Summer open studios and print fairs are genuinely good places to buy art. You are standing next to the person who made the thing, which almost never happens anywhere else in the art world. That proximity is an advantage most buyers do not use. The questions you ask in the next five minutes determine whether a framer can do their best work with that piece three weeks later, or whether they are working around unknowns. Most framing problems trace back not to the framing itself but to information that was never collected at the point of sale. This guide is a reference you can read before you go, or standing in the queue with a coffee.
Start with the substrate, not the image ¶
The single most useful question is also the simplest: what is this printed on? Artists at fairs often say 'fine art paper' and mean something precise, or they say it and mean almost nothing. Push for the paper name and weight. Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308gsm and a standard 170gsm satin inkjet sheet behave very differently under glass and require different mounting decisions. Cotton-rag papers expand and contract with humidity; they need room to move, which rules out dry-mounting and informs whether linen-tape hinges or conservation corners are the right call. If the artist cannot give you the paper name, ask to photograph the back of a print. Most editions have the stock printed on the reverse or on the accompanying certificate.
Ask whether the edition is signed and numbered, and where ¶
A signed, numbered print carries different handling requirements than an open edition poster. The signature location matters practically: a pencil signature in the lower margin means that margin cannot be overlapped by a mount board, full stop. Some artists sign in the image area, some on the reverse, some on a separate certificate of authenticity. Know this before a framer cuts a mount window, because a 50mm bottom-weighted mount that covers a handwritten 3/50 is a conversation nobody wants to have after the fact. Also ask whether the numbering ink is archival. Ballpoint pen signatures on otherwise archival prints are more common than you would expect, and they yellow.
Find out the inks and whether fading is a known factor ¶
Giclée prints made with pigment inks on cotton-rag stock can last well over a hundred years behind UV-filtering glass. Dye-based inkjet prints fade measurably faster, particularly in direct light. Screen prints use a different chemistry again, and some hand-mixed inks are proprietary with no published lightfastness data. Ask the artist directly: are these pigment or dye inks, and do you know the lightfastness rating? Most artists who take their editions seriously will know. If the answer is uncertain, that tells you to prioritise UV-filtering glazing and to keep the piece away from south-facing walls. A framer can specify the right glass once they know the risk; they cannot if the question was never asked.
Get the print dimensions and the intended viewing border ¶
Measure or ask for the image dimensions and the sheet dimensions separately. These are not the same number. An artist may have printed an image of 400 x 500mm on a sheet of 500 x 700mm, leaving a deliberate white border that is part of the composition. Cropping that border with a mount window would be wrong. Some artists are explicit about this and include a note with the print; others assume framers will understand. Do not assume. While you are at it, ask whether the work is oriented in a specific direction. Prints with subtle gradients or landscape photography occasionally look correct either way but are signed for one orientation only. Confirming this at the fair takes ten seconds.
Ask about any surface treatments or coatings ¶
A growing number of printmakers apply varnishes, spot UV, or hand-applied mediums over editions. These surfaces can react with certain mount board adhesives or with the back of standard float glass. Resin-coated prints, in particular, need space between the surface and the glazing because they off-gas slightly over time. If a print has a textured or raised surface, face-mounting to acrylic is not a safe default even though it looks clean. Ask the artist whether anything was applied after printing, and if so, what product. This one question prevents a class of problems that only become visible months after the piece is on the wall.
Collect the provenance details before you leave the stall ¶
A framer benefits from knowing the artist name, the title, the edition number, the year, and the medium, all written down. Most artists at summer fairs hand over a printed certificate or a stamped envelope with this information. If they do not, write it in your phone before you walk away. This data goes on the backing board of the finished frame as a label, which is standard conservation practice and useful for insurance valuations, resale, and for anyone who handles the piece decades from now. It takes under a minute to collect and it is almost impossible to reconstruct later. The stall, the artist, and the fair programme will all be gone by September.
One question for the framer that makes the whole conversation shorter ¶
When you bring the print to Frame & Canvas, the single most useful thing you can tell us is the paper stock and the ink type. Everything else we can assess in the studio. Knowing whether we are working with a pigment giclée on Breathing Colour Pura Smooth, a screen print on 300gsm Somerset Velvet, or a dye-based poster print changes the glazing specification, the mounting method, and the conservation materials we reach for. Bring the certificate. Photograph the back of the print before we start. If the artist gave you any specific care instructions, pass those along too. Our job is easier and the outcome is more considered when the conversation starts with facts rather than approximations.
The print you buy at a summer fair is almost always made by someone who cares deeply about how it looks. A few minutes of conversation at the stall honours that care and carries it forward into the framing. Frame & Canvas is in the studio year-round; bring what you find this summer and we will work with what you know.