apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

foam core mounting is a great way to preserve a poster. You could also hang the mounted poster and put some crownmoulding around it.

Also -- look for framed pictures on craigslist or your local thrift store. You could repaint the frame to suit.

yeah, i'd head to the thrift shop or flea market and try to find a cheap painting with a great frame. that poster'd look rad if it were set in a really gawdy decorative frame that's been lacquered white...

i definitely frame everything myself to keep it on the cheap, but $170 is actually a pretty low price to have something that large professionally framed...

good luck!

$170 is a great price for something that size (to matte and custom frame).

I suggest you Decoupage the poster to a canvas and then wrap the canvas around a frame. Cheap and Preserves the poster.

I buy stock frames and get a custom matte cut. it's especially good when aaron brothers has a buy 1 get one for a penny sale.

$170 is cheap for a good framing job.

I've spent up to $400 for having numbered prints less than half that size that cost me a mere $35 professionally matted (double and triple mats) and framed.

Look at Art.com and see what the mats, glass and frames add to a $16 print - You'll be surprised.

$170 is a STEAL for quality framing for that size.

I got some frames from Frames by Mail super-cheap for some weird shaped posters I have. And then I just had some plexi cut to size locally. Worked for me, and they cost about $30 each.

http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/servlet/OnlineShopping

makes custom sized frames, and i think they carry standard lengths in aluminum that you can assemble yourself.

i was a custom framer, and vacuum-mounting the poster on foam-core is the best option, unless it's a rare, valuable poster. in that case, you don't want to adhere it to any backing. the quoted price is very fair, as many have stated.

I've been very happy with Frames by Mail, but you need to measure right and do your math well.

Josh I feel your pain - I just dropped $150 to frame a poster that cost me 3 euro in paris. but it looks smashing and its a fab memento of my trip. The framer commented that many people have the same complaint when I was moaning to him (he eventually gave me 10% off). Another option is to buy a frame larger than your poster and have the frame shop cut you a custom mat that will fit in the frame, and around the poster. I'm planning on doing this shortly for another poster I've bought and I've been told its relatively inexpensive.

To play devils advocate to my own idea though. If you might spend $50 on a frame and $25 on a mat and plenty of time and effort finding, wondering, ordering, collecting from post office etc, are you as well off just droppping the cash and being done already?

also - my $150 poster was a lot smaller than yours, so I second (third? fourth? fifth?) the 'good deal' posts

I'll join the chorus about that the price is very good indeed (especially from my New York perspective).

But I'd like to add, that's a great poster and deserves to be framed properly.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I felt like i won the lottery when i saw my post make it's way up.

For everyone comments on the poster itself, AT picked that image out since i forgot to include the link, this is the actual poster i have

http://www.tm-online.nl/img%20def/fonts/W370-C-Constellation.jpg

Mounting is out, because i don't want to permanently attach it to anything in case i feel like storing it at any point if i move etc.

The price isn't horrible, but i doubt it would be a quality frame job to say the least. I would believe most of the people there are incompetent. It's from a place called Hobby Lobby (yeah i know...) it's like Michaels or JoAnn's, it a craft store. Specialty frame shops wanted much much more. More the I can afford since i need a new couch more then a poster frame.

I'm used to doing all my framing myself, so that's what makes it harder. I just have no way to get the pieces myself to make it. Online stores are great, but most have wanted just as much as he frame to ship it since it's large. I might go the route suggested above and just get the frame, then get plexi locally (which once again finding anti glare plexi, since it will be in a high light area, at sensible prices still)

i've been watching craigslist and places with no luck of finding a really kickin frame, i'm hoping that as it gets warmer a garage sale god might shine down on me. I would love to find an ornate one.

With out getting a custom one though, i haven't had any good luck finding one large enough, they're always short on one side. Hence my idea of buying 2 frames from the store and making them into 1.

Thanks everyone!

Have you tried metroframe.com?

If you buy uncut lengths (well, you did say that you are used to framing things yourself...), the cost comes to $65 plus shipping for the frame itself. I would back it with a thick ply (maybe 6-ply) acid-free backing board.


I also had a framing question -- I think the problem I have with framing prints is that I think they look overframed if they are matted (with an overmat).

My dilemma is that I have several posters to frame, and would like them to hang in a series, but they are all just ever-so-slightly different in size...

I am thinking that I could put them on a backboard, or mat (or both?) to a standard size (as close as possible to the size of the largest poster) so that the largest would have no mat showing... would that look okay?

Plus I think I read that posters should have spacers between the poster and the glass -- they should not (if they have any potential value) touch the glass... anybody know anything about this?

I second Frames By Mail! Their selection is great and you just cannot beat the price for the quality you get.

Sure, you have to put it together yourself and you have to be pretty exacting with your measurements, but if you're reading Apartment Therapy in the first place, then I think you're already DIY enough to handle this.

I worked in framing for 8 years. Here are some more options.

1.) buy spray mount and attach the poster yourself (available at craft stores)
2.) 24 X 36 is too big for a glass/clips (I can not tell you how many times I saw this crack and break under its own pressure) instead use plexi. To prevent "bending" over time put wood crossbars on back.
3.)Metal frames are cheapest.
4.) Often frames shops have pieces of moulding left over after a messed up job or a number of other reasons. Ask them if they have any of these and if so if they could give you a deal.
5.) Check to see if there is a "framing supply" store in your area. If they use moulding that they produce it will cost a lot less.

Menard's sells frame moulding if you can cut and join it yourself. The moulding is raw so you can paint it any color.
As far as non glare plexi, thats expensive, you can try to special order from home depot or Menard's. Framers use a framing grade plexi which does't scratch as easy.
Good luck!

Graphik Design (pictureframes.com) had good prices on custom framing sections in a wide variety of colors, materials and styles.

Michael's craft store has section pairs of frames, but I'm not sure they go all the way up to 45" and they only have 2 or 3 color options.