Customer Reviews

I Was Plesantly Surprised! Review by GaryRobert7

Just placed my second order with ClearBags. I'm an amateur photographer and have recently placed some of my photos in a gallery. I wanted them to look professional, and Google found this site for me.

I love this kit - backing board, matting, and protective clear pouch. I was concerned about board warping, etc. but everything arrived in excellent condition and was very well packaged. Follow their instructions for acclimating the frames to your environment - I did, and they stayed flat.

I've used these kits for 5X7, 8X10, and 13X19 photos. All have worked well. If I had to 'complain' about something, it would be that the backing boards are not always exactly the same size as the frames - not horribly off, but this is an area for improvement.

Oh, others in the gallery have used clear cellophane to wrap photos. You look at the back side for artist information, and the photos are all taped closed with gobs of not quite clear tape. Some have even used Saran Wrap to wrap their photos - it's hard to keep it flat, so the photo looks to be covered in warped plastic. Less expensive? Yes. Professional looking - no!

I've done some rough calculations on cost. For an 8X10 color photo printed on 8 1/2 X 11 Canon Pro Platinum photo paper (gets you a nice border to go under the mat), It costs me about $1.20 for a sheet of paper, $.80 in ink, and $1.75 for the Mat Show Kit. That's $3.75 a print - my cost. Many individuals in the gallery I use, charge about $25.00 for a matted print, and $40.00+ for a framed print. Even after paying the commission to the gallery, the profit percentage is HUGE, and I believe that the Mat Show Kit makes a difference.

Oh, just ordered another batch of Mat Show Kits, but double matting this time. Adds about a $1.00 more to each photo, but it makes for much better eye candy!

Finally, nothing in it for me for writing this review, but when I came to this site, no reviews for the products I was looking at, so I'm thinking - is this stuff going to work? Something like this would have been helpful.

Keep shooting and printing!

Gary
(Posted on 5/20/10)