Size, Mats & Proportion at the VanArtHub gallery in Vancouver

Size, mats & proportion

Getting the measurements and the proportions right

Measuring, mat borders, frame sizes, and the proportions that make a small painting look considered instead of lost. Includes our free frame and mat calculator.

Proportion is why one framed picture looks expensive and another looks cheap

Two pieces can use exactly the same moulding and the same glass, and one will look considered while the other looks like it came from a supermarket. The difference is almost always the proportions: how wide the mat is, whether the bottom border is weighted, and whether the frame was cut to the piece or the piece was squeezed into the frame.

None of this is difficult, and most of it is arithmetic. This hub includes a free calculator that does the arithmetic for you and draws the result to scale.

5050 Equal borders Measures right. Looks like it is sliding down. 5060 Weighted bottom Measures uneven. Looks centred.
Left: equal borders on all four sides. Right: the same mat with the bottom border cut about 20 percent deeper. The eye reads the centre of a frame as slightly above the true centre, so an evenly cut mat looks bottom-heavy and the work appears to sag. Weighting the bottom corrects it.

Every guide in this hub

Size, Mats & Proportion

Tools

Measuring

Proportion

Buying

By size

Common questions

Questions about sizing and matting

How wide should the mat be?

Wider than feels necessary. A narrow mat reads as a mistake, and a generous one reads as a decision. As a starting point, make the border wider than the frame is, and weight the bottom edge slightly. The calculator will do this for you.

Why is the bottom of a mat cut deeper?

Because the eye reads the centre of a frame as slightly above the true centre. Cut all four borders equally and the picture looks like it is sliding downwards. Adding roughly 20 percent to the bottom corrects it.

Can I use a standard frame for an original?

Almost never, and it is not worth trying. Ready-made frames are cut to photographic paper sizes and an original is whatever size the artist made it. Forcing the fit means either trimming the work or leaving it loose in the rebate.

Does a bigger painting need a wider frame?

Usually, but for structural reasons as much as visual ones. A large frame has to be stiff enough not to bow across the span, and that means a deeper section, which reads wider from the front.

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Framed by us

Rather just ask someone who does this every day?

We frame original paintings in-house, at our gallery on Davie Street. Send the measurements and a photograph and we will tell you what the piece needs, including when the answer is that it needs nothing.

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