Protective picture glazing is an absolutely vital element of quality framing. There are numerous art glazing options available including low glare glass and ultra violet light protection. We can recommend the best type of fine art picture glazing for your specific needs.

Ultra Violet light Protection

Many artworks brought to Heritage Picture Framing Services conservation and reframing have been damaged by ultra violet light – both from natural and artificial sources. This occurs subtly over time and is often difficult to notice at first. The symptoms include faded colours, yellowing, bleaching of paper fibres and the darkening of certain pigments. Without protective glazing, paper and other base materials can also become brittle and degrade. The effects are cumulative and lasting.

Since ultra violet rays are present in both natural and artificial light, it is not enough simply to move your frame away from direct sunlight. We recommend conservation picture glazing with a UV filter of 99%, particularly for watercolours, historical pieces and other delicate works.

Low glare

Certain types of fine art and photography picture glazing can also cut down on glare and reflection.

Additional benefits

We also provide scratch resistant protective glazing that prevents the build-up of static; the latter is particularly important with loose pigments such as charcoal, chalk or pastels. One of the latest developments is a clear water white laminated artwork glass that not only filters UV rays, but is also a shatterproof low glare frame glass.

Glass Options

• Standard Float Glass
• Standard Non Reflective Glass
• TruVue Reflection Control Glass
• TruVue Conservation Clear Glass
• TruVue Conservation Reflection Control Glass
• TruVue Water White AR Glass
• TruVue Museum Glass
• Water White  Float Glass
• Water Museum Glass
• Artglass AR
• Artglass UV
• Artglass UV Laminated
• Schott Mirogard AR
• Schott Mirogard Plus AR  UV
• Schott Mirogard Protect (laminated)
• Artshield UV

Plastic Glazing

Clear, Clear Acrylic, Clear 3mm Extruded, Clear 3mm Cast, Diffused, UV Acrylic, UV Artshield, UV TruVue.

Glazing

For standard glazing we use 2mm float glass, but for all artwork with an intrinsic value we can offer a variety of UV-filtered glass. We also offer speciality glass such as a WaterWhite glass which is very clear with no blue or green cast, and museum quality glass.

In order to preserve, protect and get the most out of your artwork, you need to chose the glass which best suits the purpose for which you are framing the item. The single most important step is to block out harmful UV light with a UV protection glass.

We are also able to frame items in both acrylic and perspex. Again there are different qualities; see the guide below for more details, or enquire directly so we can help you make the right selection for your project.

Float Glass

Float glass is the top quality material for picture framing. It is made by floating molten glass on a bed of molten tin, giving the glass a uniform thickness and very flat surface. The majority of pictures are framed using this type of glass, either clear, diffused or non-reflective.

Diffused glass

Diffused or non-reflective glass has been lightly acid-etched on both sides to give a very smooth surface. However, as the procedure finely pits the surface, unless the glass is placed directly in contact with the artwork there can be some distortion when viewing the framed product, and a slight muting of the image detail and colours.

Reflection Control

Single-sided acid-etched diffused reflection glass benefits from added smoothing and polishing that produces a very fine finish. This glass can be used over bevel mounts and the distortion is minimal.

WaterWhite Reflection Control

The benefits of Reflection control glass, produced onto a colourless WaterWhite float glass that offers significant improvements to colour reproduction over ordinary float glass.

Speciality Glass

WaterWhite is a crystal clear, low iron (colourless) float glass substrate with multi-layer, low reflectance, optical coatings on both surfaces. It transmits 99% of visible light whilst reflecting less than 1%. The result is excellent image clarity, contrast and colour rendition.

Mirogard Plus UV

Mirogard Plus UV glass has excellent anti-reflective properties due to coatings on both upper and lower surfaces. This means that the disturbing reflections caused by light are virtually eliminated. It also has a UV rating of approximately 82%.

UV Protection

Conservation Clear is probably the best selling UV glass in the World. Since its introduction 13 years ago, it has become the benchmark for UV filtering. With a tough UV coating on one side and plain float glass on the other, it filters >97% UV with no significant colour shift.

Museum Glass

WaterWhite Museum is the ultimate 2mm conservation float glass offering over 90% UV protection. Furthermore, anti-reflective coatings applied to a colourless WaterWhite substrate mean this glass is virtually invisible too.

Tru Vue® museum glass has a unique combination of UV protection and low reflectance.

Plastics

Styrene or Perspex is sometimes used as a replacement to glass. The benefits are a much lighter and safer product, less likely to shatter. However, the surface is vulnerable to damage from scratches, and it will yellow with age and attract dust due to static build-up.

Art-Shield Clear is a high quality, colourless, cast acrylic, that is virtually unbreakable with scratch resistant coatings to both sides. Perfect for use in public places or for artwork in transit, and where safety is paramount. It is based on WaterWhite acrylic substrates and is less than half the weight of glass.

Art-Shield UV has the same properties, but with the addition of UV protection, achieving the highest filtration level of over 99.5%. It is scratch resistant on one side only, and is also resistant to most acids, alkalines and solvents.

There are many different varieties of protective glazing available. For more information, please call in to Heritage Picture Framing Services and we will talk you through the options and select the best picture glazing solution for your individual artwork.