Guide · 6 min read
How to sell custom picture framing by size on Shopify
Custom framing has more moving parts than most made-to-measure products: the moulding follows the edge of the frame, the glass and mount follow its area, and the mount border makes the frame bigger than the artwork. Here's how framers price it, how to turn that into a live price on the product page, and the details that prevent remakes.
Three ways to sell framing
1. Ready-made sizes only
A4, A3, 30 × 40 cm and so on, as variants. Easy to list, but most artwork, photos and certificates people want framed aren't a standard size, and that's exactly the business a custom framer is in.
2. A price table by size band
A table of size bands per moulding works on a shop counter, but online it multiplies quickly: every moulding × every glass × mount or no mount. Customers have to find their band, and in-between sizes are always overcharged or undercharged.
3. A calculator on the product page
The customer types the artwork size, picks the moulding, mount and glass, and sees the price immediately. The frame specification goes onto the order, ready for the workshop. This is what the rest of this guide sets up.
A worked example
Artwork of 40 × 50 cm with a 5 cm mount border makes a frame of 50 × 60 cm. Oak moulding at £18 per metre of perimeter is 2.2 m × £18 = £39.60. Standard glass at £40/m² and a mount at £25/m² on 0.30 m² add £12.00 + £7.50, and fitting is £10. The total is £69.10. Try your own:
The customer enters the artwork size; the mount border is added on every side to get the frame size that everything else is priced on.
The details that prevent remakes
- Ask for the artwork size, not the frame size. It's what customers can measure, and the frame size follows from it and the mount border.
- Mount windows overlap the artwork. The window is cut a few millimetres smaller than the artwork on each side, so it holds the edges. Say so on the page, so customers don't expect the full image edge to show.
- Waste on the moulding. Each mitred corner uses extra length, roughly the moulding's width per corner. Build it into the rate per metre, or add it as a small allowance.
- A minimum charge and a fitting fee. A tiny frame takes nearly as long to cut, join and fit as a large one.
- Size limits per moulding and glazing. Thin mouldings can't carry large glass. Set a maximum size for each, and consider acrylic only above a certain size to keep shipping safe.
- Shipping by size. Large frames need bigger, stronger packaging; a surcharge above a set frame size keeps delivery from eating the margin.
Setting it up with a calculator
Here's how it looks with MeasureLab, the calculator app we make. The same ideas apply to any calculator app.
- Open the product in MeasureLab and start from the “Picture framing” template, or start blank.
- Add Artwork width and height inputs in cm or inches, with the smallest and largest sizes you frame.
- Add the mount border as a number input or a few choices (none, 3 cm, 5 cm, 8 cm). The frame size is the artwork size plus twice the border.
- Add the moulding as a choice where each option carries its own price per metre, multiplied by the frame's perimeter.
- Add glazing and the mount as choices priced per m² of the frame size.
- Set your rules in Pricing rules: the fitting fee, a minimum charge, and a shipping surcharge above a set size.
- Publish, then place the calculator block on your product page in the theme editor.
The order then reads like a workshop ticket: artwork size, frame size, moulding, mount and glazing, with the price checked again at checkout.
Questions
How is custom framing usually priced?
The moulding by the length needed, which follows the frame's perimeter; the glass, mount and backing by the frame's area; plus a fitting fee and a minimum charge for small frames.
What are united inches?
Width plus height in inches, a quick way US framers band their prices. A 16 × 20 inch frame is 36 united inches. It works as a shortcut for the perimeter, which is twice the united inches.
Should customers enter the artwork size or the frame size?
The artwork size, because that's what they can measure. The calculator adds the mount border on each side to get the frame size, so everything is priced on the right dimensions.
Glass or acrylic for large frames?
Large frames are heavy and risky to ship with glass, so many framers switch to acrylic above a certain size, or offer glass as collection-only for oversized pieces.
Can customers measure in inches?
Yes, if the calculator converts units. In MeasureLab, turn on the unit switch and customers type in inches or centimetres; it's converted before the price is worked out.