Custom vs Ready-Made Picture Frames: When Each One Makes Sense
Most artwork can go either way. The four things that decide it are size, value, what the piece physically needs and the look you want. A straight guide to when a ready-made frame is the right buy, when to commission, and the halfway option in between, with UK price points for both routes.
Most artwork can be framed either way, and a good framer will tell you so. A ready-made frame from a shop or an online retailer is the right answer for a surprising amount of what people want to hang. A custom frame is the right answer for the rest, and the difference between the two cases is not snobbery. It comes down to four things: the size of the piece, what it is worth to you, what it physically needs in order to survive, and the look you are after.
This guide sets out both routes plainly, including the halfway option most people do not know exists, so you can decide without being talked into anything.
The short answer
Buy a ready-made frame when the artwork is a standard size, flat, replaceable, going somewhere benign, and needed quickly or in quantity. Commission a custom frame when the piece is a non-standard size, has real or sentimental value, needs conservation materials or a particular glazing, has depth, or when you want a specific profile, colour or finish that nobody stocks.
| Factor | Ready-made frame | Custom frame |
|---|---|---|
| Artwork size | Standard A-series or photo size | Any size, built to the millimetre |
| Value | Replaceable prints and posters | Originals, editions, anything irreplaceable |
| Condition and age | New, robust, flat | Old, fragile, works on paper, photographs |
| Depth | Flat only | Objects, textiles, anything in relief |
| Glazing | Standard glass or styrene | UV-filtering, anti-reflective, museum glass, acrylic |
| Materials touching the art | Standard board and backing | Conservation board, reversible hinging, sealed back |
| Look | Whatever is in the range | Profile, finish and colour chosen for the piece |
| Timescale | Same day | Two to three weeks |
| Typical cost | Around £20 to £80 | From around £200 |
When a ready-made frame works and when a custom frame is the better call
What a ready-made frame actually is
A ready-made frame is made in volume to a fixed set of sizes. The moulding is usually MDF, softwood or a plastic profile wrapped in foil or veneer. The glazing is thin float glass or a clear styrene sheet. If a mount is included, it is standard board with a window cut to a set aperture. The backing is hardboard or MDF held in with flexible tabs, and the hanging fitting is sized for a light frame.
None of that is a criticism. It is what makes the price possible, and for a print you would happily replace it is entirely proportionate. The trade-off is simple: the artwork has to fit the frame rather than the frame fitting the artwork. If your piece is one of the standard sizes, that is no trade-off at all. Our guides to standard picture frame sizes, frame sizes for A-sized prints and frame sizes for common photo sizes cover exactly which sizes those are.
What changes when a frame is made to measure
A custom frame starts from the artwork rather than from a catalogue. The frame is built to the dimensions of the piece, and the mount is cut on a Gunnar precision mount cutter to the exact aperture and border the piece needs, rather than the nearest one available. The moulding is solid timber or welded aluminium. The glazing is chosen for where the piece will hang: standard glass for a hallway, UV-filtering glass at 99% for anything in daylight, anti-reflective or museum glass where reflections matter, acrylic where weight or safety does. Where the piece warrants it, the board is conservation grade, the hinging is reversible and the back is sealed. The hanging hardware is rated for the finished weight.
The finish is chosen too. A moulding can be stained, waxed, gilded or sprayed to a colour, which is how a frame ends up matching a piece or a room rather than approximately suiting it. Our custom framing service covers the full range, and conservation framing covers the protective end of it.
When a ready-made frame is the right choice
A print or poster in a standard size. If it arrived in an A3 tube, it fits an A3 frame, or an A2 frame with a mount.
Decorative pieces you will change. Seasonal prints, a rotating gallery wall, children's artwork that gets swapped every term.
Anything you could buy again. This is the most useful test there is. The question is not what the piece cost but whether you could get another one.
A gift needed today, or a dozen matching frames for a display on a budget.
Somewhere benign. A bedroom wall out of direct sun asks much less of a frame than a south-facing kitchen.
When custom framing is the right call
A non-standard size. Most original artwork is, and most prints bought from an artist directly are cut to the image rather than to a paper standard. Ready-made ranges also stop well short of large work.
Real or sentimental value. Original paintings, signed or limited edition prints, family photographs, certificates, anything you would be upset to lose.
Age or fragility. Works on paper, photographs and textiles are damaged over time by standard mount board, unfiltered light and glazing in direct contact. A frame that costs less than the piece and then discolours it is a poor economy. Our guide to the signs a frame is damaging artwork shows what that looks like.
Depth. A shirt, a set of medals, a christening gown or anything three-dimensional needs a box frame built to the depth of the object, with mounting that holds it without adhesive.
A specific look. A particular profile width, a colour matched to a room, a gilded finish, a slim metal frame, or a mount in a proportion that the pre-cut packs do not offer. Our guide to colour-matching frames to interiors covers the room side of that decision.
Scale. Anything over about 1.2 metres on the long edge needs the frame engineered for the weight and the glazing, which is large picture frame territory rather than something a shop stocks.
The cost gap, honestly
A ready-made frame costs roughly £20 to £80 for most sizes at a high street or online retailer, with larger sizes and better ranges above that. Custom framing at Harten starts from around £200 for a standard piece, with a solid timber moulding, standard glass and a single mount. Box frames start from around £350. Museum-grade framing starts from around £300 for simple A4 work. Oversized and welded frames start from around £500. Our minimum order value for new clients is £300.
| Route | Typical cost | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Ready-made frame | Around £20 to £80 | Fixed size, standard glazing, standard mount if any |
| Ready-made frame with a custom mount | Frame cost plus the mount | A mount cut to the artwork inside a stock frame |
| Custom framing, standard | From around £200 | Built to size, solid moulding, standard glass, one mount |
| Custom framing, museum-grade | From around £300 for simple A4 work | Conservation principles with top-specification components |
| Custom box frame | From around £350 | Depth built to the object, reversible mounting |
| Oversized or welded frame | From around £500 | Engineered for scale and weight |
Typical UK cost by route, inclusive of VAT
So the gap is real. A custom frame for an A3 print costs several times the ready-made equivalent, and there is no point pretending otherwise. What the difference buys is a frame built to the piece, materials that will not damage it, glazing chosen for the room, and someone who has looked at the artwork and made those decisions deliberately. Our guide to custom framing costs breaks the price down line by line, and our comparison of bespoke framing and the high street covers the service side.
The halfway option: a ready-made frame with a custom mount
There is a middle route that closes most of the visual gap for a fraction of the cost, and it suits a lot of standard-size work. Keep the ready-made frame and replace the mount with one cut to the artwork.
It works in two situations. The first is a print that is a standard size but wants a wider, narrower or coloured border than the pre-cut mount gives it. The second is a print slightly smaller than any standard frame, where a mount cut to the image lets it sit properly in the next size up instead of floating loose. A mount cut to measure, with the bottom border weighted a little heavier than the top, is most of what makes a framed print look finished. Our reference on standard mount sizes gives the aperture and border dimensions.
Two caveats. A ready-made frame has a shallow rebate, so a thicker conservation board plus glazing plus backing may not fit behind the tabs. And the mount does nothing about the glazing or the backing board, so the artwork is still sitting on standard materials. For a replaceable print that is fine. For anything valuable it is not the answer.
The same logic applies to a frame you already own. If it is a good frame in sound condition, a framer can fit a new mount, new glazing and a new sealed backing to it, which is often the best of both. At Harten our minimum order value for new clients is £300, so a single mount on its own is below what we take on, but a set of mounts for a gallery wall, or a mount as part of a wider framing order, is straightforward.
When to go a step further
For a small group of pieces the question is not ready-made against custom but conservation against museum-grade. The two are tiers of the same approach rather than synonyms. Conservation framing means UV-filtering glazing, conservation board, reversible hinging and a sealed back. Museum-grade applies the same principles with the highest-specification components: Tru Vue Museum Glass or Optium Museum Acrylic, 100% cotton rag board and the most careful execution at every step. Signed and limited edition prints, archival photographic prints, original works on paper and anything irreplaceable belong at one of those two levels. Our guides to conservation versus museum-grade framing and museum-grade framing costs set out where the line falls.
A simple way to decide
Ask three questions. Is the piece a standard size? Could you replace it? Does it need anything a shop frame does not provide, meaning depth, protective glazing, archival materials or a particular finish? If the answers are yes, yes and no, buy a ready-made frame and spend the difference on the next print. Any other pattern, and it is worth a conversation with a framer before you decide.
We have been framing from the workshop in Bollington since 1974 and we are members of the Fine Art Trade Guild and the Museums Association. Send us the dimensions and a photograph and we will tell you honestly which route the piece deserves. Custom framing carries our 5 year guarantee.
Frequently Asked Questions
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It depends on the piece rather than the budget. For a standard-size print you could buy again, a ready-made frame at around £20 to £80 is the proportionate choice. For anything non-standard in size, anything with real or sentimental value, anything with depth, or anything that needs protective glazing and archival materials, custom framing from around £200 is worth it because it protects the piece and is built to it. The most useful test is not what the artwork cost but whether you could get another one.
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When the artwork is a standard A-series or photo size, flat, replaceable and going somewhere out of strong light, and when you need it today or need a dozen matching frames on a budget. Posters, decorative prints, rotating gallery walls and children's artwork all sit comfortably in ready-made frames.
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Yes, and it is the best-value upgrade there is for a standard-size print that wants a wider, narrower or coloured border, or for a print slightly smaller than any stock frame. Two caveats: a ready-made frame has a shallow rebate, so a thicker conservation board may not fit behind the tabs, and the mount does nothing about the glazing or the backing, so valuable work still needs a properly built frame. At Harten a single mount on its own falls below our £300 minimum order for new clients, but a set of mounts or a mount within a wider order is straightforward.
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In the UK, the A-series from A6 up to A1, the imperial photo sizes from 4 x 6 inches up to around 24 x 36 inches, and a handful of square formats. Frames sized to take a print with a mount are stocked at the most common pairings, such as A4 into A3 and 8 x 10 into 11 x 14. Anything outside those sizes, and anything large, is custom territory.
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Over years, it can. Standard mount board and backing are not acid-free and discolour paper in contact with them, standard glass blocks only around 45% of ultraviolet light so colours fade in daylight, and without a mount the artwork sits directly against the glazing, where moisture and adhesion cause damage. For a replaceable print over a few years none of that matters much. For a signed print, a photograph or an original it does, and that is the case for conservation framing.
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A ready-made frame costs roughly £20 to £80. Custom framing at Harten starts from around £200 for a standard piece, museum-grade from around £300 for simple A4 work, box frames from around £350 and oversized or welded frames from around £500, with a £300 minimum order value for new clients. The gap is several times over for a small print and narrows as the work gets larger, because ready-made ranges stop where the difficult framing begins.
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Usually, yes. UV-filtering or anti-reflective glazing can be cut to fit a stock frame provided the rebate is deep enough, and 2mm glass generally is. It is only worth doing if the frame itself is sound and the moulding is something you want to keep. If the frame is MDF or plastic and the artwork matters, the money is better put towards a frame built for it.
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