Foam Board for Mounting Photos

[Boatman37210]

New to photography. Looking for foam core board. It's my understanding it is an inexpensive way to display printed photos. Been to Big C, Lotus, B2S, and Office Mate in Bangkok, but no luck finding. One salesman at B2S said he knew what I was talking about, but they were out and did not know when a new shipment would come. He also said very few people use it.

All these stores carry a good supply of corrugated plastic sheets, but when you run your fingers over the surface there are minor ridges. I would think it would not be suitable for mounting pictures.

What do photographers use here in Thailand? Is it foam core board or something else? Can someone give me a definitive source where to buy whatever it is I need. Feel like I've been running around chasing the proverbial goose. It would be great if someone has purchased foam core board before and would share where they purchased.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Edited January 31, 2015 by oilinki
Bold font reseted to default font

[sunshine51]

^^^Where do you live? This may help us & you out in finding a store.

Are you inquiring about a styrofoam board of a certain thickness or

some other kind of foam? Styrofoam is that white stuff; stiff & light

but breaks easily. If that is what you're looking for ask around your

neighbourhood, your GF, your missus...etc...where an arts & crafts

shop is located....they usually have it and so do many stationary

stores.

[Boatman37210]

^^^Where do you live? This may help us & you out in finding a store.

Are you inquiring about a styrofoam board of a certain thickness or

some other kind of foam? Styrofoam is that white stuff; stiff & light

but breaks easily. If that is what you're looking for ask around your

neighbourhood, your GF, your missus...etc...where an arts & crafts

shop is located....they usually have it and so do many stationary

stores.

Not styrofoam. One brand is Elmers foamcore board. Also if you put in foamcore board on youtube you get many videos on how to mount photos. Foam core board is foam, maybe pvc or something similar, sandwiched between two pieces of thin cardboard or paper. Very light and resonably strong for mounting photos.

Some foam board you can peel and stick. Standard foam board you have to spray with an adhesive such as 3M 77 adhesive and then place your photo. Here is one youtube video:

Oh, I am located about one and a half hours out of Bangkok, so Bangkok is where I would be going. If no one here uses foamcore, what do they use? Do they just use standard mat board or maybe no one mounts photos in this manner. I would think some would prefer just placing a backing on their photos for dispaly purposes rather than putting into a picture frame.

Hope this helps. Thanks for responding.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Boatman37210

[sunshine51]

When I have an exhibit I matte my pix then frame em in black narrow frames

around 24x36 inches in size. The pix are placed on a spray glued piece of

thick matte paper then it's placed onto a thin piece of wood then the matte is

cut then into the frame it all goes. Been done this way for years. Last long

time.

[ETatBKK]

if you are in Bangkok, you may check out สมใจ (Somjai), branches of art supplies. call them if they have the specific foam board. other mounting and framing materials available too.

http://www.somjai.co.th/

website in Thai

for fast mounting, foam board and 3M spray do the job.

for long term framing, I prefer thick paper cardboard and paper glue. 3M spray and even rubber cement, they corrode into the picture over time.

[Boatman37210]

Went to Siam Paragon today to a shop on 4^th floor. They had I think 3 sheets of foam core, but they were old stock bent and dirty. I asked if they would be getting more in and they said no. Very few people if any use foam core here. I am surprised. Ended up buying a sheet of cardboard thinking maybe I would give that a try.

On the way home got to thinking and decided foam core for my purposes is what I needed. Foam core can be used as a backing for a picture and displayed with nothing else needed unless you just wanted to take it further. Foam core is very light weight, plastic so no moisture problem, and more stiff than cardboard. My intentions are to place a wood rail or rails along a wall and place the bottom of the pictures on the rail and lean them back against the wall. Just guessing but the lean I'm thinking would be maybe an inch. With foam core I do not believe there would be any bowing. With cardboard alone in time I think the pictures would bow.

One web site I saw today says that a store named Good Job on the 4^th floor of Siam Discovery definitely carries it. Will try there next trip. If that fails, I believe I will try to figure out if I can use the corrugated plastic sheets that are so plentiful in stores. I think I might be able to make that work, but not giving up on foam core just yet.

Thanks.

[Boatman37210]

Additional note for anyone interested:

Never heard of Good Job store , but just did a web search and maybe struck gold. They carry 4 sizes of foam core board. Here is the link for the board:

http://online.goodjobstore.com/category/designers-tools/foam_board

[foamboards]

If you are tracing it in us then try Foamboardsource a complete range of foam sheets with durable and quality material. Moreover you can try at online store http://www.foamboardsource.com/

[Dionigi]

Look for a shop that sells radio control aircraft. There is one in Pattaya that has a small stock of foamboard.