Choosing the right frame for your art

Every print can be bought three ways: on its own, or framed by us as Full Bleed or Mounted. Here is what each one is, which colour to pick, and how to size a frame if you would rather do it yourself.

Print Only

You get the print, unframed, at the size you chose. It ships rolled in a protective tube, ready for a framer or for a frame you already own.

Choose it if you want to pick the frame yourself, you are framing several prints to match, or you want our largest size: 30 × 40 in is Print Only.

Full Bleed

The artwork fills the frame. No mount, no border, just the print behind the glazing with the wood edge around it. It shows the most artwork for a given frame size, and it is what every product page opens on.

Mounted

The same frame with a snow-white mount between the print and the glazing: 2.4mm conservation-grade board, acid free, about 2 inches wide on every edge.

That border comes out of the visible artwork, not off the outside of the frame. In an 18 × 24 in frame, Mounted shows 14 × 20 in of image; Full Bleed shows almost all of it. The size guide on any print page lists the mounted figure for all three framed sizes.

The frame itself

Both presentations use the same frame, on the 12 × 16, 18 × 24 and 24 × 32 in sizes.

• Solid wood with a satin finish, 20mm across the face and 22mm deep
• Perspex glazing rather than glass, so it arrives lighter and travels better
• The same Enhanced Matte Art 200gsm paper as an unframed print
• Ships flat, assembled, with the hanging hardware fitted

Choosing a frame colour

Four colours, one profile. Pick by what you want the frame to do.

• Black for definition. It draws a clean edge around the image, holds up against high-colour work, and is the easiest choice on a white or pale wall.
• White to keep the frame quiet. On a pale wall the edge nearly disappears, so nothing sits between the wall and the artwork.
• Natural Oak to pick up light timber. A pale, warm wood that suits oak and ash furniture and sits close to the warm white of the paper.
• Brown to pick up darker timber. The deepest of the two wood tones, and a warmer alternative to black if you want contrast without the hard edge.

Framing the print yourself

Every print we sell is 3:4 portrait in four sizes: 12 × 16, 18 × 24, 24 × 32 and 30 × 40 in. The simple path is a frame made for the exact size on the label. Full dimensions are on the sizing page.

The one thing worth checking is the ratio. Frames sold as 16 × 20 in, 20 × 30 in or 24 × 36 in are close to 3:4 but not 3:4, so the print will not sit square in them.

If your frame is a different size

Use a larger frame and have a mount cut with a 3:4 window. Any framer will do this, it costs less than a bespoke frame, and it lets you choose the mount width, which our framed options do not.

Hanging your art

• Start with the center of the image about 57 in from the floor. It is the usual gallery height and a reasonable default, though a low sofa or a high ceiling is a fair reason to move it.
• Hanging a group, keep the gaps even and align the arrangement on its center line rather than its top edge.

More detail on the paper and the inks is on Printing & Framing, and the FAQ covers the rest. Otherwise, have a look at the prints.