Print Mounting: How to Properly Mount Art Prints for Display

When you buy or make an art print, a high-quality reproduction of an original artwork, often printed on fine art paper using pigment inks. Also known as fine art reproduction, it’s meant to last—not to fade, warp, or curl on the wall. But without proper print mounting, the process of adhering a printed image to a rigid backing for stability and presentation, even the best print can look cheap or get damaged over time.

Print mounting isn’t just about looks. It’s about protection. A loose print on a wall can buckle with humidity, tear from handling, or fade unevenly if not supported. Mounting it to something like gatorboard, a lightweight, rigid foam-core panel often used in art framing and display or acid-free foam board stops warping and gives your print a professional edge. It’s the same reason artists use watercolor blocks, pre-mounted pads of paper that stay flat without stretching or taping—they eliminate movement. If you’ve ever seen a print that looks like it’s floating off the wall, that’s usually because it wasn’t mounted at all.

There are different ways to mount a print, depending on what you’re working with. For giclée prints, dry mounting with heat-activated adhesive gives a flat, museum-quality finish. For more delicate pieces—like watercolor reproductions—hinging with Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste lets the paper breathe while staying secure. You don’t need a fancy press or studio to do it right. Many artists use spray adhesive on a clean, flat surface, or even self-adhesive mounting boards from art supply stores. The key is using acid-free materials. Anything with lignin or acid will yellow your print over time, no matter how good the ink is.

Mounting also changes how your art is framed. A mounted print can go straight into a frame without a mat, giving a clean, modern look. Or you can leave a border and float it in a deep shadow box for extra depth. It’s the difference between a poster and a piece you’d see in a gallery. And if you’re selling your work, mounting tells buyers you care about quality—it’s not just a print, it’s a finished product.

You’ll find plenty of guides here on how to choose the right backing, avoid bubbles and wrinkles, and even mount prints without tools. We’ve covered what works for beginners, what pros swear by, and how to handle tricky prints like large-scale digital art or textured originals. Whether you’re framing your own landscape painting or preparing prints for a local show in Pembrokeshire, getting the mounting right makes all the difference.