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Framing For Style
We all spend a lot of effort really making our images look as good as possible, using all sorts of different tools. Yet an equally important part of the equation is how we frame and matte our images, both physically and digitally. Yes, I really did include "digitally" in there!
I stumbled across this program by Apparent Software called ImageFramer recently, and it's pretty cool, although a bit pricey at $39. The general premise is that it lets you explore different frames and mattes for your images. The controls are definitely a bit awkward to use and sometimes just plain annoying (e.g. every time you select a matte, it opens the color picker). Furthermore, there's no iLife/Aperture integration, meaning you have to export your images manually and drag them into the app.
All that being said, I was able to quickly figure out how to work the different controls and experiment with different frame and matte combinations around my image. That was actually a lot of fun! Once I found a frame style that I liked, I could save the design out and reuse it later.
Why am I taking the time to post about this? Well, for one, when I go to frame a photo, I often find myself thinking about frames other than just basic black/white mattes and a black frame. But since I'm never sure how much I'll like the end result and usually don't want to take the time to look at different frames in the store or cut multiple mattes myself. By having the options to play around with right on my computer, I can easily and quickly experiment, no cutting required.
The other neat thing is that you can export your framed images out of the app and use them in a web gallery or presentation, just to add a bit of style and differentiate your images from the crowd. If you don't like the look of a "real" frame in a gallery, there are also more artistic frames, such as a tattered edge.
Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the world yet? Check here. Will this app change your world? Probably not. Is ImageFramer fun and a little different? Definitely.
Thanks for the review.
You can also add regular (non-textured) frames as well (the black/white borders, etc).
Also, you can frame images in batch. Just drag and drop multiple images and it will process them all with current setting, creating new framed images.
I'll take into account what you said about color panel popping up. I understand it can be annoying.
Jacob.
Apparent Software
Is this an advertisement for the software? Who wants to use colored mattes and frames? They are a decorative, annoying, and distracting element when presenting photographs - no matter what the context of the photograph or the capabilities of the photographer, from the hobbyist to the professional.
I am painter and I shoot for fun and reference when I travel, but I formerly directed the contemporary department of a large gallery and have been a consultant for collectors of photography for many years. No one wants to see colored mattes, unless one wants to match the couch or drapes - or bedspread, for that matter. They have no place in the presentation of photography simple because they compromise the integrity of every element in a photograph - color, composition, imagery, tension, style... every element. A prime example is the annoying orange/brown frame on the beautiful snow covered landscape photograph above, not to mention the black line surrounding the image. The contrasting color stops the image dead in its track, as does that dark line - what does the eye notice first? The ugly frame and its proximity to the image. The frame overpowers and leaves the photograph as a second thought. This is not a good thing!
If framed in a large crisp white 8 ply matte with a deep bevel cut and a white frame, the landscape above would have spread its snow covered expanses beyond the image to the uncharted imagination of the viewer, and perhaps the artist who shot it. The photograph would be the issue. The frame would do what it is supposed to do, sit back, present and protect the work. Physically and digitally.
If a photographer wants the viewer to truly see and assess HIS or HER work, to be moved by it or taken away, or make a statement on any level with their work, why put anything around it that distracts from the purity of the image. Yes, black and white is standard, and maybe a bit boring, but there is a reason it is used so often. A simple, classic and sophisticated presentation does not get in the way of the photograph. If the photograph cannot hold its own in a black or white matte and frame, then a colored matte or frame will do absolutely nothing to make it any better.
Does a photographer want to "style up" their work or do they want to present it in an honest no-fuss non-distracting manner? Will this app change your world? Maybe... as anyone seriously looking at photography will not bother because they are being sidetracked by unnecessary decorative borders on your work. Who wants that?
Larry Fodor
Hi Larry, thanks for taking the time to write such an elaborate comment! This isn't an ad for a piece of software, simply a heads up about something that I found interesting (you can see in the screenshot I was even using the trial version).
While I agree with you that often people have bad taste when picking frames, the wide variety of choices in both frame styles and matte colors shows that their is a market for them. Plus, even though I tend to prefer white mattes and black or light wood frames, about half the time, I also like to use a double matte with the smaller matte (maybe 1/4") having a color that picks up on a color in the image. I think the bigger issue is that framing and matting needs to be tasteful, and I think that being able to see your image with different styles digitally and experiment quickly helps people make more tasteful choices.
I refer photoshop. But Thank you! ...
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