Frame size chart

This is the lookup page: start from the size you have and read across to the frame you need. Every measurement is given in inches and centimetres, with the matted option alongside the unmatted one, because those are two different frame purchases and confusing them is the single most common framing mistake.

How to read the chart

Three columns matter.

Artwork size is what you physically have — measure it, do not trust the label.

Frame, no mat is the frame you buy if the artwork should fill the opening completely. This number always equals the artwork size.

Frame with mat is the frame you buy if the artwork should sit inside a border. It is larger, and the mat that goes with it will be described by the artwork size, not by the frame size. A mat sold as "16x20 with an 11x14 opening" goes in a 16x20 frame and displays an 11x14 print.

Photo and print sizes

The matted column follows a simple rule: add four inches to each dimension for a standard border, or six for a generous one. Everything in that column is a size you can buy ready-made.

Metric and A-series sizes

"Loose" here means the paper rattles inside the rabbet and can shift visibly. It is fixable with a mat, and it is not fixable by hoping.

Sizes grouped by ratio

If you scale within a ratio family, an image fits every size in the family with no cropping. This is the most useful way to think about frame sizes once you have understood the basic chart.

Note what is missing from the 3:2 row: 8x10 and 16x20. Those are 5:4. A photograph straight from a camera is 3:2, which is why it never quite fits the two most commonly stocked frame sizes in the United States. Use the aspect ratio calculator if you are unsure which family your image belongs to.

Mat opening reference

Ready-made mats are cut with an overlap so the artwork cannot fall through — normally a quarter of an inch on each side. The opening you see is therefore slightly smaller than the artwork it holds.

Outside dimensions for wall planning

The frame size is not the wall space. Add twice the moulding width in each direction:

For a gallery wall, add another two to three inches of gap between frames on top of these numbers. That is why a "nine frame grid of 11x14s" needs roughly five feet of wall, not four.

Printing a copy

This chart is deliberately plain so it prints legibly on a single sheet. Print the page, fold it into a tape measure case, and you will never again buy the wrong frame because you were guessing in an aisle. If you would rather work from your own dimensions than from a table, the aspect ratio calculator does the same job interactively and matches your exact numbers against every standard frame.

Weights, for planning wall fixings

Assembled weights with a wooden moulding and a mat, which is what determines the hook you need:

Rate fixings for roughly three times the frame's weight. Drywall anchors fail progressively as the board crumbles around them, not cleanly at their rated load. Full detail is in the hanging guide.

Pixels needed by print size

At 300 DPI for close viewing, and 200 DPI for anything hung on a wall:

Use the 200 DPI column for anything that will hang on a wall and be viewed from more than about four feet. Use 300 for prints held in the hand or examined closely.