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Can I order a passepartout without a frame?

Yes, but the border is printed into the print file rather than supplied as a physical piece of cardboard. Here is exactly what you receive.

Yes. You can add a passepartout (also called a mat or border) to a fine art paper print without ordering a frame. It is produced differently from the framed version, so it is worth knowing what actually arrives.


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How it works

On a framed print, the passepartout is a physical sheet of acid-free cardboard with a window cut out of it. It sits between the print and the glass and holds the print in place inside the frame. Without a frame there is nothing to hold that cardboard in place, and it cannot be shipped on its own without being damaged. So when a passepartout is ordered without a frame, the border is printed into the print file instead of being a physical piece of cardboard.


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What you receive

  • One sheet of fine art paper in the size you ordered.

  • Your artwork printed in the centre, surrounded by a printed border in the passepartout colour you selected.

  • No separate piece of cardboard.

The visible artwork is the same size it would be behind a physical passepartout, and the border has the same width and colour. The only difference is that the border is part of the print itself and cannot be lifted off.


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How it affects the size

Exactly as with a framed passepartout, the artwork is produced one size smaller than the size you ordered, because the border takes up the space around it. A 50×70 cm print with a passepartout has a 40×50 cm artwork area, for example. The full size chart is in How does passepartout affect artwork size?


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If you want a real cardboard passepartout

Order the print with a frame. Every framed fine art paper print ordered with a passepartout is supplied with a real, acid-free cardboard mat, cut to fit and mounted inside the frame.

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