Albumenised paper prints are more easily mounted when slightly damp, therefore after trimming and about an hour before mounting they should be placed between a few layers of damp blotting paper. Bromide prints and prints upon gelatino-chloride paper must always be allowed to become thoroughly dry before they are mounted ; if mounted damp the surface would be spoilt. With some makes of bromide paper there is an objectionable metallic lustre and too much glaze ; this can be easily got rid of, and the print much improved, by rubbing some finely powdered pumice gently over its surface after it has been mounted and allowed to become dry. Prints so treated, if properly deve loped in the manner I have already indicated, should be almost indistinguishable from platinotypes in colour and appearance.
It is necessary whilst upon this branch of the subject to say a few words upon the selection of the mount, for the effect of the photograph will depend largely upon its suit ability to the subject. The reader should visit a photo graphic exhibition, and note the manner and style in which the various exhibitors mount and frame their pictures; he will notice that, as a general rule, the pictures which have received distinction at the hands of the judges show careful treatment and the exercise of a considerable degree of taste in this direction. The fact is, that careful mounting and framing considerably enhances the attractiveness of a photo graph, and at the same time increases the chance of its attracting the attention of the judges.
It will generally be found in choosing mounts that the simpler they are in character and design the better the effect. When the pictures are to be framed I very much doubt whether anything better than a plain cut-out mount, either pure white in colour or of a tint in harmony with the colour of the print, can be chosen. Vulgarity, of all things, should be avoided. Never be persuaded to buy cheap mounts ; by that I mean, do not purchase mounts of common quality made up to imitate the more expensive kinds. Let the material be of the best. Avoid mounts with ornamental borders—such decoration in a mount is altogether superfluous, and tends to distract the attention from the picture. Oxford line mounts are also, to my mind, very in
artistic, and give even good work a commonplace appearance. Upon the whole, the plate-sunk mount with India tint appears to be the most suitable and effective commercial mount at present made, and the reader will with most subjects be pretty safe in using these. When silver prints are to be mounted in quantity, and with a view to their being preserved for a long time, it becomes important to have some regard to the purity of the mount itself, therefore only a respectable firm should be dealt with and a good price paid.
It is sometimes required to mount a print in optical contact with a piece of glass, and as the process is an easy one, and enables the most brilliant result attainable to be produced, I give the method here. Take the glass upon which the print is to be mounted, and which should be of good quality and free from flaws, and thoroughly clean it by rubbing over it a mixture composed of tripoli z oz., liquid ammonia i oz., methylated spirit i oz., and water 3 oz. Now make a weak solution of gelatine by dissolving GO gr. in 2 oz. of hot water. Having dusted and warmed the glass, pour a pool of the solution in the centre. The print, which should have been soaking in water for some time previously (in cold water if a gelatino-chloride or bromide print, in warm if an albumenised paper one), should then be placed face down on the centre of the glass, and a roller or flat squeegee passed vigorously backwards and forwards over its back until all the surplus gelatine is expelled. If any small glistening specks appear on the face of the print they will be due to minute air bubbles, and the squeegee should be used again until they disappear. The glass with the mounted print should then be rested in a vertical position until the print is dry. This is the mode in which the oval frames one sees exposed for sale in the shops at the sea-side and other places of public resort are produced. The result is not very artistic, but some of my readers will probably like to know how to produce such prints. The frames are an article of commerce, and can be obtained from any dealer in photographic requisites.