In addition to the right color balance in photos and photo matting, an aspect for making good conventional prints of the picture relates to choosing the right matte size.  The reason for this is that digital photo frame display of the picture uses the entire image with no need to worry about leaving a border or edge to fit a frame.  When a digital photo is printed out, there must be a wide enough outer matte to account for fitting the picture into a conventional picture frame, which leaves some of the outer edge of the image unseen for the perfect fit.  If you are thinking about framing a digitally matted photo, be sure to indicate that you want to also print and frame the image in a conventional frame.  The following example is an image that when printed and displayed in a conventional frame, may not provide enough space on the outer matte edges to frame it properly, so it will not “look right” when you try to frame the picture conventionally.

Digital Prints

Outer matte is too narrow for good conventional framing.

As part of this sequence, I have provided two photos produced along with digital photo matting that make nice prints using a conventional printer on matte photo paper, at a high quality print setting.  Some of the digital photos work well in this kind of media, but it should be remembered that all the images produced on this site generally work best when displayed electronically rather than in print form.  The reason for this lies in the differences between resolution and color matching of printer based images versus the display characteristics of a digital picture frame, computer screen, or high definition television image.  Though many quality printers produce excellent photo printing results, the effects of various types of paper used to print the photos will also impact comparative results.  To illustrate this, I took the following image and printed it on matte paper using a late model Canon printer at high quality.  Compared to the image below, the printed result came out with the matting and image looking much less vivid than the electronic version of the image.  There are software programs and various kinds of printers that can help to bridge the gap in noticeable differences between print and screen versions of photos with a little experimentation and adjusting of print parameters.  Since we are not in the print business here, our focus is centered on providing quality digital images.

Digital Photo Matting

This image displays much better electronically than with average print.

With my multi purpose templates you can create a nice greeting card for a friend or family member in a snap.  Using your photos as a starting point, makes each greeting creation a unique and personal experience.  It is easy to get more from all your photos when you use Matte Watch to help you stand out from the crowd.

Digital Greeting Cards

Create your own personalized greeting cards using your photos and Matte Watch templates.

My multi purpose template begins with a basic matted photo design, and then adds text or graphics to transform the picture into a form with utility.  You can purchase the basic design, then add enhancements to extend the use of the image into a wide variety of other images to display in a digital picture frame, as a computer wallpaper, or print the image to use as a wall hanging.  In the example below, I imposed a calendar on the graded color area to create a monthly calendar.  A day by day or perpetual calendar could be made by using the baseline image, and adding a month and day to the same shaded area, or by adding a day of the week, month, day, and year in text using almost any available graphics program like Paint.  Presuming you want to change the base image once per month, the total cost of this do it yourself method would be $36 per year.  Of course, I could also produce all these variations for you at $3 per image, but if you want to use your own creativity, the cost savings for using the multipurpose template made from your photos would be significant, and a fun project for you to try. 

Digital Calendars

Use a multipurpose template to create your own monthly, daily, or perpetual calendars.

As part of my personal celebration of American Volkssport Association events, I have decided to offer commemorative awards to highlight the activity, and bring back memories of my favorite places.  My next commemorative award celebrates the San Antonio Churches walk, with a matted photo of one point of interest along the route.  This award features the small church where former President Lyndon Johnson was married.  For more information about the AVA, and the activities they offer, go to http://www.ava.org/ and discover the beauty America has to offer.  Click on the image for a look in higher resolution.

San Antonio, Texas

AVA walks often include points of historical interest.

Item #040709pl

This month, a new presentation idea was created that we thought was worth sharing with our audience.  Spinning off from our digital awards ideas, a new category of digital design led to the creation of decorative plaques.  The humorous design that follows was the most interesting we have seen so far, but there is plenty of room for growth along the lines of this method for using digital photography, matting and other digital design techniques.

This decorative design draws attention in more ways than one.

A lot of humorous ideas have been showcased on the site, because we have a penchant for comedy.  In addition to the lighthearted material, this digital method can also be used to produce encouraging results like inspirational themes, sentimental compositions, and other depth pieces with a broad range of personal appeal.

Because of the rich, subtle colors in these designs, our work is best viewed in a digital picture frame or screen wallpaper format, but can also be printed and framed conventionally as well.  When people ask about producing hard copies of the work, it is important to remember that printing most digital photos can result in stepping down in resolution values and variations in color due to the capabilities of the printing equipment.  Often, the differences are not enough to discourage printing the end results.

If you would like us to design some material for you to own or resell, send us an email and open a dialog with us for bringing your ideas and digital creations to life. At this price and quality, our offer to matte your photos, create calendar pages, or other digital creations cannot last forever.  Can we design an original for you today?