Using Photo Corners for Picture Framing

Photo corners are a great archival photo mount for picture framing since they allow you to do your photo mounting without any chemicals coming into contact with your picture. Not all photo corners are created equal. Make sure you do not use photo corners that contain PVC plasticizers or acidic compounds. The two most common types of archival quality picture corners are made from polyester film, more commonly know as Mylar (Dupont Mylar Type D) and polypropylene.

Mylar Photo Corners are the first choice of museums and provide the clearest plastic. Polypropylene Photo Corners are not as clear as Mylar but are also inert, acid-free, safe and also widely used for mounting. Polypropylene corners also cost about half as much as Mylar photo corners.

Plastic clarity and archival ability are more of a consideration for photo albums and sleeves since photo corners are generally not visible in photo frames and have little contact with the print. I have read that Mylar is good for centuries and Polypropylene is good for decades (I have not verified this). When storing prints under plastic care should be taken to keep the relative humidity below 80% other wise the print can stick to the plastic. This is more of an issue with the albums since photo corners to not have much contact with the print and typically and may only cover the white border if available.

Mylar, Polypropylene, and Polyethylene are all safe plastic materials and they are all odorless. This is a good indication they are not out gassing harmful chemicals. If you have your prints stored in plastic albums or sleeves that you are not certain about, a quick test is to simply smell them. An example of a harmful plastic smell is that of a shower curtain.

An alternative to photo corners is Mylar See-Thru Mounting Strips. They are used to mount the edges of the artwork instead of the corners.

Cheers,

Mark