adds a gallery quality; botanical illustration and vintage prints, where a white or cream mat evokes the archival presentation of the original format; and any image where the white paper border around the printed image is visible and unwanted.

When to Skip the Mat

A mat is unnecessary for: posters and large format prints displayed for visual impact rather than archival quality, where the mat would reduce the image area visible; images printed edge-to-edge with no white border, where the mat creates an awkward reveal; and acrylic floating frames, which are matless by design — the image floats without a border.

Mat Colour and Width

White and off-white are the most versatile mat colours — they suit almost any image and any frame finish. Cream mats add slight warmth, which suits vintage illustration, warm-toned photography, and traditional frames. Coloured mats can work when a colour in the mat appears in the image, creating a visual echo.

Mat width — the size of the border created — is a matter of proportion. A general principle: the mat border should be wider at the bottom than the top and sides (weighted mat), which compensates for the optical illusion that makes equal mat borders look bottom-heavy. A 5cm border on top and sides with a 6cm border at the bottom is a reliable proportion.

Practical Note: Mat and Frame Size

Adding a mat increases the required frame size. An A4 print with a 5cm mat border on each side requires approximately a 31x40cm frame. See our A4 frame sizing guide and picture frame sizes guide for detail.

Browse ONE MAAY's full picture frame collection.