Traditional Mats &  Virtual Styles

Traditional Mats are physical mats with cut openings, usually with bevel edges, that are overlayed onto an image(s) as a part of the framing process.  Virtual Styles are different, in that they are a graphic enhancement to a composite product that can be as simple as a keyline around an image, a single color background, or a complex combination of edge treatments, textured elements, and graphic blocks.

It is important to note that when you apply a Traditional Mat to a product, it gets pushed out.  When you apply a Vitrual Style, the image pushes in - keeping the paper size the same.  

Traditional Mats and Virtual Styles are set up in the Mat & Style Designer.  Go to the top menu, Products > Traditional Mats & Virtual Styles > Designer. 

In the sample above, all 3 products are using an 11"x14" paper size.

 

Quick Tip - Save Custom Virtual Styles

The Select Edge / Style Color tool allows you to customize the color of your applied Virtual Style.  After creating a custom-colored Virtual Style, you can save it for future use.  Click here to learn more.

By default, ProSelect uses standard mat overlap settings of 0.25" for sizes up to 30 inches.  For larger sizes, a mat overlap of 0.375 is applied.  To adjust these settings, go to the top menu, Products > Traditional Mats & Virtual Styles > Traditional Mat Overlap.  To learn more, click on Mat Overlap.