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Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

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Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#71

Post by jhubball »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #50

Related sidebar: last week I was on holiday and took some nice landscape photographs. They were nice enough that I had a few people on my social networks ask if I could frame them. Being a computer nerd and not a professional photographer, I was at a bit of a loss. I ended up googling for professional print services online and ordering some sample prints. Here's the thing: contrary to this article, they offered backi…

We'll soon be able to print and frame your photos - and thinking about making them available (opt-in of course) for other people to purchase. Would love to know if that interests you (or anyone else here). Also feel free to sign up for the newsletter on the site (the bottom button in the footer at www.levleframes.com) to stay posted. And hanks for sharing that experience!

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#72

Post by jtheory »

noir_lord wrote: post #59

Have you considered letting the customer upload an image of their artwork so they can get an idea of what it will look like even better?. Love the UX btw.

There's a site I use when I'm in Malaysia visiting my in-laws that's worth checking out: Frambie.com -- they go a step further in that direction, and focus on printing & framing digital photos that you upload.

So I can upload photos of my kids and their cousins, choose frames (from a handful of frame options and about a dozen possible sizes -- not custom-sized!) and they ship me framed prints ready to hang on the wall.

Pricing starts at < $4 for a framed, matted 4x6 photo -- though obviously this is a different sort of product from the OP's custom framing (and also production costs will be significantly lower in Malaysia).

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#73

Post by pjbrunet »

I tried your widget and I wouldn't really call that "custom" picture framing. If I was you, I wouldn't call custom picture framing a racket. Your suppliers won't be pleased to hear you belittle their passion. Your two examples demonstrate no understanding of color or form. It's like you folded an Origami crane and you're already calling Michelangelo a hack.

Here's a tip, the shape of the frame moulding can enhance the structure of the composition. You need a good eye for composition to see something like that. That's just one of many factors you would consider when choosing frames, mats, fillets, etc. Your Joey Roth print there would look better with a tapered frame. Even if you could represent a moulding in 3D, you need a professional designer to coordinate all the desires of the customer. Custom picture framing is a personal, intimate, complex business.

Here's my full response: http://pjbrunet.com/custom-picture-framing-falling-glass-raz...

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#74

Post by stan_rogers »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #50

Related sidebar: last week I was on holiday and took some nice landscape photographs. They were nice enough that I had a few people on my social networks ask if I could frame them. Being a computer nerd and not a professional photographer, I was at a bit of a loss. I ended up googling for professional print services online and ordering some sample prints. Here's the thing: contrary to this article, they offered backi…

Well, here's the thing: "backing" is considered antithetical to proper framing, for the most part. That may be less of a concern with digital prints (no matter the medium), since those prints can easily be recreated as necessary, but full-surface mounting to a rigid substrate is not a reversible process; once it's done, it's done. And while that may be good enough for most people most of the time (for decorative applications or commercial display) it's not something that anyone who is selling into the "fine art" world would touch with a ten-foot (or three-metre) pole. Conservationally-sound framing (with reversible hinges, etc.) is fiddly, time-consuming stuff and requires a lot of horizontal storage space for drying, etc., between stages. And you'd have to deal with expensive and easy-to-break museum glass if you offer glossy prints. Since the market is largely dry-mount or frame, and framing is the fiddly, expensive and (relatively) low-margin part of the trade, that's the easier option to drop.

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#75

Post by alaskamiller »

bradleyjg wrote: post #51
jhubball wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the feedback! Price-wise, there is almost no way a wooden frame of that size with a framers-grade acrylic could ever get down to that size. Cost of the wood alone is ~$0.30 per linear inch. For me, I think it's wonderful that you can get a great print or poster for $40. That problem has been solved. But you can tell a cheap frame from a quality one every time.

That just doesn't sit right. It is like if you had to pay significantly more for a belt than for the pants they are holding up. I get sticker shock every time I go to buy a nice poster, print, or art piece at what seems like a very reasonable price and then see the cost triple or quadruple when I add the frame and shipping.

It is like having on a dapper outfit, stepping out but then your outdoor jacket looks bad. A jacket compliments an outfit, like how a frame compliments art.

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#77

Post by aaronbrethorst »

pjbrunet wrote: post #73

I tried your widget and I wouldn't really call that "custom" picture framing. If I was you, I wouldn't call custom picture framing a racket. Your suppliers won't be pleased to hear you belittle their passion. Your two examples demonstrate no understanding of color or form. It's like you folded an Origami crane and you're already calling Michelangelo a hack. Here's a tip, the shape of the frame moulding can enhance th…

From your blog post:

    The cheap frame from the discount store
    has unsafe hangers and it’s not sealed
    and it’s barely held together by cheap
    staples and the thin, chipped glass
    inside is a death trap in disguise.
I've spend a good deal of time today reading responses from other posters on this thread today. I think I can bucket them into three groups:

    "This is too expensive"
This represents the bulk of the responses: people who are used to buying cheap discount store frame you describe. The 80% case.

    "Are you kidding? This is cheap!"
People like me, who represent most of the other 20%. I can appreciate the $300 and the $900 designs you reference, but I'm not willing to pay either amount. I'm not framing an Ansel Adams or a Henri Cartier-Bresson print.

    "This doesn't stand up to my expectations"
As far as I can tell, only you in this thread. That's not to say that your viewpoint is invalid. Far from it. But, instead, it fails to recognize that there is a meaningfully large mid-market that doesn't want a $10 death-trap, but is also unwilling to spend as much as it would cost to buy a used Hasselblad[0] on framing a print.

Getting that personalized, one-on-one, high-end experience would be fantastic. But it's also clearly not an experience that would work well with cutting out the middleman. Especially when that middleman is incapable of providing the MFA-requiring experience you eloquently described.

[0] No really, my Hasselblad 501CM, plus an 80mm ƒ/2.8 Zeiss Planar lens, plus a film back cost me about $950 earlier this year. They're all in great shape, and produce the best photographs I've gotten from any camera I've ever owned.

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#78

Post by analog31 »

This is a problem that I've experienced myself. I came up with a practical frame recipe for me and my ol' table saw, but it isn't for everybody. And it never occurred to me that it could be the basis of an Internet business. So, hats off to you, and I hope it's successful.

I wonder if polystyrene is cheaper than acrylic. I don't know its UV protection properties.

I didn't look too closely at your site: Can people upload a picture of their artwork to display in your frame design UI?

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#79

Post by realcul »

donall wrote: post #11

This has great potential. I plugged in some random numbers and the basic offering seemed to cost around $100, though, which is still significantly more than the cost of a cheap poster. Can you talk a little about the price breakdown here? Or perhaps that would reveal the secret sauce?

what are some good places that people get some cheap posters from? especially to get some custom posters printed from an image.

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#80

Post by cptskippy »

drone wrote: post #67

To the OP, have you seen Pictureframes.com? I ask, because if you spend a few minutes here: http://www.pictureframes.com/personal-frame-shop/set-size ... you can quote a custom frame for a 20x16" print, with no mat, a black wood 7/8" frame, and "standard glazing" (which by that, I presume you mean acrylic) for $61.55. If the effort is just to be inexpensive, I think long-time online custom retailers like pictureframe…

I was excited when I saw the OP's post but completely crestfallen when I quoted a frame.

For me at least, price is the primary consideration by a large margin followed distantly by ease of purchase. The user experience of designing the frame doesn't really even come into the equation.

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