How To Frame A Print

Prints are sold unframed, which is a decision rather than an oversight. A framed print costs three times as much to post, arrives with the glass broken more often than anyone admits, and locks you into someone else’s taste in wood.

Buying your own frame is cheap, quick and gives a better result. Here is what to know before you do.

The centimetre trap

This is the one that catches everybody. Many high-street frames are sold in centimetre sizes, not A sizes. 30 × 40 cm and 40 × 50 cm are the two most common, and neither of them is an A size.

A3 is 29.7 × 42 cm. A 30 × 40 cm frame is 2 cm too short. The print will not fit, and trimming it ruins the proportions of the artwork.

So: if a frame is described in centimetres, check the numbers. If it says A3, A4 or A5, you are fine.

Mount, or no mount

A mount (or mat) is the card border between the print and the frame. It is the single cheapest way to make a print look more expensive than it is.

An A3 print in an A3 frame with no mount, compared with the same print in a 40 by 50 cm frame with a mount
The same A3 print, framed two ways. The mount costs a few pounds and buys a lot.

No mount — an A3 print in an A3 frame. Print fills the frame edge to edge. Cheapest, boldest, and the right call for the big graphic prints where the artwork already has its own white border built in.

With a mount — an A3 print in a 40 × 50 cm frame with an A3 aperture cut into it. The white border gives the print room to breathe and makes the whole thing read as bigger and more considered. Costs a few pounds more and takes up more wall. Usually worth it, particularly for the photographic and botanical prints.

Frames sold "with mount" almost always state the print size the aperture is cut for. Buy the one cut for A3, A4 or A5 and you are done.

What to look for

  • Glass or acrylic. Glass looks better and does not scratch. Acrylic is lighter and will not shatter — the sensible choice above a bed, in a child’s room, or up a stairwell.
  • Moulding width. A thin frame (1–2 cm) suits a gallery wall, because the prints stay the loudest thing on the wall. A chunky frame suits a single print hung alone.
  • Colour. Black is the safe answer and the one every Feature Wall mockup uses. Natural oak warms up the muted prints. White disappears against a white wall, which is sometimes the point and sometimes a waste of a frame.
  • Hanging hardware. Check it has a proper hook or wire, not just a flimsy sawtooth. Cheap frames often come with hardware for landscape only, which is no use for a portrait print.

Where to buy them

High-street homeware shops carry A4 and A3 frames cheaply, and most supermarkets stock A4. For A5, and for anything with a mount already cut, online frame specialists are better value than they look — a set of six matching frames usually costs less than buying six separately.

If you are framing a whole gallery wall, buy all the frames at once and buy them identical. Mixed frames can work, but only deliberately; mixed-by-accident always looks like mixed-by-accident.

Getting the print into the frame

  1. Work on a clean, flat surface. Wash your hands — 240gsm textured stock shows fingerprints.
  2. Take the backing off and clean the inside of the glass. Whatever is on it now will be sealed in for years.
  3. Handle the print by its edges. If it has been rolled, leave it flat under a couple of books overnight first.
  4. Assemble, hold it up to the light and check for dust before you clip the back down.

Looking after it

Keep prints out of direct sunlight. Archival inks on 240gsm art paper hold their colour for decades indoors, but nothing survives a south-facing window in full sun forever. Away from bathrooms and steam, or use a frame with a proper seal.

If a print turns up damaged, send a photo and it gets replaced — no argument, no returning it. The FAQ has the details.

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