Floating Frame vs. Traditional Frame: Which Does Your Canvas Need?
Short answer: if your art is a stretched canvas or a wood panel, use a floating frame. If it's paper, a print, or a photo, use a traditional frame with glass.
Here's why, from someone who builds the first kind every day.
What's the difference?
A traditional frame has a lip, called a rabbet, that wraps over the front edge of the art and holds it in place. That lip covers a little of your piece on every side. Paper art usually sits behind glass and a mat.
A floating frame has no lip. The canvas sits inside the frame, attached from the back, with a small gap between the canvas and the wood. Nothing covers the front. From across the room, the painting looks like it's hovering inside the frame.
In my frames that gap is 3/16 of an inch all the way around. It reads as a thin line of shadow.
Why canvas belongs in a floating frame
You see the whole painting. Artists often paint right to the edge. A traditional frame hides that edge. A floater shows all of it.
Canvas doesn't need glass. Oil and acrylic paintings are meant to be seen without glare. Paper needs glass for protection. A canvas doesn't.
It protects the edges. The frame stands around the canvas, so bumps and fingers hit wood instead of paint.
It finishes the piece without crowding it. A thin hardwood edge lets the art lead.
When a traditional frame is the right call
Works on paper. Prints, photographs, watercolors, drawings, and posters need glass or acrylic, a mat to keep them off the glass, and a backing. That's a traditional frame's job, and a floating frame can't do it.
What to look for in a floating frame
Solid wood. Many ready-made floaters are pine, finger-jointed scraps, or MDF wrapped in a printed wood finish. They look fine from across the room. Up close, and over the years, they don't hold up.
The right depth. The frame has to match how thick your canvas is, or the canvas sticks out past the front. Here's how to pick the depth.
A frame built to your canvas. Canvases are rarely exactly the size on the label. A frame built to your real measurements keeps the gap even on all four sides. Here's how to measure.
Quick answers
Does a floating frame need glass?
No. Floating frames are made for canvas and panels, which don't need it.
Can I put a canvas print in a floating frame?
Yes. A printed canvas on stretcher bars goes in exactly like a painting.
Can I float a paper print?
Not in a canvas floating frame. Paper needs glass and a backing. Use a traditional frame, or have the print mounted to a wood panel first.
How much bigger is a floating frame than the canvas?
Mine add 1 3/8 inches to the width and the height. A 16 x 20 canvas measures 17 3/8 x 21 3/8 on the wall. See the full size chart.
Which wood should I choose?
Walnut is dark and dramatic. White oak is light and textured. Cherry starts soft and deepens to a rich red. Maple is the quietest. More on the four woods.
Find your frame
Every frame is solid hardwood, built to order in my shop in eastern Pennsylvania, with free shipping in the US.