Canvas stretching and canvas framing.
Best Framing stretches and frames canvas in Costa Mesa, Orange County: paintings on canvas, canvas prints from our own print lab, and floater frames milled in our own wood shop. Bring the canvas in and we will design it with you at the counter.
How is a canvas stretched?
Over wooden stretcher bars, pulled to an even tension with clean corners. A stretched canvas is only as good as its corners and its tension, which is why we stretch canvas in house, and why the piece never leaves the building to have it done.
Stretcher bars.
The canvas is wrapped around wooden stretcher bars cut to its size. Our 12-foot floaters went on inch-and-a-half bars.
Tension and corners.
A stretched canvas is only as good as its corners and its tension. That is the part we keep in our own hands.
Under one roof.
Paintings on canvas and the canvas giclées from our print lab are stretched in our Costa Mesa building, a few steps from where they are framed.
Float frame, traditional frame or no frame?
Each is right for some canvas, and which one depends on the wall it is going on. It gets settled at the counter, with the canvas in front of you.
A float frame.
It surrounds the canvas with a narrow shadow gap instead of covering its edge, so the piece reads as an object sitting inside the frame rather than a picture behind one. In this suite, the canvas over the bed is floated in white, and the matched pair over the sofa is framed in gilt.
A traditional moulding.
It covers the edge of the canvas the way a frame holds a print. For one of our commercial projects, two canvases went into walnut mouldings, sized to the wall the screen already owns.
No frame at all.
A stretched canvas can hang exactly as it is, its edges showing.
How large a canvas can you stretch and frame?
Larger than most shops take on. We design, create and build projects over 48 × 96 inches, and the floater frames we have built include four at 144 × 36 inches, made in our own wood shop.
Four 12-foot floaters.
An order for 12-foot floater frames landed three days before it had to be on a truck overnight to Northern California, to be installed the following Monday. Four frames, 144 × 36 inches, on inch-and-a-half stretcher bars, built in our own wood shop.
Milled when no catalog reaches.
When a catalog moulding cannot reach the size or the finish, we custom mill the profile and have it hand finished to your specifications.
From Yelp
“Great service, really know what they are doing. Had a very large piece that was composed of 2 canvasses. Did a great job merging the 2.”
Shannon W. · Long Beach · April 2023
YelpCan you print the canvas too?
Yes. Canvas giclées are printed in our own print lab with archival pigment inks, then stretched in house. If the original is not a file yet, it can be scanned on our large-format flatbed at up to 600 dpi first.
The print lab, on the same floor.
Giclée on canvas, cold-press watercolor or cotton papers up to 64 inches wide, and a 60 × 96 inch UV flatbed that prints straight onto wood, acrylic and aluminum.
A faithful copy first.
An original goes onto the flatbed scanner at up to 600 dpi, and the file is prepared and color-matched here before anything is printed.
Why bring the canvas to the counter?
Because the choice is easier with the canvas in front of you. Float, traditional or none gets settled in about a minute at the counter, with corner samples held against the painting rather than picked from a screen.
Hundreds of corner samples.
Pale pine, walnut, black, gilt and carved, on both sides of the aisle. You choose standing next to the canvas the frame is going to hold.
Walk in with it.
No appointment required: Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm at 1671 Placentia Avenue, Costa Mesa. Booking a time is an option.
Too big for the car?
We can arrange pickup of large items to be framed, and deliver the finished piece in and around Orange County.
What does canvas stretching cost?
It is quoted in person once we have seen the canvas. There is no published price list; the price follows the choices below, and the turnaround is quoted at the same time.
- Size
- The size of the canvas, and whether it runs past 48 × 96 inches.
- Stretcher bars
- Bars cut to the canvas. Our 12-foot floaters sat on inch-and-a-half bars.
- Frame
- None, a float frame, or a traditional moulding from the hundreds of corner samples on the moulding wall.
- Milling
- A floater or profile milled in our wood shop when no catalog carries the size or the finish.
- Printing
- If we print the canvas too: an archival giclée from your file, or from a scan at up to 600 dpi.
- Turnaround
- Quoted at the counter when the canvas is designed with you.
The questions people ask at the counter, answered.
From what can be framed and choosing the right glass to mounting jerseys, printing artwork and protecting the pieces that matter, we answer the questions our customers ask us every day.
Canvas, printed and stretched in the same buildingHow 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.Read Article
Scanning an original you would rather not put in the mailLarge-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.Read Article
What can you actually frame?Photos, posters, diplomas, jerseys, kimonos, oversized art and mirrors: what a custom frame shop in Costa Mesa can take on, and what each one needs.Read Article
Museum glass vs regular glass, and what the glass over your art is doingMuseum-quality and UV-protective glazing vs regular glass: what each does for your art, plus acid-free mats and conservation framing. From Costa Mesa.Read Article
Canvas framing, asked and answered.
Can you frame a canvas painting?
Yes. A stretched canvas can go into a float frame, which surrounds it with a narrow shadow gap instead of covering its edge, or into a traditional moulding. It can also hang exactly as it is, and which is right depends on the wall it is going on.
What is a floater frame?
A float frame surrounds a stretched canvas with a narrow shadow gap instead of covering its edge, so the piece reads as an object sitting inside the frame rather than a picture behind one. We mill floaters in our own wood shop, including four at 144 by 36 inches.
Should a canvas painting have glass?
Most paintings on canvas are framed without glazing, in a float frame or a traditional moulding. If yours needs glazing for a reason, we talk it through at the counter with the canvas in front of us.
Can you stretch a canvas I bought rolled online?
Bring it in. Canvas is stretched in house, and whether a canvas printed elsewhere can be stretched depends on how much border was left around the image to wrap around the bars, so we look at it with you at the counter.
How large a canvas can you stretch and frame?
We design, create and build projects over 48 by 96 inches. Among the largest are four floater frames at 144 by 36 inches, on inch-and-a-half stretcher bars, built in our own wood shop.
How much does it cost to stretch a canvas?
It is quoted in person once we have seen the canvas, and there is no published price list. The price follows the size, the stretcher bars, the frame and whether a moulding has to be milled for it.
Still wondering? Come in and ask. No appointment required.
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.