The Studio Shop has been providing quality custom framing to Bay Area clients since 1915. With over 90 years of experience, you can be assured that The Studio Shop is committed to protecting your art and providing high quality design. Whether you are framing an old master painting, family photograph, object or mirror all of our framing is custom designed to enhance your artwork and satisfy any taste and budget. Protection and conservation of your artwork is our primary goal whether you are framing a valuable painting, an autographed baseball glove, family photos or your child’s artwork. There are several important considerations that go into a picture frame job: moulding, mats, mounting and glazing. Moulding With the largest selection of moulding samples in Northern California, The Studio Shop’s designers can create just the right design to accentuate your artwork to its highest potential. Choose from an extraordinary collection of mouldings ranging from simple to ornate, welded steel to gold leafed Louis XIV. The Studio Shop also has hundreds of in-stock mouldings which speeds up turn-around time for those “must-have” projects. Mats Acid-free mats and backing boards are used exclusively at The Studio Shop. Inexpensive paper mats contain wood pulp which is acidic and can damage your artwork with brown staining, called foxing. There are acid-free boards that are made with alpha-cellulose wood product and neutralized with a calcium carbonate buffering agent. The buffered alpha-cellulose mats are available in a large variety of colors. The highest quality museum mats are available in fewer colors but are made with 100% cotton fibers, no wood pulp at all. Mounting and hinging Mounting artwork to a backing board can be done in a variety of ways and must be reversible to insure that the art can be removed at some later date. The Studio Shop only uses adhesives and tapes that are pH neutral and are reversible. Photos can be held in place with photo corners or solidly mounted with reversible adhesive. Mounting in a press has the advantage of insuring that the photo stays flat. At The Studio Shop, we also have the capacity to mount large oversize posters. Glazing material The glazing material can be either glass or acrylic and is used to protect artwork from damage due to moisture, UV rays and touch. Most all art work should be protected with glazing, though paintings on canvas are usually not glazed. Sunlight is the major source of UV rays, but UV rays are also found in interior lighting. To protect artwork from fading caused by UV rays The Studio uses only UV filtering glass or acrylic sheeting on most all framing jobs. Glass is an excellent glazing material, but if broken can be harmful to art and people. Acrylic is therefore an excellent choice for art that is very valuable, will be shipped or will be hung in a child’s room. Acrylic is commonly used for oversized artwork such as movie and advertising posters because it is available in larger sizes than glass and is lighter in weight. Non-glare products are available to reduce annoying reflections which may obscure the art. For the utmost in glazing products there is museum glass and acrylic which is nearly invisible, reduces the glare without the etched surface of standard non-glare products. Custom framed mirrors Are you tired of hunting through antique stores to find just the right mirror to fit above the fireplace mantel? At the Studio, you can create a custom framed mirror that is truly a work of art. Choose from our extraordianary selection of available mouldings and from a variety of mirror glass, including antiqued mirror glass, to create a masterpiece for any room in your home. Objects Do you have a collection of arrowheads or an autographed baseball glove that you’re wondering how to display so that it is protected and easy to view? The Studio Shop has framed hundreds of objects, from autographed sports jerseys to computer hard-drives, so we have the experience necessary to tackle those hard-to-frame jobs.