Mat Cutting: How To Custom Decorative and Specialty Cut Mats

All copyrights are retained by the artist,
Mona Majorowicz of Wild Faces Gallery.

The artwork or content in this lens may not be used or reproduced, either
in part or in whole, without the express written consent from the artist.

Note:While you can do most of the decorative specialty cuts I've shown here with a hand-held mat cutter, it does greatly increase the difficulty of success with them.

Tip: If you plan on doing any quantity of DIY framing I would strongly suggest investing in a table top mat cutter over a hand held. The extra money it costs will be earned back in mats that get cut right the first time. Not only in the time saved but also the matboard that gets wasted by mats that didn't cut well and had to be thrown away.

Single Step Custom Cut Mat

Steps For Cutting The Single Step Mat

* Mark your first stop line (the Black line in the illustration below) in pencil on the back of the mat. In this case it's 1 1/2 inches.

* Mark your second stop line 1/4 inches from the first. (The Red Line in the illustration below) So in this example you'd mark it at 1 3/4.

* While the mat is set in this position in your cutter Cut from the 1 1/2 stop line (The Red Line ) from top to bottom. At this point a center fallout piece will actually fall out.

* Once all four sides are cut reset stops to the 1 1/2 and cut from the the 1 3/4 line to the bottom.

So for this mat you do the same first two steps as you'd do for the Single Step Mat

* Mark your first stop line in pencil on the back of the mat. In this case it's 1 1/2 inches.(The Black Line)

* Mark your second stop line 1/4 inches from the first. So mark it at 1 3/4. (The Red Line)

And Then You

* Move stops again to the 2 inch and mark your stop lines in pencil.(The Green Line)

* While mat is set in this position Cut from the 1 1/2 stop line from top to bottom on all four sides. (The Green Line) At this point a center fallout piece will actually fall out.

* Reset stops to the to 1 3/4 inches and cut from the 1 3/4 top to bottom on all four sides. (The Red Line)This should result in little bars of matboard falling out.

*Reset stops to the 1 1/2 and cut from the the 1 3/4 line to the bottom.(The Black Line)

Note: The colored lines on the mat cutting illustration below indicate the start and stop points for cutting that particular line. As you can see the lines drawn in pencil run the complete length of the opening cut lines. This is important for figuring out exactly where you are in regards to the mat

So for this mat you do the same first two steps as you'd do for the Single Step Mat

* Mark your first stop line in pencil on the back of the mat. In this case it's 1 1/2 inches.(The Black Line)

* Mark your second stop line 1/2 inches from the first. So mark it at 2.(The Green Line)

* Move stops again to the 2 1/2 inch and mark your stop lines in pencil. (shown here in short stroke pencil lines)

And Then You

* Draw a diagonal line through the outer boxes as shown by (The Red Line )in the below illustration.

Note: The trickiest part of cutting This mat is being sure you get your bevels pointing in the right direction.

* Cut your diagonal line. (The Red Line)

*Then Cut the 2 inch line (The Green Line)making sure that your bevel is facing the correct direction.

Note: See layout in photo left to understand where your cutting head should be.(I have included a large photo at the very bottom of the lens for a better view of the mat cutter placement)

* Then Cut Your 1 1/2 inch line (The Black Line) being careful to stop and start your cut lines correctly. After going through all this work you certainly don't want to cut of a point now.

Note: The colored lines on the mat cutting illustration below indicate the start and stop points for cutting that particular line. As you can see the lines drawn in pencil run the complete length of the opening cut lines. This is important for figuring out exactly where you are in regards to the mat

Steps For Cutting The V-groove Specialty Cut Mat

* Mark your center opening cut line. For this example it's at 1 1/2 inches. DO NOT CUT.

Note: By marking the center opening first it's easier to visualize your v-roove placement.

*Mark your v-groove line at 1 inch. Indicated here by the The Red Line

Note: A good rule of thumb is having your v-groove approximately 1/3 of the total width of your mat. Of course you can make it closer or farther from that distance as your personal preference.

* Create a strike through line for orientation when reassembling the mat. Just draw a line that intersects your v-groove. Anywhere on the mat is fine. It's only for a point of reference.

*Cut mat at the 1 inch opening.

*Adjust you mat cutter to have a Zero margin cut. (Example being if you want a 1" mat you set the stop at 1" So For This You Set it at Zero)

* Take The V-groove fallout piece and place it face up in the cutter (see example below)

Note: If you place a scrap piece of matboard in cutter butted against and above the V-groove blank (see blue mat in the illustration below) it will allow for a perfectly straight V-groove. You begin your cut stroke in the scrap mat and it adjust for the drag so by the time you are cutting the actual v-groove piece it is in perfect alignment. You may have hooked corners without it.

Here's a short list of a few of things that I use most of on my mat cutter. Again not all of these things are necessary but if you plan on doing any great quantity of mat cutting this will make it so much easier and saves time to boot.

* Squaring Arm
* Fixed cutter head on a rail
* Both angled blade and straight blade on the head
* Preferably metal base
* Can cut a 40 inch mat. This is the standard length for both matboard and foamcore. While it is rare to cut a mat this long you will be cutting your blanks from this size sheet.

Since I don't use stops they are not something I look for.

Professional Grade Picture Framing Mat Cutters

Picture Framing & Mat Cutting Terminology

ATG - Adhesive Transfer Tape - The professional framers double sided tape.

Blank - An uncut piece of matboard

Double Mat - Where two mats are cut for one item. Usually the inner mat is cut at 1/4 inch.

Fall-out - The left over piece of mat board from the center of the previously cut mat.

Foamboard (also Foamcore and Foam Board) - The backer board used in framing. It predominately comes in 1/8 inch thickness and 3/16 inch thickness. It also comes in regular, acid free, black and gator styles.

Mat Cutter - Either hand held or table top cutter with a fixed blade used for cutting mats.

Mat Board - A dense board usually comprised of 8 white papers bound together. The top most layer is the colored portion that you see.

Over-cut when the blade go past the stop line.

Stops Setting on the table-top mat cutter than can be set for setting the places for you to start and stop a cut line.

Stop LinesThe lines drawn on the back of the matboard indicating your pace to start and stop the cut of the mat.

Squaring Arm - The extension on the mat cutter which allows you cut cut mat board blanks with ease.

Undercut Starting or stopping the mat board cut line just short of the stops.

V-Groove A specialty cut where there is a trough cut into the mat in the shape of a V in order to create a white line for decorative purposes.