1. When your prints are dry they can be mounted. A mounted print is much easier to handle and to view than an unmounted one. The mount also protects the print to some extent. It looks good in a frame, too. Go to an Artists' supplies shop and ask about 'mounting board'. You can buy suitable materials and equipment from artists' suppliers, or shops selling things for draughtsmen, or sometimes from good stationers or shops offering framing services. Rowneys boards are very good and are easily obtainable in the UK. [Webmaster's comment: Cotswolds Photo Mounts or Carters Mounts Supply pre-cut mounting board - It can be supplied in any size (although 50cm x 40cm is needed in order to comply with international and some UK competition rules)].
2. Mounting boards are usually sold in the UK as A1 sheets (841mm by 594mm) in a variety of colours. An A1 sheet can be halved and further cut down with a trimmer - I make mine EXACTLY 40cm by 50cm, since this is an international standard acceptable in many exhibitions. (You can buy frames this size.) This size can accommodate prints up to 329mm by 483mm, which is called 'A3+' or 'Super A3' or 'Super B'. It's also perfect for ordinary A3 (297 x 420mm = 11.7" x 16.5") and good for A4 (297 x 210mm).
3. Choose a SUBDUED colour for the mount - white, off-white, light grey or grey will show off any print well. Avoid strong colours like the plague - they only distract the viewer from the image. Buy a matt cutter to cut a rectangular aperture in the mounting board. The aperture should have bevelled edges which shows off the print well.
4. I use a MAPED cutter (made in France) which I find excellent, but remember to use the 45-degree blades (NOT 90-degree) and change them every four or five matts that you cut - this will keep the apertures neat and precise. Cut the aperture to be about 2mm or 3mm smaller each way than the image - this leaves a tolerance for less-than-perfect mounting. The board with aperture is often called a 'matt'. It leaves the print recessed into the mount, providing more protection than if the print were stuck onto the surface of the board. Trim the print so that it is about 10mm larger each way than the aperture. Fix it to the back of the matt all round with 3M adhesive tape (which can easily be removed).
5. This assumes that the print is on a reasonably heavy gauge of paper, say at least 190gsm (grammes per square metre) - lighter paper could usefully be stuck onto a backing sheet before being offered to the matt.
6. When the print has been mounted in this way affix a sheet of thin cardboard or cartridge paper to cover the back of the mount - this is important to make the whole thing stiffer, otherwise it will wobble unacceptably. I start by cutting the backing sheet to the same size as the mounting board and put double-sided sticky 3M tape all around the edges (of the backing sheet). Then trim it down to a little smaller than the mount, peel off the protective release paper from the sticky tape and fix the backing sheet to the mount. A good rotary trimmer makes mounting easy. [Webmaster's comment: I save the piece of board that I cut out to make the 'window' and spray-glue it with 3M Photo Mount, fixing the back of the print on to it. Then mount this behind the window, fixing it carefully with masking tape. Make sure there are no air bubbles or the tape will lift off later.]
7. On the back of the mount [at top left] write your name and address, and make sure the title of the print is clear (write 'Title:' in front of it!). It's also helpful to write the word 'TOP' in the centre of the top edge - speeds up the display operation when a print is put up on an easel for viewing in the company of many others