Free tools for artists

Frame and mat calculator

Enter the size of the artwork and the borders you want. Every size a framer asks for — the window to cut, the board and glass, the frame — is worked out and drawn to scale.

The artwork

The size of the paper or canvas itself.

cm
cm

The mat

A slightly deeper bottom border makes a piece look centred on the wall.

cm
cm
cm

Quick borders:

cm

How far the mat covers each edge. 0 to show the whole sheet.

The frame

cm

The face of the frame. 0 for a mat on its own.

cm

How far the mat tucks under it.

Sizes to order

Mat window

49 × 69 cm

The opening you cut

Mat board and glass

61 × 82 cm

Also the size the frame is made to fit

Frame outside

66 × 87 cm

How much wall it takes

Moulding to buy

3.4 m

Measured on the outside edge, plus 10% for the cuts

The mat board fits a ready-made 70 × 100 cm frame — cut the board to that size and widen the borders to match.

Work out the postage

Good to know

Why the window is smaller

The mat has to hold the artwork, so the window is cut a little inside its edges — about 5 mm a side. To show the whole sheet, deckled edges and all, float it: overlap 0, mounted on the board behind.

A deeper bottom border

With equal borders a framed piece looks as if it is slipping down. A bottom border about 1 cm deeper than the top looks centred — framers call it weighting.

Use archival board

Acid-free or museum board will not yellow or mark the work over the years. Behind the glass, it is the part that touches the artwork.

More free tools

All tools

ArtFlow, free to join

Its size, its framing, where it is, on the record

ArtFlow keeps each artwork's size, how it is framed and where it is right now, so a gallery, a buyer or a shipping quote always gets the right details.