Displaying Framed Archival Prints

Light fades all pigments and dyes, regardless of whether they color your house, car, couch, carpeting, or fine art prints. Normal tungsten lamps cause the least amount of damage and sunlight causes the most. Direct sunlight is so powerful that over time it disintegrates cloth, paper, and plastic, and fades any coloring agent. The only hard and fast rule about print display is that no valuable piece of art should ever be displayed where it is exposed to the direct rays of the sun.

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Cleaning Framed Archival Prints

Clean your framed print carefully, using a soft, lint-free, cloth. The cloth can be dampened with water, or if necessary, a glass cleaner. Do not spray the cleaner on the glass directly. It can run down between the frame and glass, and then soak into the mat board. Ammonia and other destructive gasses are then trapped under the glass with the print. Over time, these can attack and discolor the print.