Wal-Mart Frame Sizes

elemental · Dec 17, 2008

I am doing some prints for Christmas presents, and I want to put them in some inexpensive frames. The only problem is, I don't know what sizes you can get at your average big-box retailer for cheap (I'm not really looking to go custom framing on these). One of them will be a 4:5 ratio. I was going to do 8x10, but would a store like this carry bigger frames in that same aspect ratio? The other is 35mm and can't be cropped too heavily, so it's going to need to be 2:3. Are 12x18 frames easy to come by? 8x12? Unfortunately, I am going to need to get the frames after I order the prints, so I need to make this decision rather uninformed. Anyone have an idea?

Big Mike · Dec 17, 2008

Wal-mart (and every other place) will have 4x6, 5x7 & 8x10 frames of all sorts.

They would probably have 8x12, 11x14, 16x20 etc.

Johnboy2978 · Dec 17, 2008

elemental said:
I am doing some prints for Christmas presents, and I want to put them in some inexpensive frames. (I'm not really looking to go custom framing on these).

Just FYI for future reference, you can get some nice frames for relatively inexpensively at americanframe.com I use them for all my framing needs and do my own matting as well.

JMD · Dec 17, 2008

Where do you buy mats and what would I need to begin cutting my own mats? It is something that I have thought about doing but I don't really know where to start.
Thanks
Justin

Johnboy2978 said:
Just FYI for future reference, you can get some nice frames for relatively inexpensively at americanframe.com I use them for all my framing needs and do my own matting as well.

OldClicker · Dec 17, 2008

Look on Walmart.com. - TF

rdzmzda · Dec 17, 2008

must agree look at wal mart.com would simply answer that question....but as a side note....i dont know if you have a linens and things where you live....but the one where i live (and maybe whole company i dont know) is going out of business. so needless to say i bought practically every frame they had in stock haha so i ended up with like 1k worth of frames for like 200 bucks

yay me guess what everyones getting for christmas

reg · Dec 17, 2008

Well the stock will depend on what's at YOUR walmart.... so call your walmart. They'll probably have the standard 4x6, 8x10 etc

Happy Hour · Dec 17, 2008

I get all my gift frames from wal-mart I think the average price for a 8x10 there is between $3.00-$8.00 and around the same for 5x7 I think for Easter I bought a bunch of black frame 8x10's for $5.00 each

Johnboy2978 · Dec 17, 2008

JMD said:
Where do you buy mats and what would I need to begin cutting my own mats? It is something that I have thought about doing but I don't really know where to start.
Thanks
Justin

Hobby Lobby is the most reasonably priced. Michaels is okay, but more expensive. I recently framed 8 16x20" prints for my office and spent just under $100 from americanframe.com for Nielson style gallery metal frames. At Hobby Lobby, I spent about $40 on mat (which comes in 32x40" pieces), foam board, and the glass. So for under $150 I framed 8 16x20. Can't beat that. If I had taken that to a custom frame shop I would've paid that much for 1 with the same features. Look into a 42" Fletcher mat-mate I think it's called. On Ebay you should find them for under or around $150. It will cut all of your mats to size and also has a 45 degree bevel cut for the inner window. It will pay for itself the first time you use it, believe me. For glass, I always wait for a sale at Hobby Lobby and buy up all the 16x20 glass they have. It will cost $7.99 normally which isn't bad. I also have all the stuff to do stained glass which is another hobby, but if you want to cut your own, you can get a really nice pistol grip glass cutter from Mcgillswarehouse.com for under $5. Same thing cost me $35 at my stained glass dealer. You can get the morton board system which will help you insure you are cutting straight lines, but that's overkill if your just cutting glass for frames. A nice framing square from Home Depot will work as well.

You can also buy some attachment for the mat cutte to do ovals and circles but I never got into that. It's really an easy thing to master and if you buy some scrap mat board, you can cut like a pro in a matter of minutes. Measure twice and cut once. It's only tricky if you're cutting multiple windows in the same mat like if you were framing a tryptich or something.

Josh66 · Dec 17, 2008

The Walmart here has a pretty good selection. They have pretty much everything up to 16x20 (I think), matted and unmatted. I wouldn't expect all of them to have that kind of selection though (not really sure why it's so good here - the "frames" section is huge...).

elemental · Dec 18, 2008

O|||||||O said:
The Walmart here has a pretty good selection. They have pretty much everything up to 16x20 (I think), matted and unmatted. I wouldn't expect all of them to have that kind of selection though (not really sure why it's so good here - the "frames" section is huge...).

That's what I thought. I did check the website, and I could only find 8x10s max, but I could have sworn my roommate got a 16x20 for a landscape that's on our wall. Thanks for confirming.

Also, thanks to everyone who suggested other sources. I am very open to looking around, and I have most of those places around me at home.

andrew99 · Dec 18, 2008

Michaels sells various sizes of pre-cut mats. They also sell the mat cutting machine and large sheets of mat board if you want to DIY. I went that route. It takes some patience and practice, but definitely doable and much cheaper. Don't buy a cheap cutter, though. Mine was around $100 and is still a pit of a pain to use, lol!

Chewbecca · Dec 18, 2008

We just went to walmart, Target, and Micheal's for frames.
Walmart (and everywhere else) have your standards:4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, and 16x20) And a few GIGANTIC sizes.
But we were specifically looking for a few 10x10 frames and a 12x24 frame.
Everywhere was a NO-GO for those sizes. Oddball sizes most likely will NOT be easily found, if at all.

But Michael's has the BEST selection of your common store. And their frames are WAY on sale right now. And they're pretty nice, I think.

elemental · Dec 18, 2008

It looks like the prints are going to be 11 x 14 (which shouldn't be an issue) and 12 x 12 (which I am a little worried about). I do wish I could get bigger square prints- it's definitely my favorite aspect ratio. Oh well. I could always add some white space and cut it myself, but those big rectangle prints are not cheap.

I am very interested to see a square crop 35mm scan at 12 x 12. The scan is 300dpi at 16 x 24, so file resolution is not an issue, but I guess we'll see about quality. It was shot through a thoroughly awful lens (Quantaray 28-80 on my mom's N75, a.k.a. my least favorite SLR) and the film was a tad expired (NPS 160, which was very impressive), so there are plenty of variables.