Framing & Mounting

All of my prints are sized to suit readily available and off the shelf frames as a full frame image, with or without a border mount (also sometimes called a mat). It’s really a personal choice as to whether you opt for a mount or not, but if you do you’ll get a bit more flexibility with the frame sizes available to you and the image should sit more comfortably within it’s frame, particularly with the smaller sizes.

When choosing your mount and frame size, some useful advice to consider would be that the area covered by the mount should usually be at least the same, or preferably a bit more, than the area of the artwork itself. That surprises most people, but a smaller mount can sometimes look skimpy whereas a well sized mount will often greatly enhance the image. Below is an example of how to loosely work out the correct mount and frame size for your new print.

As an example, an 11” x 17” print would cover 187 square inches. A mount providing a 3 inch border all the way around would add a further 6 inches to each dimension, making the overall size 17” x 23” which equates to 391 square inches. If you subtract 187 from 391 you’re left with a mount covering 204 square inches, which is a bit more area coverage than the print itself, which would work very well. So, in this instance you’d need a 17” x 23” frame & mount with a window of 11” x 17” to sit the print within. If you can’t find a 17” x 23” frame you could simply up the size slightly to 18” x 24” which is a very common frame size and would present an 11” x 17” print beautifully.