The frame you have in mind is rarely available in the shop. You have a drawing measuring 32 by 47 centimetres, a poster that is just a little too wide, or you want a colour that is nowhere to be found. Then you quickly find yourself considering making the frame yourself. Below you will find out how it works, what you need, and when a ready-made frame is simply more sensible.
What you need before you start
A photo frame consists of fewer parts than you might think. You need frame mouldings, four pieces of wood with a rebate on the back, that groove where the glass and your work fall in. You also need wood glue, a miter box with a fine saw or a miter saw, and something to press the corners together while the glue sets. A strap around the entire frame works better than loose clamps, because it presses all four corners together at once.
In addition, custom-cut glass or plexiglass, a backboard of approximately three-millimetre hardboard, turn buttons or small screw eyes to attach that backboard, and a hanging eye with wire. Sandpaper with a grit of 180 to 240 makes the corners neat before you stain or paint.
The moulding determines the rest. Before you buy, check the depth of the rebate and add up what needs to fit inside: the glass, any mount, your work itself, and the backboard. If that adds up to seven millimetres and the rebate is five millimetres deep, the back will not close and you will be fiddling with clips that do not catch.
Measuring and miter cutting
This is where things most often go wrong, and almost always in the same way. You measure your photo, saw four mouldings of that length, and discover that the frame is too small. The size that counts is the inner size, the opening of the rebate, and you make that about two millimetres larger on each side than your work. Then it falls in without clamping and without light shining through.
The outer length of each moulding is therefore that inner size plus twice the width of the moulding. Draw the measurements on the back of the moulding, on the rebate side, because that is the short side of the miter. Saw all four pieces at forty-five degrees and then lay them on the table in the shape of the frame.
Then check two things. The pieces that come opposite each other must be even to within half a millimetre, otherwise you will never get a straight corner. And take the thickness of the saw blade into account: if you saw four mouldings from one long moulding, a few millimetres of wood disappear with each cut. Therefore, saw more generously than you think you need.
Gluing without the corners shifting
First assemble the frame dry, without glue. If the corners do not fit perfectly, carefully sand the mitered surfaces on a flat piece of sandpaper. That is faster than sawing again and you get rid of the last bit of play.
Then apply a thin layer of wood glue to both surfaces of each corner. Miter is end grain and it absorbs glue, so a layer that you immediately seal again works better than one thick blob. Put the strap around it, tighten it, and measure the two diagonals from corner to corner. If they are even, the frame is square. If they differ, tap a corner before the glue starts to set.
Wipe away squeezed-out glue immediately with a damp cloth, because dried glue does not take stain and remains visible as a light mark. After an hour you can remove the strap, but the joint is only strong after a day. If you want it sturdier, put a thin nail or a lamello in each corner from the outside. For frames over sixty centimetres, this is no unnecessary luxury, because the weight of the glass pulls on the corners.
Glass, plexiglass or nothing at all
Two-millimetre glass is the standard and looks the best, but it weighs a lot. A pane of sixty by eighty centimetres feels light in the shop and then hangs for years on two screws in your wall. Above approximately seventy centimetres, plexiglass is therefore a calmer choice. It is much lighter, it does not break into shards, and you can saw it to size yourself.
Plexiglass has two disadvantages that you should know beforehand. It scratches more easily, so never wipe it dry. And it charges statically, which attracts loose particles. For a photo or a poster this does not matter, but with charcoal, pastel or chalk it pulls the loose pigments off the paper. That is what glass is for.
If you hang the work in a place where the sun comes, look at UV-resistant material. That is more expensive, but it is the only thing that really slows down fading. You can also omit the glass, for example with a canvas or a sturdy print. Then you only have a frame around the work and no reflections, but also no protection against fingers and dust.
Cutting a mount
The cardboard border around a photo does more than you expect. It gives the work air, it keeps the paper away from the glass so that no condensation comes into contact with it, and it makes a small photo large enough for a sturdy frame. Use acid-free cardboard, because regular cardboard turns brown along the edges in a few years and that seeps into your photo.
You cut the opening three to five millimetres smaller than your work on each side, so that the cardboard holds the edges. Cutting is done with a mount cutter that works at an oblique angle, along a sturdy cutting guide, in one continuous motion. A straight cut with a regular knife can also work, but that oblique edge is exactly what makes a frame look finished.
Make the bottom margin slightly wider than the top margin, a centimetre or two. Optically, a mount with four equal borders seems to sink downwards. If you do not dare to cut it, a framer will cut one for you to size, and that is one of the few parts you can better outsource than mess up twice.
Closing and hanging
Lay the stack in the correct order in the frame: first the glass, then the mount, then your work, then the backboard. Fix the work to the mount with a hinge of acid-free tape at the top, and never stick it around. Paper expands and shrinks with the weather, and if it is fixed on four sides, it will bulge.
You fix the backboard with turn buttons or with small screw eyes that you press diagonally into the rebate. If you want to be able to add to it later, take clips. For hanging, you put two hanging eyes about a quarter of the height from the top, on the inside of the side mouldings, and between them a wire that you do not pull tight. For a small frame, one saw-tooth hanger in the middle is sufficient.
Hang the work so that the middle hangs at approximately one hundred and forty-five centimetres. That is the height at which museums hang their work and it comes down to the eye level of someone who is standing. If the frame weighs more than a few kilos, then drill a plug into the wall, because a nail in the plasterwork will not hold in the long run.
What making it yourself gets you and what it costs
For a fair comparison, add up everything that will be in the frame. The metres of moulding you need, the glass or plexiglass to size, the acid-free cardboard and the backboard. Then comes the tools for the first time, because without a miter box, a strap and a decent cutting knife, nothing will happen. You will use those tools for every subsequent frame, so the more frames you make, the more favourable the outcome.
On the other hand is what you get back for it. You can make any size, including that 32 by 47 for which nothing exists. You choose your own wood and your own finish. And the making itself is half the fun for many people, especially if the frame is intended as a gift.
For comparison, a ready-made frame from our changeable frames costs 20 euros for A4 and 69.99 euros for the largest size of 90 by 70 centimetres. The glass is already in there, the sizes are correct, and nothing needs to be sawed.
When a ready-made frame simply wins
Making it yourself pays off if the size is unusual, if you enjoy it, or if you make several in a row. It rarely pays off for one standard size. An A4 drawing, a photo of 60 by 80, or a poster of 90 by 70 fits in a frame that already exists, and by the time you have had the glass cut to size, you are done with buying faster and often cheaper.
There is another reason to look at an existing frame, and that has to do with changing. A changeable frame opens on the front, so you take the drawing out without taking the frame off the wall and without prying loose clips. Anyone who hangs a new children's drawing every month notices that difference every time. A frame that you glue yourself and screw shut is simply less suitable for that.
Also look at the material. Avalo has the deep frames in aluminium, in wood and in black lacquered MDF, and for drawings on A4 in black or white. That saves you the staining and painting, and you will not get an aluminium profile sawed at home without the right blade.
Making a box frame is another job
If you do not want a photo but something with thickness to frame, a medal, a collection of pins or a shirt, then you need a box frame. That is a frame with a deep box between the glass and the backboard, so that the object stands loose in it and the glass does not press on it. Making it yourself is possible, but you are effectively building two frames together: a regular frame and behind that a standing edge that creates the depth.
The difficulty with that is that everything that is crooked is immediately noticeable, because through the glass you see the sides of the box. Moreover, the object must stay hanging in the frame without glue, because precisely with collection pieces you do not want to fix anything permanently.
If it is specifically about a shirt, then in our article what it costs to frame a football shirt is what you need in terms of sizes and ways of attaching. And those who do not like building will find the ready-made deep frames at the changeable frames.
Frequently asked questions about making a photo frame yourself
How do I make a photo frame myself?
You first determine the inner size by adding two millimetres to your work on each side. Then you saw four frame mouldings at a miter of forty-five degrees, glue them and put a strap around them until the diagonals are even. Let the glue dry for a day, then put the glass, the mount and your work in it and fix the backboard with clips. Allow for half a day including waiting for the glue.
How do you make a box frame yourself?
You first make a regular frame and put a second, standing edge behind it that gives the depth. You determine the depth based on the thickest point of what needs to fit inside, plus half a centimetre of air so that the glass does not press on it. Finish the inside of that edge neatly, because you look at it through the glass. An object that stands loose in the box, you fix with a few stitches of thread through the backboard instead of with glue.
What wood do you use for a photo frame?
Ready-made frame mouldings with a milled rebate are the easiest, because the groove is already in it. If you work with regular wood, take something that is stable and does not quickly warp, such as fir, pine or basswood, and mill or saw the rebate in yourself. Hardwood is more beautiful but heavier, which again must be taken into account when hanging.
What does it cost to make a photo frame yourself?
That depends mainly on the size and on the glass. Add up the metres of moulding, plus custom-cut glass or plexiglass, acid-free cardboard and a backboard. The first frame is always the most expensive, because you also buy the miter box, the strap and the cutting knife. For a standard size you usually come out lower with a ready-made frame, especially if you count the hours.
When is it better to buy a ready-made frame?
If your work fits in an existing size, if you want to have it done quickly, or if you want to change the contents regularly. For A4, 60 by 80 and 90 by 70 centimetres you do not need to think about anything. Making it yourself only becomes interesting with a size that does not exist, with a specific colour or finish, or if you enjoy the making yourself.
