Written on the shop floor.
Best Framing writes about custom picture framing, printing and mirrors from its shop in Costa Mesa, Orange County. What people ask at the counter, what the machines make possible, and the posts the shop has published since 2020.
What can you actually frame?
People ask this at the counter more than any other question, usually holding the thing they are asking about.
In the news.
On ABC7 for National Custom Framing Day
Medi Bendanna of Best Framing on ABC7 News for National Custom Framing Day: a license plate, a family recipe, fight gloves and a watercolor that moved the host.
The questions people ask while the piece is on the counter.
Holiday gifts worth framing
A family recipe, a license plate, a jersey, a photo from a phone: gift ideas worth framing, from our Costa Mesa counter.
Framing for retail and resale
How stores and resellers work with us: a Pro Account, production runs, printing, displays, and packing or freight from Costa Mesa.
Working with a framer on a design project
What to send a framer, how a design project is quoted, how a finish gets matched, and how the work is delivered and hung.
Big-box, online or a local framer: what to ask
Choosing between a big-box store, an online framer and a local shop? The questions to ask, and how we would answer them.
How to frame a poster, and when to go custom
How to frame a poster: the size, the mount, the glazing and how far to take it, from a games room poster to a signed lithograph.
The glass broke on a framed piece
What to do when the glass breaks on a framed piece, how glass replacement works, and when a reframe is the better answer.
How to frame a canvas painting
How to frame a painting on canvas: a floater or a traditional moulding, usually no glass, and stretched first if it needs it.
How to frame a diploma
How to frame a diploma: acid-free mats, glazing that blocks UV, the seal and signatures clear of the mat, and a mount that can be undone.
Metal, acrylic or canvas: which print for the photo?
Metal is bright and crisp, acrylic is deep and glossy, canvas is soft and warm. How each is printed in Costa Mesa, and which suits the photograph.
What is a floater frame?
A floater frame holds a canvas from behind with a narrow shadow gap around its edge, so the painting seems to float. When to use one, and when not.
How to frame a flag, folded or open
How to frame a flag: a folded memorial flag in a case cut to its triangle, an open flag held flat from behind, and glazing that keeps the light out.
Museum glass vs regular glass, and what the glass over your art is doing
Museum-quality and UV-protective glazing vs regular glass: what each does for your art, plus acid-free mats and conservation framing. From Costa Mesa.
How to frame a jersey, step by step
How to frame a jersey: a shadow box deep enough that the glass never touches it, mounting that can be undone, a mat lined to its colors. From Costa Mesa.
Canvas, printed and stretched in the same building
How a canvas print is made and framed in one building: archival giclée, stretched in house, then hung as it is or set in a float frame. From Costa Mesa.
How to measure for a custom mirror
Measure the wall, not the mirror: the space to fill, what sits under it and where the sconces go. Quarter-inch glass, with or without a bevel.
Scanning an original you would rather not put in the mail
Large-format scanning up to 600 dpi, checked by our digital artists: a one-of-a-kind original reproduced in Costa Mesa without leaving the building.
Summer is here
Summer camp crafts, maps, ball game tickets, souvenir T-shirts, seashells and snapshots: ideas for framing your summer, from our Costa Mesa counter.
Longer guides, written from the same counter.
The year the machines were filmed.
Three short posts from August 2020, each of which went up with a video of the work. Here they are as they were written.
Print On Demand
In 2020 Best Framing opened its Print on Demand gallery in Costa Mesa: curated work by local artists, printed at just the right size for your wall.
What is UV printing?
How UV flatbed printing puts color straight onto wood, acrylic, aluminum, tile and more, with examples from our Costa Mesa print lab.
Laser Cutter
How our laser cutter turns artwork into custom acrylic: CAD files drawn from your art or ours, cut, then printed on the back in any color. From Costa Mesa.
The machines in these posts, and what each one makes possible.
Print and frame what you love. Visit the showroom.
No appointment required.
- Call
- (949) 791-8780
- Hours
- Mon-Fri 10am-5pm
Sat 9am-1pm
Bring us the thing you love.
Walk in with it and talk it through with a designer. No appointment required, though you are welcome to book one.
1671 Placentia AvenueCosta Mesa, CA 92627
- Call(949) 791-8780
- HoursMon-Fri 10am-5pm · Sat 9am-1pm · Sun closed
- Talk to a designer nowStart a Video CallSomeone is on the floor Mon-Fri 10am-5pm and Sat 9am-1pm, Costa Mesa time
- Book an appointmentPick a time with a designerAppointments are optional. Walk-ins are welcome.