How to Frame a Canvas
You have a stretched canvas and you want it framed and on the wall. This page is the whole job in order: the three measurements you need, how to pick a frame that will actually fit, what to tell us when you order, what arrives in the box, and how to mount it and hang it. Our recommendation for a stretched canvas is a floater frame, so that is the main path here. A traditional frame is covered further down, and the hanging is the same either way.
Two things before you start. The depth of your canvas is what decides which frames you can use — color, moulding width and style are all preference, depth is a requirement. And we do not install artwork. We manufacture the frame custom to your size and you mount the canvas yourself. It is a straightforward job with a screwdriver, and there are tutorial videos for each part of it.
Everything below is walked through on one example, a 12" x 12" canvas that is 1-1/2" deep, because it is easier to follow with real numbers on the table. Your numbers will be your own. Every frame is cut to the size you give us.
What you need
- A tape measure.
- Offset clips in the size your floater takes. We stock 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2".
- A screwdriver. The clip screws go into the back of the frame and into the wooden stretcher bar. You may want a drill, but most of the time a handheld screwdriver is enough.
- Temporary spacers to hold the float gap while you work. Cardboard shims, Post-it notes, playing cards — any household item of an even thickness will do.
- Hanging hardware. D-rings and wire are the preferred option; a sawtooth hanger is fine on a small piece. Either can come with the frame as a kit, or be ordered individually from hardware.
- A clean, soft surface big enough to work on with the frame face down.
That is the whole list if your frame arrives fully assembled. A ready to assemble frame needs a little more, and there is a section on that in step 6.
Step 1: Measure the width and height at the corners
Three measurements decide everything: width, height, and the total depth of the stretched canvas. Take the width and the height first, and take each of them in more than one place.
Do not just go middle to middle. Measure corner to corner as well, because when a canvas is stretched the material gets folded over at the corners, and those folds can make the canvas larger than a middle-to-middle measurement suggests. Measure the width corner to corner, folds included, then measure the height the same way.
This is the step that costs people frames. If you ignore the folds, the canvas can come out slightly larger than the size you ordered for, and it may not fit the frame that arrives. Use the largest number you find.
Step 2: Measure the total depth of the canvas
The third measurement is the total depth of the piece: with the canvas sitting on a table, how far off the table it is. The stretcher bar that was used when the canvas was stretched is what sets that number, and that number is what sets the rabbet depth — the inside depth of the tray the canvas drops into — of the frame you can use. A very common canvas is about an inch and a half off the table.
Measure the corners here too. Sometimes the canvas is folded underneath at the corners, which makes the piece slightly higher there than a measurement of the canvas alone. Again, use the largest number you find.
Depth is the most consequential number on the order, and it has a page of its own. If you want the detail — where the face of the canvas should end up, what to do when the canvas is thinner than the frame you want, what happens when it is deeper — read how to match canvas depth to a floater frame, then come back here for the rest of the steps.
Step 3: Pick a floater frame deep enough for your canvas
A floater frame is what we recommend for a stretched canvas. So the shopping starts by looking for a floater whose depth can accept the canvas you just measured.
The example canvas is 1-1/2" deep, which rules out a 1" rabbet straight away: a 1" rabbet will not take a 1-1/2" canvas. The minimum here is 1-1/2", and 1-5/8" is what we would recommend, because that extra eighth of an inch helps with the mounting and keeps the canvas from sitting above the face of the floater.
For the example we will use 3367, a black solid wood floater with a 1-5/8" rabbet. That is one worked example and not the only answer — browse all floater frames or floater frames for stretched canvas, and read the rabbet depth off the product page against the number you measured in step 2.
If your canvas turns out to be deeper than every frame you like the look of, that is a depth problem rather than a mounting problem, and the canvas depth guide is where it gets solved.
Step 4: Choose your float gap
The float gap, or float space, is the band of open space between the edge of your canvas and the inside of the frame. It is what makes the canvas look like it is floating, and it is set by the size we cut the frame to, which means you choose it when you order rather than adjusting it later.
The most common recommendation is 1/4" on all four sides. On the 12" x 12" example that means the inside of the frame gets cut at 12-1/2" x 12-1/2": a quarter inch at the top, a quarter at the bottom, and a quarter on each side. The extra half inch in each direction is simply the two quarter-inch gaps added together.
Plenty of people choose no spacing at all, on the assumption that no gap must be tidier than a gap. It is not what you want. The gap is the entire point of a floater frame, and it is also your margin for error: it takes up the slack if the stretcher bar is not perfectly square, or if those folded corners run a little wider than the middle of the canvas.
Step 5: Order the frame
Order the frame at your canvas size — 12 x 12 for the example — and tell us the float gap you want. We build the frame to suit.
You can order it as a kit with the hardware included, or just the frame on its own. The hardware on the example order is offset clips with screws, and for 3367 that is the 3/8" offset clip, plus hanging hardware: either a sawtooth hanger, or two D-rings and wire.
Clip size depends on the frame rather than on the canvas, and every floater frame on the site lists the clip size we suggest for that profile, so check the page for the floater you actually chose instead of assuming 3/8". If you are buying hardware separately, it is all in hardware.
Step 6: Check what arrived
On the example order what turns up is the 12-1/2" x 12-1/2" floater, built for your canvas, plus the mounting and hanging hardware if you ordered the kit.
If the floater is too large to ship fully assembled, it may arrive ready to assemble instead: four pieces rather than one finished frame. Build the frame first in that case, then pick the steps back up at step 7. The mounting is identical once the frame is together.
If it arrived ready to assemble
On the backside of each piece there are dovetailed grooves, and the frame comes with plastic plugs, the dovetail pieces, that go into those grooves. It is worth knowing what is doing the work: the glue in the miter cuts is what primarily holds the frame together, and the dovetails are mostly a placeholder that keeps the corner in position.
The one thing to get right is keeping the front of the floater tight while the glue dries. If the front opens up at all you will have a gap in the corners, and on a floater that gap is in plain sight. There is a full tutorial for it, assembling a ready to assemble floater frame, plus written instructions on the ready to assemble page and the general assembly instructions if you have a traditional frame to build as well.
Step 7: Set the canvas in the frame and hold the gap with spacers
Put the canvas into the floater and use temporary spacers to hold that quarter inch on all four sides. Cardboard shims, Post-it notes, playing cards — whatever household item keeps the spacing even until the canvas is fully mounted. The job of the spacers is to stop the canvas drifting off center while you work on the back.
Once it is sitting centered, carefully flip the canvas and the frame together, face down, onto a clean soft surface. Support them as one piece while you turn them over.
Step 8: Install the offset clips
An offset clip is a Z shape. The flat side sits on the frame, the clip steps down, and then it flattens out again onto the wooden stretcher bar. Screw the flat part into the backside of the floater, then drive a screw into the stretcher bar, so the clip ends up attached to both. That is what holds the canvas in the frame.
On a 12 x 12, one clip per side is enough. On a larger frame you may want more than one per side, especially along the longer sides. Work around all four sides the same way.
If you would rather watch this part before you try it, this is the same job on camera:
The full walkthrough lives on how to mount a canvas with offset clips.
Step 9: Pull the spacers and check the front
Flip the frame back over and take the spacers out. The canvas should be mounted with equal spacing on all four sides, and its face should sit level with the face of the floater or a hair below it. If something is off on one side, the clips come straight back out and you can reset it.
Step 10: Add hanging hardware, then hang it
Hanging works the same way on a floater frame and on a traditional frame, so this step does not change no matter which route you took.
On a piece the size of the example, a sawtooth hanger is sufficient. Tap it with a light hammer into the top center of the floater. Step by step: attaching a sawtooth hanger.
On anything larger, D-rings and wire are better, and they are the recommendation across the board because they can be used at any size. Install a D-ring about a third of the way down on each side of the frame, thread the wire through one ring and across to the other, and decide how taut you want it. Wire comes in different weight limits, so on an extra-large piece you can choose a wire that holds more weight. On a bigger frame use the large D-ring, and on a long skinny piece go with wire and rings rather than a single hanger in the middle. Adding hanging hardware walks through the whole thing.
Either way, you still need a hanger or hook on the wall for the frame to hang from.
Three places this goes wrong
- The measurement, and not knowing that the canvas depth dictates the rabbet depth. This is the most common problem by a distance. The depth of your canvas is not a detail, it is the requirement the frame has to meet, and the width and height have to come off the widest point rather than the middle.
- Choosing no float gap. People do this because nobody has explained what the gap is or why they want it. A quarter inch on all four sides is the recommendation, and step 4 covers what it buys you.
- Not knowing how to install the canvas once the frame arrives. How to use offset clips and mount the canvas properly in a floater is the third thing people get stuck on. That is steps 7 through 9, and the video covers it.
If you would rather use a traditional frame
A stretched canvas can go in a traditional frame. The ordering, the installation and the mounting all differ from a floater; the hanging does not. Our primary recommendation is still a floater, especially if the canvas has more depth to it.
The depth rule does not relax. The rabbet still has to be at least the depth of the stretched canvas, if not more.
The mounting is a bit easier than a floater, because you do not have to worry about the float gap and you are not mounting from the backside in the same way. Insert the stretched canvas into the back of the frame exactly as you would a picture. The lip on the front is what holds it in place. Then secure the backside with framer's points, or use offset clips the same way you would in a floater.
No glass and no glazing, on either style of frame. Once the canvas is secured, hang it as in step 10. There is a tutorial for this route too, mounting a canvas in a traditional frame. If you are still deciding, floater frame vs traditional frame puts the two next to each other, and canvas frames has the shopping for both.
A canvas that is warped, old or out of square
The first decision is whether the piece is still usable. If it is, installing it into a real wood frame like the ones we provide can often flatten or level those issues out once the canvas is fully mounted.
Out of square is where the float gap earns its keep. Hopefully the canvas is only slightly off. The frame will be square, so leave yourself at least a 1/4" float gap, and the fact that the canvas is not square becomes much less visible once it is installed with a good float space.
If you are concerned the canvas is not usable at all, one option is taking it to a professional to have it re-stretched. Whether that is worth doing depends on both the sentimental and the monetary value of the piece.
Watch it done
There are tutorial videos for each part of this, and they are a good resource while you are working on your own. They live on the FAQ and videos pages:
- Mounting a canvas with offset clips
- Mounting a canvas to a floater frame
- Mounting a canvas in a traditional frame
- Assembling a ready to assemble floater frame
- Adding hanging hardware
- Attaching a sawtooth hanger
If you get stuck
We do not do any installation of canvases or any artwork, so there is no version of this where you send us the piece and we do it instead. What we can do is help you over the phone while you have the canvas in front of you. Call 727-572-4064 or send us your measurements, and lean on the tutorial videos while you work.
Related
- How to match canvas depth to a floater frame
- Floater frames for stretched canvas
- All floater frames
- Canvas frames
- Hardware
- Floater frame vs traditional frame
Frequently asked questions
What are the steps to frame a canvas?
Measure the width and height at the corners, measure the total depth of the canvas, pick a floater frame with a rabbet at least as deep as the canvas, choose your float gap, and order the frame at your canvas size. When it arrives, set the canvas in the frame with temporary spacers holding the gap, flip it face down, install offset clips into the frame and the stretcher bar, pull the spacers, then add hanging hardware and hang it.
How do I measure a stretched canvas for a frame?
Take three measurements: width, height and total depth. Measure the width and height in more than one place, corner to corner and not just middle to middle, because the canvas is folded over at the corners and those folds can make it larger than a middle measurement. For the depth, measure how far off the table the canvas sits, corners included, since canvas folded underneath can make it slightly higher there. Use the largest number you find each time.
What depth frame do I need for a 1-1/2" canvas?
A 1" rabbet will not take a 1-1/2" canvas. The minimum is 1-1/2", and 1-5/8" is what we recommend, because that extra eighth of an inch helps with the mounting and keeps the canvas from sitting above the face of the floater. 3367 is a 1-5/8" example.
What float gap should I use on a floater frame?
1/4" on all four sides is the most common recommendation. On a 12" x 12" canvas that means the inside of the frame is cut at 12-1/2" x 12-1/2", since the extra half inch in each direction is the two quarter-inch gaps added together. Do not choose no spacing. The gap is what makes a floater a floater, and it gives you margin if the stretcher bar is not quite square or the corner folds run wide.
Does frame 3367 need 3/8" offset clips?
What tools do I need to frame a canvas?
A tape measure, offset clips in the right size, and a screwdriver for the clip screws going into both the frame and the wooden stretcher bar. You may want a drill, but most of the time a handheld screwdriver is enough. Add household items such as cardboard as temporary spacers to hold the float gap, and hanging hardware. That is everything if the frame arrives fully assembled; a ready to assemble frame needs a bit more. You can order the frame as a kit with the hardware included, or order the hardware separately.
Can I put a stretched canvas in a traditional frame?
Yes, though a floater is still our primary recommendation, especially if the canvas has more depth. The rabbet has to be at least the depth of the stretched canvas, if not more. Mounting is a bit easier than a floater since there is no float gap to manage and you are not mounting from the backside in the same way: insert the canvas into the back of the frame just as you would a picture, let the lip hold it, and secure the backside with framer's points or offset clips.
Does a canvas in a frame need glass?
No. No glass and no glazing, in a floater frame or in a traditional frame.
My canvas is warped or not square. Can it still be framed?
First decide whether the piece is still usable. If it is, installing it into a real wood frame like the ones we provide can often flatten or level those issues once it is fully mounted. If it is out of square, hopefully only slightly, the float gap is what saves you: the frame will be square, so leave at least 1/4" of float and the canvas being off square becomes much less visible. If you are concerned it is not usable at all, one option is taking it to a professional to have it re-stretched, which is a judgment call based on the sentimental and monetary value.
Should I hang a framed canvas with a sawtooth hanger or wire?
A sawtooth tapped into the top center of the frame is sufficient on a small piece such as a 12 x 12. On anything larger, or on a long skinny piece, D-rings and wire are better, and they are the recommendation overall because they work at any size. Wire comes in different weight limits, so on an extra-large piece you can choose a wire that holds more weight. You still need a hanger or hook on the wall either way.
Do you install the canvas in the frame for me?
No. We do not do any installation of canvases or any artwork, so there is no version where you send us the piece and we mount it. We can help over the phone at 727-572-4064 while you have the canvas in front of you, and the tutorial videos are a good resource when you are doing it on your own.
My floater frame arrived in four pieces. What do I do?
That is a ready to assemble frame, which is how a floater ships when it is too large to ship fully assembled. Assemble it first, then follow the same mounting steps. The backside has dovetailed grooves and plastic dovetail plugs that go into them, but the glue in the miter cuts is what primarily holds the frame together, so keep the front of the floater tight while the glue dries or you will have a gap in the corners. Full walkthrough: assembling a ready to assemble floater frame.