Certified Picture Framer

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danielgallery

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I've been trying to find out how my husband can become a CPF and where to take his test. So far this schedule is all I have found...http://www.pmai.org/index.cfm/ci_id/36932.htm
Is that really the only time and places the test can be taken? We are located in Texas and cant really take time to travel somewhere to take the test. We are the only two who work at the shop and in order for us travel to take the test we would have to close our shop for the amount of time we are gone. Does anyone know of any other way for him to get his CPF certification or are we just going to have to wait till we have the time and money to travel?
 
I believe that every local PPFA chapter must give the exam once a year. In Texas there are very three chapters but I don't know how far away you are from them. Also I bet that it is given at the PPFA/PMA convention in March in Las Vegas. That way you could attend a great convention too.

You might call Krystin at PPFA National and perhaps they have some new ways to take the exam, like going to a testing site.

It is worth going the extra mile to take the test-the recognition and will pay off as long as you are a framer.

Susan MCPF
 
Don't go too nuts on this, it is not a requirement to be a picture framer. I have been in this industry since 1964, I am even one of the contributors of the original test, yet I have never bothered with it. Your business will be judged on the quality of what you produce, the length of time it takes you to produce it, and how you treat your customers. I have never had anyone ask me if I was a CPF, not once in over fourty years. I probably will now, someone has to take the bait on this one. :)

John
 
JRB: Ditto....

I agree! I have been in business since 1982 (26 years) and absolutely no one ever asked me about CPF. I feel there is absolutely no use of being a member. If i was an electricial, and/or a plumber, home-builder, etc., i can see the reason for requiring a licensed. (I guess if i were an unlicensed electrician and joined an electrician's club i would NOT have to be licensed to do electrical jobs... lol)

JRB said:
Don't go too nuts on this, it is not a requirement to be a picture framer. I have been in this industry since 1964, I am even one of the contributors of the original test, yet I have never bothered with it. Your business will be judged on the quality of what you produce, the length of time it takes you to produce it, and how you treat your customers. I have never had anyone ask me if I was a CPF, not once in over fourty years. I probably will now, someone has to take the bait on this one. :)

John
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ahohen1 said:
...absolutely no one ever asked me about CPF...If i was an electricial, and/or a plumber, home-builder, etc., i can see the reason for requiring a licensed...
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The Certified Picture Framer designation does not represent any sort of license, nor is it a club. It has never been promoted to consumers, so it would be quite unusual for any customer to ask about it. The CPF program is for framers, not consumers. Some CPFs promote their credentials to consumers with good results, but consumer promotion is not a purpose of the program.

It is a planned program of comprehensive education for framers interested in learning more about framing. Not all framers are interested in education. But for those who are, PPFA's certification programs -- CPF and MCPF -- are the best in the world.

You're welcome to your opinion about earning the CPF designation, but for the benefit of those unfamiliar, let's represent it accurately.
 
Jim Miller said:
The Certified Picture Framer designation does not represent any sort of license, nor is it a club. It has never been promoted to consumers, so it would be quite unusual for any customer to ask about it. The CPF program is for framers, not consumers. Some CPFs promote their credentials to consumers with good results, but consumer promotion is not a purpose of the program.

It is a planned program of comprehensive education for framers interested in learning more about framing. Not all framers are interested in education. But for those who are, PPFA's certification programs -- CPF and MCPF -- are the best in the world.

You're welcome to your opinion about earning the CPF designation, but for the benefit of those unfamiliar, let's represent it accurately.
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Jim, I have to agree with you on your post except the obviously biased part about not all framers being interested in education. Throughout my career I have always educated myself as I went along. Preparing for a test by no means provides a comprehensive education in our craft. I would go as far as to say that other than giving the test taker a basic understanding on terminology and some skills associated, passing the CPF exam does not at all make you a custom picture framer. There is much more to this than what the CPF exam provides.

Take for example a completely finished 4' X 6' framing job. You are wrapping it up after spending a day and a half on this one project, with its fabric mats, fillets, conservation and cutting and assembling a five in wide moulding. As your wrapping it up, you notice a tiny speck between the mat and the glazing that the customer will probably never see or notice.

What do you do, as a custom picture framer? Does the CPF test teach you that?

Please do not misunderstand me, I am not against the CPF exam at all, it is just one of those things that I felt was not for me. Becoming a CPF is a great beginning point to start learning. Much like a black belt in martial arts, or a private pilots license. It says you are serious about what you are doing, it does not make you a master. In all these things, it takes much more than a test to put you on top of the heap.

John
 
John,
I agree with you that having passed the CPF test doesn't teach you everything and it doesn't necessarily put you on 'top of the heap', but I think you would find that everyone that has even studied for the test has learned quite a lot more than they knew before.

Because framers have the choice to sit the exam, or not, it's not going to be done by everyone and I totally respect anyone's choice not to do it. It isn't the be-all and end-all of all the framing knowledge currently known. I'm quite sure that no-one ever said it was, yet I often read posts that talk in a negative way about the test as if they think that it is supposed to cover all the known framing knowledge in the universe.

No-one has ever asked me if I am a CPF either, but I have had plenty of new customers come to me since 1991, because their friends have recommended me because of it.
Since I did my MCPF earlier this year, and had some publicity in the print media about that, I have had a remarkable number of new customers come to me as a result. It works for me!
 
Every thing you do to improve your knowledge of the craft, can not do anything but help you succeed.

If you take the time to really master one skill at a time, such as French matting, I'm talking the real thing, with watercolors, not powders. You get to the point that you can do a complete French mat, from pulling the invoice to completing the project in about an hour, that is a skill mastered. Water guilding, oak mission style frames, proper finishing of the same. Closed corner frames, etc. Master the skill, then start selling it. Selling is also a skill that must be mastered.

Like judo, you learn and master one item at a time, you do it until it is automatic, it becomes part of your repertoire. To take a test that says you are a master picture framer, should require no studying at all, you should already know it, completely, if you do not, how could you possibly be a master?

Rout memorization means very little, actually, it means nothing. Knowing your craft,or skill, inside and out, that means a lot.

John
 
My customers ask me about the CPF certificate on my example wall all the time. Probably cause it's awesome (pictures!)

I think of it as a promotional tool. To me it says, we are serious about our jobs and about promoting the industry. CPF designation is by no means required to be a good trusted framer, but I think it helps customers feel more secure and hey, if you don't toot your own horn, who will? At the very least, it shows that one has at least a basic level of competence, something that is harder to find in the BBs of the framing biz.

Yeah, it's an old tapemeasure inlaid in an open v-groove with turnbutton corners.
 

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There have been people who have passed the CPF exam who are not active framers, and people like my son who is an excellent framer but couldn't pass the test (learning handicaps) but a person cannot pass the MCPF without having acquired a certain level of knowledge and skill. You take four pieces to the exam and do one on site with a time limit. You get papers describing exactly what is expected, but still people do not pass it. I learned a great deal from taking both the CPF and the MCPF.
 
Sitting in the airport on the way home from Atlanta this morning, trying to catch up.

JRB said:
Jim, I have to agree with you on your post except the obviously biased part about not all framers being interested in education....
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Maybe I should have said "organized education", but I guess you know that's what I was referring to. Biased? I don't think so. I can assure you there are framers who perceive no need for any form of organized framing education. Many framers do as you suggest, and try hard to educate themselves without the benefit of any vetted guidance. Most of them manage to learn enough to get by, and all of them think they have seen it all, but none of them know how many pertinent details they have missed along the way. The CPF, GCF, and MCPF exams reveal our knowledge gaps. We all have them, you know.

My opinion is that self-education does not yield predictable results. A self-taught framer's "body of knowledge" usually is fat with misunderstandings promoted by misleading wording found in some published product literature. And at the same time, that framer's "body of knowledge" lacks the balanced nutrition of planned learning. In other words, we take in knowledge the way we take in bodily nutrition. Some of us naturally do that better than others, but all of us can benefit from professional guidance.

For example, what shall we say about the self-taught, 30-year framer who, by all accounts, knows his stuff and builds beautiful, protective framing, but still thinks starch paste should stick to plastic? I met him.

We all know framers who still think a solid backer and glazing are bad for framing canvas artworks. And there are many more who have accepted those recommendations, but can't say why or how they benefit the painting. That kind of knowledge is difficult to find without the benefit of organized learning.

JRB said:
...other than giving the test taker a basic understanding on terminology and some skills associated, passing the CPF exam does not at all make you a custom picture framer. There is much more to this than what the CPF exam provides.
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True enough, and nobody has said passing the CPF exam is a complete framing education.

JRB said:
...It says you are serious about what you are doing, it does not make you a master...
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Also true. Earning the "Master" designation requires building 5 frames according to thoroughly researched preservation standards, being able to givde reasons for every framing provision, and being judged by vetted examiners. Is the MCPF a perfect program? No, but at least an MCPF can point to proven educational accomplishment, which goes way beyond what any self-proclaimed "Master" can attest.
 
Why Not?

:thumbsup:I am definately going to take the test. It is a PERSONAL goal for me, and has nothing to do with using it as a marketing tool. However, it is just one more way to offset myself and my work. The $ to take the test is reletively minimal and the cost of the books is the cost of doing business. Those books should be on hand for reference anyway.
I love to learn and will never stop. To me, acquiring both designations(CPF and MASTER) is in my business plan and an absolute no-brainer.
 
Way to go Franny!

I feel that if framing is your career and you are in it for the long haul, you need to set goals to bring new ideas into your shop. Whether it be just going to a framing meeting, joining PPFA, having dinner with another framer, studying for an exam, attending a tradeshow, buying a new framing book...it's important to not become stagnant in your learning. Even the Grumble, Hitchhikers, and the Framers Corner can help.

After twenty-two years of framing, I can say that everyday brings new challenges and am constantly getting new ideas. I do all of the above in a small capacity. Our field is changing and if we don't stay abreast of what's new we'll be history!

Susan MCPF
 
Well, we have covered most of the points we usually cover in these threads about credentials, but here's another thought we usually get to eventually:

Earning the GCF, CPF, and MCPF designations usually would not end the learning process for a framer. Actually, the opposite is true. Framers who have the fortitude to earn those credentials establish a learning pattern, which continues for a long time.

To put it another way, the learning reveals that we've only scratched the surface. We are reminded there is a wealth of framing knowledge we have not yet discovered. We are also reminded of the benefit in pursuing it as far as possible. Learning the answers usually leads to more of a quest.

Earning a credential represents little more than a benchmark in the ongoing process of learning, and therein lies its greatest value.
 
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