To start: Just so I don't have to type it in 
every single time, remember this important 
descriptor: Acid-free. Acid-free everything! Acid-
free mats, acid-free museum board / foam core 
(different backing materials), acid-free tape, 
etc and etc. Especially on the mats, make sure 
they are completely acidfree. Don't let someone 
say: 'Well, the backing paper and core is acid-
free.' You want ALL of it to be acid-free.

First you measure out what part of the cel you 
want to show, not the whole thing. Even if you do 
want to show absolutely the whole thing, measure 
in about a fourth of an inch. You've got to have 
some cel that won't show, even if it's just a 
little. This measurement is called the opening 
size. (refers to the size of the inside window of 
the mat. For example, lets say our opening is 7 
inches by 9 inches.

Figure out how much mat you want surrounding it. 
On normal sized cels I found that 2 and a half 
inches is good. When you add the dimensions of 
the mat to the dimensions of the opening, make 
sure to double the amount you decided on. The 2 
and a half inches would then be five inches that 
you add onto the dimensions of the opening. 7 + 5 
= 12 and 9 + 5 = 14. So the outer dimension of 
the mat is 12 by 14. That will also be the 
dimension of the glass, the backing board, and 
the frame. (As a side note - when the opening 
size isn't an even inch and you end up with a 
combined opening + mat dimension of like 11 3/4 - 
round it up to 12. I find that it's just easier 
to deal with whole numbers. It just means your 
mat will actually be some fraction of an inch 
more or less then you had perhaps been intending, 
but if you get the mat cut by someone else, they 
can deal. They can deal accurately with fractions 
of inches up to 1/8. So if your mat ends up being 
2 and 5/8's wide all around so that you end up 
with a whole number on the outside - that's fine. 
They can deal.)

A lot of this sort of fine measurement can be 
done by whomever is helping you pick out the mats 
IF you are getting them done by a local store. If 
you're ordering mats from someplace like american-
frame, you need to sort of figure the stuff out 
for yourself. Or at least it helps. I always 
measure out my own stuff even when I do take it 
someplace to pick out mats just because I am so 
paranoid about people who don't know what they're 
doing. 

Which brings me to the next step. I take my cel 
with me, in a protective cel bag, to a local 
frame shop where I know they stock a bunch of mat 
samples. I then do my picking stuff out. I 
usually only go with one mat that picks up on 
some colour in the cel. There's a line of mats 
that you can get with black core - very cool. It 
means that instead of the inside beveled edge of 
the mat being white, it's black. And that's 
really awesome for cels. 

Once I've picked out my mat, I also decide 
whether I want museum board or foam core as my 
backing board - it doesn't really matter. I also 
order glass. (UV type) - you can get UV 
plexiglass too (and you can get it from 
americanframe.com if you order a frame there.) 
and some people prefer it to regular glass. It's 
lighter and much more shatter resistant. It also 
shatters 'safely' in that you can't cut yourself 
on it unless you try really hard. I prefer 
regular glass only because I think I had too hard 
a time hand-cutting plexiglass when I worked as a 
framer and now I just avoid it for no good 
reason. 

For the frame itself, I basically make a beeline 
straight for the 'do it yourself' metal frame 
section kits you can get at most craft places. 
They only come in whole inches (hence one reason 
I recommend rounding the mat up to whole inches!) 
I like gunmetal grey. :) You can also order metal 
frames really cheaply from americanframe.com. You 
can order wood frames cheaply from them too. It's 
definitely worth getting the frame from them, 
because even with shipping cost, you're going to 
save money. While you're ordering your frame, you 
can get your UV plexiglass. They have a small 
selection of completely acid-free mats, but I'm 
not sure about backing board. Nonetheless, I like 
having my mats done from a local place because 
then I can be really picky and accurate about 
colour.

Once you have all these items ordered, it's just 
a matter of laying it all in. But metal frames 
and wood frames are slightly different. I'll go 
into that in a moment.

You need to tape your cel to the mat. Depending 
on how exact you need things to line up, you can 
either just turn the mat face down, put the cel 
face down on top of it and tape it down (by the 
corners, upper edge only, and gently) after 
lining it a little. Or if it needs a real exact 
line up (like if you have a background) you put 
the tape on the back of the cel/background 
(again, corners, upper edge) so that it is over 
hanging. You then have the whole thing facing up -
 you "hover" the mat over it until you've got it 
where you need it and you drop it carefully down. 
Approximately where you think the tape is, press 
down on the mat and rub it gently. When you lift 
the mat up, if you're successful, the tape will 
be sticking to it and the cel will be secured. 
You might want to double check that the tape on 
the back is adhering well enough.

Metal frames: Put the frame together except for 
one side. Make sure you've constructed it so the 
open end is the narrower of the dimensions you 
have. Take the end you don't have on it and 
tighten in the corner brackets into it. (Once you 
have the metal frame and the stuff you use to put 
it together, you'll know what the bracket is). 
You then put your glass down (making sure you 
have the right side up if it's UV treated because 
it does matter) and put the mat (+cel that is 
attached to it) face down on it. Then the backing 
board. You then lift the glass + mat + backing 
board and slide it into the metal frame, making 
sure that the glass is facing the front side of 
the frame. Once it's in, you take the one frame 
section you left off and slide it into place and 
tighten down. Then you do your basic hardware 
stuff for hanging it and little metal springs for 
making sure everything stays pushed forward 
inside the frame. Metal is real easy. 

Wooden frames: Wooden frames will generally come 
pre-constructed. You don't really want to mess 
with putting wooden frame sections together, 
although some frame companies have really easy 
systems for doing that. You do the same layering 
of glass, mat and backing board, but you can do 
it one layer at a time if you want. You just lay 
it into the back of the wooden frame. Depending 
on where you get the frame from, it'll come with 
hardware that you need to screw, pop, or 
otherwise push into the back to keep everything 
in. Wood frames aren't as easy to deal with as 
metal frames and generally, I like metal frames 
better for cels but there's always exceptions.

Some important notes and after thoughts: 

When putting your frame together, always wear 
gloves. It's to protect the cel and you. Also be 
careful of glass. When trying to slide glass into 
a metal frame, you might chip off tiny shards and 
you need to be prepared for that.

OH! When deciding on the opening size and the 
size of the mat - make sure you consider how much 
cel you won't be showing. Cropping in a lot with 
your inside opening dimensions to get the best 
image is okay, but don't make the mistake of 
getting a mat that isn't as wide as the parts of 
the cel you won't be showing. That just hurts. 
You can't cut the cel down, it devalues it! If 
you don't catch the problem until after you've 
ordered your stuff, it means you'd have to go 
back and rethink all your sizes, order them 
again, and PAY for them again. Acid-free stuff 
isn't cheap. 

I know this is a long post, but framing really 
isn't that hard to do. A huge step in the process 
is skipped if you get someone else to actually 
cut your mat, your board, and your glass down to 
the right size. You just need to make sure you 
pick out the right materials and that you keep 
your dimensions straight. Sometimes it's really 
useful to draw a diagram to help figure out 
measurements. 

There's some stuff I haven't mention that is 
recommended for cels - like spacers. Spacers can 
be a pain. Spacer strips are bits of plastic with 
adhesive on one edge. Because cels like to stick 
to things, people recommend that you get 1/8 inch 
spacer strips to attach to the back of the mat. 
It puts 1/8 of space inbetween the cel that is 
attached to your mat and the backing board so 
there's no chance of them coming in contact. I've 
done this for one of my cels, but I'm not 
convinced how important it is. 

If anyone has any questions about framing, please 
feel free to email me. I'm not a conservation 
framing expert, but I've been doing it for a 
while. 

Jennifer

(BTW, I haven't proof-read this thing. I can't be 
bothered. Just smack me for any mistakes.)