You have the perfect art of photo printed and it’s time to select a nice frame for it. But how picture frames are measured is sometimes a mystery to many that leads to errors, lost money and frustration.
In order for the frame to sit well, without unnecessary effort and without gaps, you need to correctly measure the picture. Follow these instructions to avoid mistakes and get the best results.
Tools you will need to measure a frame
The items you need to decide on the measurement of your painting and frame are simple. You probably already have them around the house. You will need:
- your photo or drawing
- a tape measure
- a piece of paper
- a pencil
Steps to measure a frame
- Place the frame upside down on a clean surface.
- With the tape measure measure the glass size from one side to the other.
- Note the height and then the width on your paper.
To choose the right size for the picture frame, you need to take measurements of the canvas. Armed with a ruler (tape measure), measure the length, width of the visible area. The visible part of the picture can sink 3-5 mm inside the frame on each side. The framing should look like one piece with the canvas.
How to measure the photo or painting to put in the frame
Step 1
We place our subject on a smooth and clean surface.
Step 2
We measure in inches or centimeters from end to end and note first the height and then the width. We measure once more and verify.
Step 3
If our subject has a white border and we do not want it to appear in our frame, then we do not include it in the measurement we make.
Step 4
The frame and the mat size always “hide” an issue from the measurement we make. Calculate that 3/8 in perimeter will be covered by the frame.
Step 5
If you are measuring in centimeters, keep your measurement up to one decimal, for example, 50.2 cm.
If your painting is already stretched onto a stretcher, lay it on a flat, clean surface and take 2 measurements of the height and 2 measurements of the width. You need to measure on both sides up and down, right and left. Sometimes the 2 measurements are not the same and that may cause the picture not to fit in the frame you chose.
If the picture has irregularities, deflections, or protrusions, then measure them as well. Of the selected dimensions, you need to take the largest width and largest height. These numbers will be used as the inner frame size.
Like in this lovely 8×10 picture frame the size of the photo you can fit inside is 8×10. That means that the inside of the frame measurements are 8×10. The visible photo will be a little smaller ( 7 1/2 x 9 1/2) as the frame border will always hide a bit of the art of print. The final dimension of the frame will depend on how thick the border is.
This indicates not the size of the frame itself, but the photo that is suitable for it. Depending on the availability of the mat and the thickness of the baguette, the frame can be much larger – this must be taken into account if you choose decor for a limited area.
Things to consider to choose the right frame for a picture
For example, the size of the border indicates the size of the canvas to which it fits best. The frame itself, based on the mat and thickness, may be larger than the picture.
When buying, you need to look not at the mortise window, but the dimensions indicated on the marking. The cut-in window, as a rule, is slightly less than the parameters of the picture. A small part around the edges of the painting will be covered.
Standard photo frame sizes
The standard sizes of photo frames are considered to be those that correspond to the parameters of printed photos. That is, the photo should fit into a standard photo frame without cropping or additional fitting.
The most common standardized sizes are:
The dimensions of the borders for paintings can be indicated in centimeters and inches (4×6, 5×7, 8×10, 9×12, 11×14, 12×16, 16×20).
In the second case, it is more difficult to understand which parameter corresponds to a particular canvas. It is also not easy to choose frames of round, square, oval, complex shapes.
Especially for painting consider
ATTENTION! If the difference between the minimum and maximum measurements exceeds 1/4 inch (5 mm), then gaps may remain during the installation of the frame! In this case, we recommend ordering a frame kit with a new stretcher and re-tensioning the painting. This will eliminate the curvature and achieve the best fit between the frame and the painting.
Replacing the subframe is also recommended in the following cases:
- The diagonal dimensions of the painting differ by more than 5 mm (0.5 cm)
- The stretcher has a curvature of the “Propeller” type – when laying the picture on a horizontal plane, one of the corners hangs in the air by more than 5 mm (0.5 cm)
- The stretcher is physically damaged, there are traces of rotting or rottenness.
It is worth considering some of the nuances
- The outer dimensions of the baguette can be determined by the style of the image. For example, often a small drawing needs a wide frame. Watercolor is not complete without a mat. Portraits can be decorated with a molded baguette with large external dimensions.
- However, it is worth considering: the larger the size, the larger the shadow cast by the frame. Such products are bought taking into account the calculation of the illumination angle. The frame itself needs to be purchased without the need for trimming or trimming. If the visible area of the window is larger than the canvas image, a white stripe may be visible on one side.
- When purchasing a standard product, you can use the factory insert. This is especially true when it is necessary to select the size of a complex-shaped frame (for example, heart-shaped, arched, cloudy).
- As a rule, the available liners are cut to fit the desired parameters . To understand if this option is suitable, you need to attach an insert to the image. If the frame does not fit, it remains to order the desired option in the baguette workshop. You will have to pay more for a non-standard format.
- When buying, you can take into account the perception of the picture . For a long time, the old masters were guided by the principle of correspondence between the profile, the width of the frame and the size of the picture. If the external dimensions of the usual picture are large, have a sheer profiling, this “takes” the eye to the center of the picture. Thanks to this, any influence of the environment is excluded.
- Depending on the choice of width and design, the frame can enhance the impression of a painterly image. She can emphasize depth and dynamics. In this case, the frame must have a different reality than the picture itself. Overall frames (200×300 cm) are made to order. When ordering them, the length of the baguette is determined by the perimeter of the canvas.
