The glass sitting in front of your artwork is doing more work than most people realise. It is the first thing a viewer's eye encounters, and the wrong choice will dull a photograph, wash out a watercolour in reflected ceiling light, or allow UV radiation to quietly bleach pigment over the course of a decade. At Frame and Canvas we have glazed everything from family snapshots to limited-edition prints for collectors, and the question we are asked most consistently is a simple one: which glass should I use? The answer depends on three things — what you are framing, where it will hang, and how much you want to spend. This guide works through each glazing option honestly, with the tradeoffs named plainly.
Standard float glass: where it earns its place ¶
Float glass is the baseline. It is cut from the same flat, clear soda-lime sheet used in windows, and in a framing context it does its job adequately when the conditions are right. The cost is low, the clarity is reasonable, and for artwork that will hang in a north-facing room away from direct light sources, it introduces no meaningful problems. Where it fails is in UV protection — standard float glass filters roughly 45 to 50 percent of ultraviolet radiation, which means anything light-sensitive will fade measurably over years. We use float glass for framing reproductions, diplomas, or documents that carry sentimental rather than monetary value, and for any project where the client has confirmed the piece will not hang in direct sun. It is not the right choice for original works on paper, photographs, or anything the owner intends to keep for more than a decade without expecting colour shift.
Anti-reflective glass: the case for and against ¶
Anti-reflective glass — sometimes labelled non-glare — is etched or coated on one or both surfaces to scatter incoming light rather than bouncing it back as a mirror image of the room. The result is a visible reduction in glare, which is genuinely useful in spaces with multiple light sources: open-plan living rooms, offices with overhead fluorescents, exhibition spaces with track lighting at acute angles. The tradeoff is softness. Standard etched non-glare glass introduces a slight diffusion that sits between the glass surface and the image, so very fine detail — the grain in a silver gelatin print, the pencil marks in a technical drawing — loses some of its crispness. The effect is more pronounced the deeper the mat pushes the glass away from the artwork surface. Multi-coated anti-reflective glass, such as Tru Vue's Museum Glass, uses optical coatings rather than etching and produces near-optical clarity with reflectance below one percent, but the price is substantially higher. For clients who want anti-reflective performance without compromising sharpness, that coated category is the one to specify.
Conservation Clear: UV protection as a long-term investment ¶
Conservation Clear glass filters 99 percent of ultraviolet radiation without adding any visible tint or coating texture to the surface. The visual experience is close to standard float glass — the clarity is high, the surface is smooth — but the protection profile is entirely different. For original works on paper, watercolours, charcoal drawings, photographs printed with dye-based inks, and any hand-coloured or painted piece, Conservation Clear is the minimum we recommend. The arithmetic is straightforward: a watercolour hung in a room with afternoon sun and standard float glass may show perceptible fading within five to eight years. With Conservation Clear, that timeline extends dramatically. We specify it as standard for all original artwork commissions at Frame and Canvas, and for collectors it is effectively the entry point rather than an upgrade. The price sits between float glass and museum-grade anti-reflective glass, which makes it the most defensible middle position for anyone balancing cost against preservation.
Museum glass: when optical performance and UV protection must coexist ¶
Museum glass combines the 99 percent UV filtration of Conservation Clear with the sub-one-percent reflectance of multi-coated anti-reflective glass. It is the specification we reach for when a piece is both valuable and destined for a difficult lighting environment. Think of a large-format photographic print hung above a dining table with pendant lights, or a signed limited-edition print in a south-facing study. The glass essentially disappears — viewers often ask whether the frame contains glass at all. The cost is the honest deterrent. Museum glass typically runs three to four times the price of Conservation Clear, and for a large frame that difference is not trivial. It is also more susceptible to fingerprints and static, which makes it slightly less practical for frequently handled or moved pieces. Our recommendation: specify museum glass for original works with significant monetary or sentimental value that will hang in rooms where you cannot control the lighting angle.
Acrylic glazing: a specific tool for specific problems ¶
Acrylic — sold under trade names including Optium and Plexiglas — belongs in this conversation because it solves problems glass cannot. It is half the weight of glass at equivalent thickness, which matters enormously for large frames over 60 by 80 centimetres where glass becomes genuinely hazardous to handle and to hang. Acrylic also does not shatter, which makes it the correct choice for anything being shipped, travelling to a temporary exhibition, or hanging in a home with young children. Optium Museum Acrylic from Tru Vue combines UV filtering with anti-reflective coating and is the standard for many public institutions precisely because it is safe to handle at scale. The limitations are scratching — acrylic scratches far more easily than glass and requires specific cleaning cloths — and a tendency to build up static charge, which can attract dust and, on very rare occasions, lift fragile media like pastel or charcoal from the paper surface. For that reason we do not use acrylic with pastels or soft charcoal works unless the mat creates sufficient separation.
Matching glass type to location: a working framework ¶
Location determines more than most clients initially expect. A north-facing wall in a room with diffuse daylight and no overhead spotlights is the most forgiving environment — float glass or Conservation Clear will both perform without complaint. A south or west-facing wall with afternoon sun introduces UV load that makes Conservation Clear the minimum. A room with recessed halogen or LED spotlights aimed at the artwork creates specular reflection that makes anti-reflective or museum glass the practical choice regardless of the artwork's value. Gallery-style track lighting at 30 degrees from the vertical is the hardest condition — it will produce a hard reflection in standard glass that obscures the image entirely. We ask every client these questions before specifying glazing: which direction does the wall face, what is the primary light source, and at what angle does it hit the wall? Those three answers usually resolve the decision before budget even enters the conversation.
Budget: how to prioritise when you cannot afford the top specification ¶
The honest position is this: if the budget forces a choice between a larger mat, a better moulding, or better glass, choose better glass for original artwork and adjust the other elements. A conservation-grade mat paired with Conservation Clear glass in a simple moulding will protect a watercolour more effectively than a elaborate gilded frame with float glass. For photographic prints, especially those printed with dye-based inks, UV filtration is the single most impactful decision. For oil paintings on canvas, which are typically glazed less often, the priority shifts toward reflectivity rather than UV since the paint film itself is more stable. Reproductions and posters printed on stable pigment inks can reasonably use float glass if budget is the governing constraint. The one false economy to name directly: there is no framing decision more expensive in the long run than using standard glass on an original work and watching it fade.
Glazing is not a detail you revisit easily once the frame is on the wall. Getting it right at the point of framing is straightforward if you work through the three variables — artwork type, hanging location, and budget — in that order. At Frame and Canvas we are happy to discuss any of these decisions in the workshop before a single cut is made.