What, no glass?

Bob Doyle

SPFG, Supreme Picture Framing God
Joined
Jul 14, 2002
Posts
19,504
Loc
South Berwick, Maine
How would handle this one?

Had a customer come in with a print, wanted it framed, but isinsistent that I not put glass, or plexi on it. Too expensive.

I got it drymounted, the frame put together, but I am having so much trouble not putting plexi or glass on it! Why do they (the husbands!?!?!) insist on shaving the money off? I know he's not going to take it apart and put glass on himself, because he is sending his grandkids in to pick it up.

Aarg!
fire.gif
 
That's the kind of stuff I don't like putting my sticker on......

Oh well
icon45.gif
as they say.."The customer is always right!"
smileyshot22.gif
 
Didn't you realize he was taking it home and putting it into a temperature and humidity controlled recycling air filtered UV shielded plate glass alarmed museum premium display box mounted on vibration resistant casters?

;)

Dave Makielski
 
Originally posted by Tom Partridge:
That's the kind of stuff I don't like putting my sticker on......

smileyshot22.gif
I didn't! The Framer's passive protest!

Dave, he did have a kind of "steriile" ozone-permeated smell around him, I hadn't thought about the possibility of a room like the one I read about in the DaVinci Code!

BTW I think his grandkids will have to foot the refit bill. I am afraid that I have probably made Grandpa happy and lost the future sales of the daughter-in-law and grandkids.
 
Give em what they want.

If it's going in a dorm room, it's gonna be a dart board anyway.

They get to do what they want.
 
I can tell you that the glass has a higher percieved value to the customer than the frame. People thinks glass is just cheaper in weight than solid gold. I've learned this by replacing glass in photo frames for free. Just watch them insist on paying you. Then tell them, "ok $1." I would leave the glass off if they insisted but only after I insisted on giving them the price difference.
 
...I think his grandkids will have to foot the refit bill. I am afraid that I have probably made Grandpa happy and lost the future sales of the daughter-in-law and grandkids.
When the grandkids come to pick it up, I'd say something like, "I would have preferred to put glass on this print, because unprotected paper is a very fragile surface."

At least then one of them will know it wasn't your idea.

Another thought. Put a note on the dustcover: We care about your art. Glass was recommended for this framing, but declined. We can add it later at the special price of $XX.XX.
 
You could have considered Z-gel. I have some Z-gelled pieces at home and they look great and hold up well over time. I like to emulate the natural brush strokes of the art rather than use S strokes or a roller, although both have there place dependent on the artwork. This is a cheap and cheerful way of making a print look (almost) like a piece of art!

Alternatively you could have sold him a gallery wrap canvas transfer ... no frame required if he was on the cheap.

Alternatively Color-plak ... although probably no cheaper than a cheap frame.

Alternatively laminate after drymounting.

Alternatively I would have thrown in a piece of glass on the house to build customer relations for the long term.

Ciao,
Andrew
 
You do the best you can to educate them then they make their own decisions. If they decide they don't want glass then I didn't do my job educating them on the importance of and need for it, or at least some other option.

As stated before, "The customer is always right" Unless of course; their not.
 
As a Photographer I have seen people do dumb things to prints. After metering the light for a location that one of my large prints (13 by 20) was to be display, I printed a color corrected print for the warm display light over the fireplace. When the light was on it the print showed true color. At the time I didn't do framing but gave them the name of a very good framer. Two weeks later when I delivey the smaller prints I saw my print in a Wallmart frame, no mat and the print resting flat up on the glass. The next week I start to offer framing to my clients as I want my work to outlast me. this happen 8 years ago and the print has now glued itself to the glass. Is the client happy? NO! Did he listen to me? NO! Now when a large print goes out without framing I have them sign a information sheet on the importance of framing to help the print last.
They get a copy and I keep one in file! C.Y.A.
 
If we're talking about a mounted and coated print or poster, they hold up remarkably well without glazing - probably longer than most people are going to want to hang onto it.

I would agree that it looks more finished with glass, but let's not be snobs about it.

Some of the labor-intensive alternatives I've seen here should be much more expensive than glass.

Having said that, I've probably framed less than a dozen paper prints without glass, and I will not frame a matted print without glass.

Sorry, I cannot imagine throwing in the glass for free as a good-will gesture (though I have done that when I somehow forgot to charge for the glass. Now my POS is set up to include CC glass by default and I have to manually delete it if the piece is going to be unglazed.)
 
Well I had a couple come in with a T****K***
print, along with the handy dandy information sheet about framing........
They wanted it framed just like that picture, unfortunalty the picture was of an oil!!
Spent **** near an hour with these people.
Took me forever to convince them they needed glass!
They pissed me off, left with a quote and never came back.

Elsa
 
Back
Top