Choose the right print size for your art

By: amywindland Mood: full of life Date: 06/15/2008 10:38:57 Music: None

As some of you already know, I am a custom framer for a living.  Often times I get customers who walk into my shop, looking for a ready made frame to drop their recent purchase into, and they are always psyched about it. 

Unfortunately, more times than not, the producer of the artwork did not make it an easy task, and custom framing is necessary because it is not a standard size.  So after looking at the frames in the front of the shop for 50.00 or less, now they are having to look at frames that cost hundreds of dollars more than what they originally paid for the artwork.  It is really hard to convince someone who bought your poster print for 30.00 to put a custom frame on it for 200.00.  They always look at me, and say that is more than the art is worth.  This is when some of them will either bite the bullet, and pay to have the custom frame on it, or they will roll it back up, take it home, and throw it in the back of the closet in their spare bedroom.

Much of this problem could be eliminated by having your printer print your poster prints into standard sized formats.  Those would be:

8 X 10   9 X 12    10 x 13    11 x 14    16 x 20    18 x 24  

22 x 28   24 x 30    24 x 36   30 x 40

 Some of the general public realizes the value of custom framing, such as UV protection in the glass, and  acid free backing and mats.  These guys were going to have your poster framed no matter what.  This blog is not about them.

 Others have no interest in this, and these are the guys who will throw your print in their next garage sale.  And the cycle starts again.  I get alot of garage sale customers as well, who got your print for a dollar.  Try convincing these guys that your print is worth 200.00 in framing.  These guys always say to me, I guess this is why it wasn't already in a frame.  And I usually laugh and say it probably would have cost less back then to have it done too. 

Also, don't let your printer convince you to print your stuff in standard metric sizes if you live in the USA.  Metric sizes are a custom job as well.  Hope this helps keep at least a few of your poster prints out of garage sale bins.