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

133 points by jhubball 12y ago

conductr 12y ago
I just dropped a couple $k on framing. So I love this idea And agree it's crazy over priced. . Although I do wish I could do more customizations. Like matte color. The matte with the color stripe. Stuff like that , hope you get there
ISL 12y ago
These sentences in your copy set me up to expect a framing solution that would let me frame a poster in a nice frame for ~$40: "A handful came from Fab.com, there was a Ray Lamontagne concert poster I picked up after a show, and several others I had purchased on and offline. Not one had cost over $40." I felt let down that the minimum cost for framing 24x36 prints was then $109+. It's a nifty idea, and the custom-framing market is at least partially ready to disrupted by a well-executed internet outfit. Good luck!
- jhubball 12y ago
  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.
  - solipsism 12y ago
    Maybe what I need to overcome my cheapness is a new perspective. From my perspective, the frame is utilitarian. It's just there to hold the goods, which are what is mounted. I don't want it to look shitty, any more than I want my door knob to look shitty, but it amounts to basically the same thing. It feels "off" to pay more or as much for a frame as I do for what goes in it. And, yet, unlike a doorknob, sometimes you want a frame to have a custom size.
  - lifeisstillgood 12y ago
    I came to post almost exactly the same thing as the OP - 40 bucks was the anchor and yet the first click lead me to ... No pricing and the second to over 60 bucks. You anchored at 40 - and surely the frame is less than the artwork. Can I suggest a bottom "entry level" solution - it might not work but have cheap(ish) standard sized frames and adjust the inner piece of off white card that goes inside. I have two kids and would love to swap their work in and out on a weekly basis - different sized card to cover things up seems great.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - bradleyjg 12y ago
    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.
    - alaskamiller 12y ago
      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.
  - glenra 12y ago
    So why does it have to be wood? Could you perhaps offer an OPTION to instead use plastic or metal or whatever's in the cheaper frames they sell at Target/Walmart, only custom-sized? Maybe YOU "can tell a cheap frame from a quality one every time" but I can't. I've never chosen to develop that expertise. Frames all kind of look the same to me, except that a few styles of wooden ones look needlessly gaudy/ornate/expensive. To me, the purpose of the frame is to FRAME - it's not art, just a square one puts AROUND art to protect and separate it. I care what color that square is and what size it is, but what MATERIAL it's made of...not so much.
- wmeredith 12y ago
  24x36 frame with foam core backing and U/V protective lens cover for just a hair under $55 ($51.05 if you monkey with the settings right, $70-ish if you want all the bells and whistles): http://www.wholesaleposterframes.com/product_info2.php http://www.wholesaleposterframes.com/product_info2.php Now... That website is ugly and hard to use. I wish it wasn't, but their product is great and by far the cheapest I've found that's not junk. I've order 15 frames since I discovered them a few years back, and they're great. The frames arrive incredibly well packed. They do require assembly, but it only takes about 10 minutes to go from unpacked to wall once you've done the first one or two. You should also note that they are metal frames (they own the factory), but they have a wide variety of finishes and are very high quality. No wood options, though. No affiliation, just sharing the link.
DanielStraight 12y ago
Just a note: On your website, numpad keystrokes are rejected as not numbers. Win7, FF32
- mankyd 12y ago
  Same issue on Ubuntu Chrome. Definitely annoying and made me assume that it's broken. Better to avoid validating the input until the person either blurs or submits, imho.
- avidal 12y ago
  Same on OSX, Chrome.
  - alsocasey 12y ago
    And Windows 8, Chrome.
- petecooper 12y ago
  +1. Mac/Safari 7.1, if that helps. Edit: seems to be working for me, now.
- jhubball 12y ago
  appreciate this very much, working on it!
pavel_lishin 12y ago
I'm still vaguely annoyed at what the term "hustler" has come to mean. I still associate it with the same definition as "charlatan."
strict9 12y ago
Clicking on the upper left logo (I was trying to return home) opens a new browser tab--not cool at all. Other than that and a few other trivial issues, the site looks great. Can't wait to try it out.
zorpner 12y ago
Great idea! Framing is an incredible hassle for exactly the reasons you describe. Would be cool to partner with small artists to pass out discount codes on physical cards they could include with rolled & shipped art. For the future -- provide exact specs on the acrylic you're using to front the pieces (and consider offering museum glass in the future). UV exposure is critical depending on the placement of art and, perhaps ironically, particularly for the more inexpensive pieces people may be wanting to frame with your service that may have been printed using materials more prone to fading/etc. Also, when you eventually offer additional matting colors/textures, put together a sample pack (using the cut scraps) that can be mailed out. Mats, particularly colored mats, look very different when actually adjacent to a piece of artwork than viewed on a screen (much more so than most framing material).
- jhubball 12y ago
  thanks, zorpner! I am actually starting to work with artists already, very similar to what you mention. Here is an example: https://www.levleframes.com/artists/joey-roth/frame?levle_id=12 https://www.levleframes.com/artists/joey-roth/frame?levle_id... The best part is that no technical integration is required (drop a postcard into the shipping tube with the URL or email it with the receipt). Thanks for the feedback on mat samples and the acrylic. Some details on the Frames page, but I can be more specific. Museum glass is great but decent risk of breaking in transit, hence the use of the acrylic.
bking 12y ago
when entering dimensions the warning box for it being too high or too low will not close. I can't figure out how to do it? I am using Chrome. Possibly check for if the cursor is in the box as well as if the value is outside of the range. If the range changes or goes back to 0 and the cursor is not in the text field, have the warning go away?
aaronbrethorst 12y ago
This looks fantastic, but I have one request: I do all of my own photo matting, and would love to have a 'power user' interface that would let me simply specify the size of the custom frame that I need. Right now, it's not obvious to me how I can simply say: "I need a frame that has a 18x18" opening," or whatever. Let me do this and I will happily spend $200 on your website today, and will probably keep doing that every month or two in perpetuity.
- NSAID 12y ago
  > "I need a frame that has a 18x18" opening," That's just the poster size that you enter in, right? https://www.levleframes.com/frames/new?height=12.0&width=12.0 https://www.levleframes.com/frames/new?height=12.0&width=12.... I punched in 12"x12" and it's showing me various frame/matte combinations that result in a 12"x12" opening.
  - aaronbrethorst 12y ago
    No, punching in 12x12 gives you a 13x13" frame: Customizing a frame to fit a 12.0" x 12.0" print 13 x 13 x 0.75" Black Maple frame with No mat and Standard glaze. $43.50 I'm saying that my matted print is 12x12 (or whatever), and I don't want to futz with making the numbers come out right.
    - gk1 12y ago
      Isn't that exactly what that is? The frame itself is 13x13 but the opening is 12x12.
    - NSAID 12y ago
      I would expect 13x13x0.75" to be the exterior dimensions of the wood, given that 3 dimensions are listed. Maybe I just misunderstand how frames are described and sold, but I would fully expect to receive a frame with a 12x12" opening ("to fit a 12.0" x 12.0" print") if I bought that frame, and would feel misled if I ended up with a 13x13" opening. Again, maybe that's just how frames are sold, but if that's the case perhaps the site could explain that better.
donall 12y ago
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?
- jhubball 12y ago
  Thanks donall! Yes, these are not cheap frames or Ikea offerings. They are what you would get from a high-end custom frame shop. I'm able to bring the prices down by going direct, removing the need to handle the artwork (you do that part, but it's not hard) and eliminating the retail overhead.
  - solipsism 12y ago
    Maybe I'm cheap. I want cheap frames and Ikea-like offerings, but I want custom sizes and combinations, and I want it for like $20. It seems ludicrous to me to spend $5 on a cheap thing but $100 if I need it custom-sized. I fully acknowledge I may be asking too much. Just saying that if you can hit that price point I will probably become a customer. No idea if I'm unique.
    - jkaunisv1 12y ago
      I'm definitely the same use case as you. I feel like there will be a lot of people who feel similarly. Post-college but still frugal is how I think of myself. Doesn't sound like what OP is going for right now - seems like he would have better margins to start out on the high end. I don't have experiential data but I've read in many places that low-price products can have more difficult consumers because they expect so much for $20.
- gk1 12y ago
  I haven't checked this out in detail yet, but $100 sounds reasonable. I had several works custom framed this year and they all cost between $100 and $200 each, with a discount.
- 12y ago
delgaudm 12y ago
When I needed to change dimensions, I started over. The first step did show 0/8 but the fractions of the inch were present on the second step. Edit: Now that I've been through the process, I also found that your pricing was $14USD more for the same materials and dimensions than the first site that came up when I searched "online framing" ($46 vs $32). Its not clear from your site how you differentiate on that markup.
- jhubball 12y ago
  thanks for taking a look, I will look into the fractions change. I'm guessing that the competitor was not using materials that were as quality or archival. I'm also trying to differentiate on the UI/UX. Most of the sites I've tried (and I've tried a lot) take dozens of steps to order the frame and have way too many options.
  - altcognito 12y ago
    You will make money, but you won't be "disruptive"
jastr 12y ago
This is a great problem, that you simplified a lot, but it's still expensive!
- aaronbrethorst 12y ago
  No, it's really not. It's about 50% more than you'd pay for a shitty, cheap frame, and half the cost of a custom frame. The OP may not have found product-market fit yet (I'd argue this should be targeted squarely at the pro and semi-pro markets, instead of consumers), but the product itself looks fantastic and the pricing is terrific.
  - solipsism 12y ago
    We must shop at different shitty, cheap frame stores. I'd expect to pay more like $10 for a shitty, cheap frame in which to put my shitty, cheap poster.
    - aaronbrethorst 12y ago
      I'm framing 16x20" silver gelatin prints that I mounted at 20x24". It's not possible to find a 20x24" frame for $10 anywhere (outside, possibly, of a thrift store). I spend a huge amount of money on picture frames. When I'm putting together a show, my expenses for frames easily break $1000.
  - jkaunisv1 12y ago
    It may be cheaper than similar offerings, but it is still expensive. The thing that jumped out at me from his writeup is the initial problem he was trying to solve - framing a piece of art without paying 10x the price of the art or more. It doesn't _feel_ like he accomplished that, even if he technically did by bringing it down to 3 or 5x. My inner consumer doesn't want to pay more for a frame than I did for what's going in the frame. It makes me angry. It feels wrong. That's the benchmark I'm evaluating against. There will definitely be a big difference in desires and perception between the pro/semi-pro and consumer markets. What makes a shitty frame to you anyway (this is an earnest question)? I've never had a wooden frame disappoint me. Personally I'd rather have the cheapest possible wooden frames that don't fall apart so that I can frame as much of the art I have lying around. To me a frame should be a cheap purchase that gets out of the way of the art it's highlighting.
crazygringo 12y ago
As someone who framed four photos (from small to 3 feet wide) a couple years ago -- I wound up using cheap $10-30 Blick frames and cropping my photos to "standard sizes", and spending $200 locally on the one that simply couldn't be cropped to a standard size. I would definitely have been interested in online custom sizes, but with cheap materials -- plastic instead of glass, black faux wood frame. Not just for quality, but also for weight -- a glass covering over a 3-foot photo is crazy heavy. There's definitely a big market of people who are post-college and want proper frames for non-standard-sized content, but simply want them as cheap as possible.
- jhubball 12y ago
  You nailed the alternatives on the head: buy cheap plastic or MDF frames that look crappy and are hard to find in the right size, or spend $$$ at the custom frame shop for a beautiful, high-quality frame. I wanted to deliver the same product as the custom frame shop, but in a much more convenient way and at ~half the cost. Could expand into other price point later, but right now trying to hit that sweet spot in the middle where there is a real pain point.
stevelosh 12y ago
Will these frames work with mounted photo prints like styrene or masonite mounted prints from https://www.whcc.com/products/prints/photographic-prints#details https://www.whcc.com/products/prints/photographic-prints#det...? All I can find in the FAQ is "Artwork should be paper-based".
- jhubball 12y ago
  Haven't seen that yet but we can probably accomodate -- would just need you to email/chat and specify what you are framing.
kuni-toko-tachi 12y ago
Very glad to see this. The profit margins for framing were ripe to be targeted. Would like to see similar services for lampshades and curtains, both of which have unwarranted high markup.
- jhubball 12y ago
  Exactly. The two products you mention are similar also in the fact that a traditional e-commerce paradigm (thumbnails and drop downs) don't quite map to the way you want to preview and select them. So much room for Levle to grow and become more intuitive/helpful to getting the right frame for your art up on the wall.
joshfinnie 12y ago
Thank you for this... what great execution to an issue you wanted to solve! One question, where do you source your "best bet" suggestions from?
- jhubball 12y ago
  So framing is mostly subjective, but there a fair amount of science and best practice can be applied. Based on the size of the artwork, there are some "golden ratios" around how thick the mat and the frame should be. The Best Bet button employs a simple algorithm that will give you the recommended configuration. More room to optimize this, but main goal was to have one button that would get you to something good looking if you are not an experienced framer.
  - Theodores 12y ago
    I have an upsell for you to consider. However, a small word of caution regarding artists - they are like herding cats and as the legendary Paul Graham discovered, quite hard to base a start up around! However... The upsell is for the artist's market. They need to get their pride and joy off to galleries and shows. So even if they are driving the stuff to the gallery themselves, it still needs to be packed and made transportable. The solution - 'art bags'. These are tailored to the frame with a few inches to spare and are made of that bubble-wrap that has mylar film backing in it - heat welded together, rip-proof and good for shifting framed artwork around without it getting damaged. A simple flap - add velcro if you must - closes the bag. Prominent on the front is an enclosure to add a picture of the picture with the expected fragile notice, artist's name, name of the piece, phone number etc. Obviously such bags can be used for shipping the frames so you can sell on your packaging :-) There is an un-developed market for this in the UK, as in a cottage industry. As a standalone business it is a hard sell, however, as part of a framing business it could work out quite nicely. Plus the start up costs for the materials and welding device are not great. Trade building supplies places sell the mylar film bubble wrap stuff so it is not hard to get.
Yen 12y ago
Trying out the site, I'm really liking the frame editor, UI-wise. Particularly * actually shows the expected price, in-line, without having to go to a new page. * shows both the low-detail, big-picture information (a picture of the actual frame), and the high-detail information (exact specs of the frame) * can quickly switch between options, and the display updates This combination of features lets me quickly iterate through options, and evaluate tradeoffs (does this look better with no matting or 1" matting? The thicker frame width looks nice, but it bumps the price up. How much do I value that aspect?) Feature wishlist for the future - the ability to handle multiple items in a frame, for a series of photos/triptych/etc.
- jhubball 12y ago
  I got triptychs on the roadmap - huge fan of how those look!
anigbrowl 12y ago
Good concept, needs work. Hated the step-by-step user interface, I like a form I can fill out and click one button, not least so I can view all options at once. The inches + '0/8' widget was extremely confusing and unintuitive. Simple text box and labels would have been fine or text box + dropdown. Annoyed not to have a metric option. Prices are OK for custom woodwork, but I think you need to play up the 'high quality' angle more on the landing page, because otherwise many people are going to be expecting cheapish frames and get sticker shock. I like nice frames, but more and more I print on canvas with a built-in frame or other 'frameless' options because I have no wish to spend hundreds of dollars on frames. I'm not sure I agree about the mid-price pain point - but I do think your prices are competitive and a slight adjustment to your positioning is all that's needed.
DanielBMarkham 12y ago
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 backing. Not sure about the rest of it. I included a couple of oddball-sized prints just to see how they did. Why couldn't they offer frames? Is there some technical reason this isn't already done? I confess to quickly scanning the second-half of the article, but is there some barrier to entry that I'm not aware of?
- jhubball 12y ago
  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!
- stan_rogers 12y ago
  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.
  - DanielBMarkham 12y ago
earlyriser 12y ago
What I'd like is to be able to enter the dimensions of my print, let's say 10x10in and no more options: a kind of ikea product, -4 sides of the frame, the sides are made of wood alone, that I can assemble like legos, the cheapest wood with a natural feeling -matting (calculated on the size of print) You could decrease production costs because you won't be making frames by order, just having a bunch of "sides" with different dimensions. If you can deliver this under $20 it would be perfect for me.
demoran 12y ago
Just tried a random size (24x36, + 3 inch matting, other things default) and tried to match it in a German manufacturers webshop. Prices: 180 $ (+ sales tax depending on state, correct?) vs 180 € (= 240 $, includes 19 % tax) Options: Very similar, german site offered more detailed options for materials (neutral, since to much can be to much) and also for different mounting methods and artwork thicknesses (can be relevant depending on artwork) I feel like you need to work on presenting why I should go with you as someone new to the market at not-that-much-better prices than an established, well-regarded company which gives me more options and information about their product. Maybe your materials or craftmanship are better, but I have no real indication that this is the case, or the difference is on a level a might care about. Right now I have you calling your competition criminals and then charging more or less the same.
noir_lord 12y ago
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.
- jhubball 12y ago
  yes, working on it, and right now can do it manually if someone emails the site or uses the chat box. very nice and richer experience when you have the image (e.g. - https://www.levleframes.com/artists/joey-roth/frame?levle_id=12 https://www.levleframes.com/artists/joey-roth/frame?levle_id...)
  - noir_lord 12y ago
    Yeah that is pretty much what I was thinking. Also might be cool to have a variety of stock images of different types for those who don't have the image but can try it with something similar :).
- jtheory 12y ago
  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).
jmuguy 12y ago
I prefer to get a standard size from IKEA and then a custom mat from www.americanframe.com
primitivesuave 12y ago
Reading the article gave me the impression that this was going to be cheaper than going to a framer. I plugged in some numbers and settings for an almost identical 36 x 24 frame I had made a couple months ago, and the price was about the same ($200). It also seems like you can't make larger frames (beyond 36 x 24), which is where about 80% of my frame expenditures go to. I once paid that same framer a lot to frame, deliver, and hang a 4' x 9' piece of art. If you could make a frame and ship it to me for less, and I could use the cute interface to do it, I'll hang it myself and not have to spend all that time interacting with a framer. Maybe I am subject to some sampling bias here, but people who spend real money on frames usually have large custom framing needs. It also seems like shipping contributes a lot to the price, have you thought about offering an option to deliver the frame unassembled with a lower shipping rate? I'm sure it costs less to mail a long square tube than a flat box. I liked reading about how this idea captivated you - best of luck with it!
vinceguidry 12y ago
It's rapidly becoming a pet peeve of mine whenever someone calls an unexpectedly hard domain and the appropriately high-priced businesses that grew around servicing problems in that domain a "racket". It's just plain intellectual laziness. My mom recently finished a framing seminar that cost her a lot of money to go to, invested a ton in equipment, and talked my ear off for two hours about why custom framing costs so much and why there's only a handful of framers in any area, and it gave me the impression that this isn't a market that's going to be disrupted any time soon.
- dj-wonk 12y ago
  It is hard for people to understand why custom framing costs so much. Can you explain why it is often so expensive?
  - jhubball 12y ago
    So it's traditionally been a very high-touch service with the need for retail overhead. Most frame shops carry way too many supplies/options, and outsource a portion of the work (which accounts for the delay). They are also geographically limited in terms of the business they can do, and get most of it on the weekends when people have time to stop by. So there's a lot of margin in the price above the cost of the components. Having said that, custom framers can do amazing things, and the word "racket" was used mainly for the headlines. The fit for Levle is creating a super high-quality and great looking frame for that $20-$60 print or poster that doesn't need the expertise of a master framer.
nayton 12y ago
This is becoming a very competitive space recently, We launched http://www.mountary.com http://www.mountary.com in March (yes I am a founder) to address the same problem and have been shipping orders across the US for that amount of time. A lot of people we have dealt with wouldn't know where to start when looking to frame a piece. We are making it super easy.
drone 12y ago
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 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 pictureframes, and related (whom I've been buying my frames and mats from for years) may be able to beat you there. Certainly, if I switch to a metal frame, the price starts dropping. Now, if you're focusing on a better user experience, that could certainly use some improving with existing sites, but I don't know that you're really disrupting the price of online custom frames?
- cptskippy 12y ago
  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.
CarVac 12y ago
I was hoping to be able to frame a 51" wide panorama I have...but I was disappointed.
pjbrunet 12y ago
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-razor-blades-rogue-lint/ http://pjbrunet.com/custom-picture-framing-falling-glass-raz...
- aaronbrethorst 12y ago
  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.
analog31 12y ago
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?
ultimatedelman 12y ago
Your post made me immediately go measure a print I have hanging on my wall by binder clips because I got excited to finally put that print in a frame for a reasonable price... ...and was immediately let down when the price was pretty much just as expensive as a regular framer. Womp.
williamsharkey 12y ago
Challenge - Upload a photo of the print, see it in frame. Extra credit - Take some photos of your frames in natural room settings. Inside the frame, place a color calibration sheet. Find the transformation of the color calibration sheet (EG - how the room affects color, glare, and shadows), and then apply it to the user-uploaded images. Perhaps this could sell the difference between normal and anti glare.

133 points by jhubball 12y ago

I just dropped a couple $k on framing. So I love this idea And agree it's crazy over priced. . Although I do wish I could do more customizations. Like matte color. The matte with the color stripe. Stuff like that , hope you get there

ISL 12y ago

These sentences in your copy set me up to expect a framing solution that would let me frame a poster in a nice frame for ~$40: "A handful came from Fab.com, there was a Ray Lamontagne concert poster I picked up after a show, and several others I had purchased on and offline. Not one had cost over $40." I felt let down that the minimum cost for framing 24x36 prints was then $109+. It's a nifty idea, and the custom-framing market is at least partially ready to disrupted by a well-executed internet outfit. Good luck!

jhubball 12y ago
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.
- solipsism 12y ago
  Maybe what I need to overcome my cheapness is a new perspective. From my perspective, the frame is utilitarian. It's just there to hold the goods, which are what is mounted. I don't want it to look shitty, any more than I want my door knob to look shitty, but it amounts to basically the same thing. It feels "off" to pay more or as much for a frame as I do for what goes in it. And, yet, unlike a doorknob, sometimes you want a frame to have a custom size.
- lifeisstillgood 12y ago
  I came to post almost exactly the same thing as the OP - 40 bucks was the anchor and yet the first click lead me to ... No pricing and the second to over 60 bucks. You anchored at 40 - and surely the frame is less than the artwork. Can I suggest a bottom "entry level" solution - it might not work but have cheap(ish) standard sized frames and adjust the inner piece of off white card that goes inside. I have two kids and would love to swap their work in and out on a weekly basis - different sized card to cover things up seems great.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- bradleyjg 12y ago
  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.
  - alaskamiller 12y ago
    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.
- glenra 12y ago
  So why does it have to be wood? Could you perhaps offer an OPTION to instead use plastic or metal or whatever's in the cheaper frames they sell at Target/Walmart, only custom-sized? Maybe YOU "can tell a cheap frame from a quality one every time" but I can't. I've never chosen to develop that expertise. Frames all kind of look the same to me, except that a few styles of wooden ones look needlessly gaudy/ornate/expensive. To me, the purpose of the frame is to FRAME - it's not art, just a square one puts AROUND art to protect and separate it. I care what color that square is and what size it is, but what MATERIAL it's made of...not so much.
wmeredith 12y ago
24x36 frame with foam core backing and U/V protective lens cover for just a hair under $55 ($51.05 if you monkey with the settings right, $70-ish if you want all the bells and whistles): http://www.wholesaleposterframes.com/product_info2.php http://www.wholesaleposterframes.com/product_info2.php Now... That website is ugly and hard to use. I wish it wasn't, but their product is great and by far the cheapest I've found that's not junk. I've order 15 frames since I discovered them a few years back, and they're great. The frames arrive incredibly well packed. They do require assembly, but it only takes about 10 minutes to go from unpacked to wall once you've done the first one or two. You should also note that they are metal frames (they own the factory), but they have a wide variety of finishes and are very high quality. No wood options, though. No affiliation, just sharing the link.

DanielStraight 12y ago

Just a note: On your website, numpad keystrokes are rejected as not numbers. Win7, FF32

mankyd 12y ago
Same issue on Ubuntu Chrome. Definitely annoying and made me assume that it's broken. Better to avoid validating the input until the person either blurs or submits, imho.
avidal 12y ago
Same on OSX, Chrome.
- alsocasey 12y ago
  And Windows 8, Chrome.
petecooper 12y ago
+1. Mac/Safari 7.1, if that helps. Edit: seems to be working for me, now.
jhubball 12y ago
appreciate this very much, working on it!

pavel_lishin 12y ago

I'm still vaguely annoyed at what the term "hustler" has come to mean. I still associate it with the same definition as "charlatan."

strict9 12y ago

Clicking on the upper left logo (I was trying to return home) opens a new browser tab--not cool at all. Other than that and a few other trivial issues, the site looks great. Can't wait to try it out.

zorpner 12y ago

Great idea! Framing is an incredible hassle for exactly the reasons you describe. Would be cool to partner with small artists to pass out discount codes on physical cards they could include with rolled & shipped art. For the future -- provide exact specs on the acrylic you're using to front the pieces (and consider offering museum glass in the future). UV exposure is critical depending on the placement of art and, perhaps ironically, particularly for the more inexpensive pieces people may be wanting to frame with your service that may have been printed using materials more prone to fading/etc. Also, when you eventually offer additional matting colors/textures, put together a sample pack (using the cut scraps) that can be mailed out. Mats, particularly colored mats, look very different when actually adjacent to a piece of artwork than viewed on a screen (much more so than most framing material).

jhubball 12y ago
thanks, zorpner! I am actually starting to work with artists already, very similar to what you mention. Here is an example: https://www.levleframes.com/artists/joey-roth/frame?levle_id=12 https://www.levleframes.com/artists/joey-roth/frame?levle_id... The best part is that no technical integration is required (drop a postcard into the shipping tube with the URL or email it with the receipt). Thanks for the feedback on mat samples and the acrylic. Some details on the Frames page, but I can be more specific. Museum glass is great but decent risk of breaking in transit, hence the use of the acrylic.

bking 12y ago

when entering dimensions the warning box for it being too high or too low will not close. I can't figure out how to do it? I am using Chrome. Possibly check for if the cursor is in the box as well as if the value is outside of the range. If the range changes or goes back to 0 and the cursor is not in the text field, have the warning go away?

aaronbrethorst 12y ago

This looks fantastic, but I have one request: I do all of my own photo matting, and would love to have a 'power user' interface that would let me simply specify the size of the custom frame that I need. Right now, it's not obvious to me how I can simply say: "I need a frame that has a 18x18" opening," or whatever. Let me do this and I will happily spend $200 on your website today, and will probably keep doing that every month or two in perpetuity.

NSAID 12y ago
> "I need a frame that has a 18x18" opening," That's just the poster size that you enter in, right? https://www.levleframes.com/frames/new?height=12.0&width=12.0 https://www.levleframes.com/frames/new?height=12.0&width=12.... I punched in 12"x12" and it's showing me various frame/matte combinations that result in a 12"x12" opening.
- aaronbrethorst 12y ago
  No, punching in 12x12 gives you a 13x13" frame: Customizing a frame to fit a 12.0" x 12.0" print 13 x 13 x 0.75" Black Maple frame with No mat and Standard glaze. $43.50 I'm saying that my matted print is 12x12 (or whatever), and I don't want to futz with making the numbers come out right.
  - gk1 12y ago
    Isn't that exactly what that is? The frame itself is 13x13 but the opening is 12x12.
  - NSAID 12y ago
    I would expect 13x13x0.75" to be the exterior dimensions of the wood, given that 3 dimensions are listed. Maybe I just misunderstand how frames are described and sold, but I would fully expect to receive a frame with a 12x12" opening ("to fit a 12.0" x 12.0" print") if I bought that frame, and would feel misled if I ended up with a 13x13" opening. Again, maybe that's just how frames are sold, but if that's the case perhaps the site could explain that better.

donall 12y ago

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?

jhubball 12y ago
Thanks donall! Yes, these are not cheap frames or Ikea offerings. They are what you would get from a high-end custom frame shop. I'm able to bring the prices down by going direct, removing the need to handle the artwork (you do that part, but it's not hard) and eliminating the retail overhead.
- solipsism 12y ago
  Maybe I'm cheap. I want cheap frames and Ikea-like offerings, but I want custom sizes and combinations, and I want it for like $20. It seems ludicrous to me to spend $5 on a cheap thing but $100 if I need it custom-sized. I fully acknowledge I may be asking too much. Just saying that if you can hit that price point I will probably become a customer. No idea if I'm unique.
  - jkaunisv1 12y ago
    I'm definitely the same use case as you. I feel like there will be a lot of people who feel similarly. Post-college but still frugal is how I think of myself. Doesn't sound like what OP is going for right now - seems like he would have better margins to start out on the high end. I don't have experiential data but I've read in many places that low-price products can have more difficult consumers because they expect so much for $20.
gk1 12y ago
I haven't checked this out in detail yet, but $100 sounds reasonable. I had several works custom framed this year and they all cost between $100 and $200 each, with a discount.
12y ago

delgaudm 12y ago

When I needed to change dimensions, I started over. The first step did show 0/8 but the fractions of the inch were present on the second step. Edit: Now that I've been through the process, I also found that your pricing was $14USD more for the same materials and dimensions than the first site that came up when I searched "online framing" ($46 vs $32). Its not clear from your site how you differentiate on that markup.

jhubball 12y ago
thanks for taking a look, I will look into the fractions change. I'm guessing that the competitor was not using materials that were as quality or archival. I'm also trying to differentiate on the UI/UX. Most of the sites I've tried (and I've tried a lot) take dozens of steps to order the frame and have way too many options.
- altcognito 12y ago
  You will make money, but you won't be "disruptive"

jastr 12y ago

This is a great problem, that you simplified a lot, but it's still expensive!

aaronbrethorst 12y ago
No, it's really not. It's about 50% more than you'd pay for a shitty, cheap frame, and half the cost of a custom frame. The OP may not have found product-market fit yet (I'd argue this should be targeted squarely at the pro and semi-pro markets, instead of consumers), but the product itself looks fantastic and the pricing is terrific.
- solipsism 12y ago
  We must shop at different shitty, cheap frame stores. I'd expect to pay more like $10 for a shitty, cheap frame in which to put my shitty, cheap poster.
  - aaronbrethorst 12y ago
    I'm framing 16x20" silver gelatin prints that I mounted at 20x24". It's not possible to find a 20x24" frame for $10 anywhere (outside, possibly, of a thrift store). I spend a huge amount of money on picture frames. When I'm putting together a show, my expenses for frames easily break $1000.
- jkaunisv1 12y ago
  It may be cheaper than similar offerings, but it is still expensive. The thing that jumped out at me from his writeup is the initial problem he was trying to solve - framing a piece of art without paying 10x the price of the art or more. It doesn't _feel_ like he accomplished that, even if he technically did by bringing it down to 3 or 5x. My inner consumer doesn't want to pay more for a frame than I did for what's going in the frame. It makes me angry. It feels wrong. That's the benchmark I'm evaluating against. There will definitely be a big difference in desires and perception between the pro/semi-pro and consumer markets. What makes a shitty frame to you anyway (this is an earnest question)? I've never had a wooden frame disappoint me. Personally I'd rather have the cheapest possible wooden frames that don't fall apart so that I can frame as much of the art I have lying around. To me a frame should be a cheap purchase that gets out of the way of the art it's highlighting.

crazygringo 12y ago

As someone who framed four photos (from small to 3 feet wide) a couple years ago -- I wound up using cheap $10-30 Blick frames and cropping my photos to "standard sizes", and spending $200 locally on the one that simply couldn't be cropped to a standard size. I would definitely have been interested in online custom sizes, but with cheap materials -- plastic instead of glass, black faux wood frame. Not just for quality, but also for weight -- a glass covering over a 3-foot photo is crazy heavy. There's definitely a big market of people who are post-college and want proper frames for non-standard-sized content, but simply want them as cheap as possible.

jhubball 12y ago
You nailed the alternatives on the head: buy cheap plastic or MDF frames that look crappy and are hard to find in the right size, or spend $$$ at the custom frame shop for a beautiful, high-quality frame. I wanted to deliver the same product as the custom frame shop, but in a much more convenient way and at ~half the cost. Could expand into other price point later, but right now trying to hit that sweet spot in the middle where there is a real pain point.

stevelosh 12y ago

Will these frames work with mounted photo prints like styrene or masonite mounted prints from https://www.whcc.com/products/prints/photographic-prints#details https://www.whcc.com/products/prints/photographic-prints#det...? All I can find in the FAQ is "Artwork should be paper-based".

jhubball 12y ago
Haven't seen that yet but we can probably accomodate -- would just need you to email/chat and specify what you are framing.

kuni-toko-tachi 12y ago

Very glad to see this. The profit margins for framing were ripe to be targeted. Would like to see similar services for lampshades and curtains, both of which have unwarranted high markup.

jhubball 12y ago
Exactly. The two products you mention are similar also in the fact that a traditional e-commerce paradigm (thumbnails and drop downs) don't quite map to the way you want to preview and select them. So much room for Levle to grow and become more intuitive/helpful to getting the right frame for your art up on the wall.

joshfinnie 12y ago

Thank you for this... what great execution to an issue you wanted to solve! One question, where do you source your "best bet" suggestions from?

jhubball 12y ago
So framing is mostly subjective, but there a fair amount of science and best practice can be applied. Based on the size of the artwork, there are some "golden ratios" around how thick the mat and the frame should be. The Best Bet button employs a simple algorithm that will give you the recommended configuration. More room to optimize this, but main goal was to have one button that would get you to something good looking if you are not an experienced framer.
- Theodores 12y ago
  I have an upsell for you to consider. However, a small word of caution regarding artists - they are like herding cats and as the legendary Paul Graham discovered, quite hard to base a start up around! However... The upsell is for the artist's market. They need to get their pride and joy off to galleries and shows. So even if they are driving the stuff to the gallery themselves, it still needs to be packed and made transportable. The solution - 'art bags'. These are tailored to the frame with a few inches to spare and are made of that bubble-wrap that has mylar film backing in it - heat welded together, rip-proof and good for shifting framed artwork around without it getting damaged. A simple flap - add velcro if you must - closes the bag. Prominent on the front is an enclosure to add a picture of the picture with the expected fragile notice, artist's name, name of the piece, phone number etc. Obviously such bags can be used for shipping the frames so you can sell on your packaging :-) There is an un-developed market for this in the UK, as in a cottage industry. As a standalone business it is a hard sell, however, as part of a framing business it could work out quite nicely. Plus the start up costs for the materials and welding device are not great. Trade building supplies places sell the mylar film bubble wrap stuff so it is not hard to get.

Yen 12y ago

Trying out the site, I'm really liking the frame editor, UI-wise. Particularly * actually shows the expected price, in-line, without having to go to a new page. * shows both the low-detail, big-picture information (a picture of the actual frame), and the high-detail information (exact specs of the frame) * can quickly switch between options, and the display updates This combination of features lets me quickly iterate through options, and evaluate tradeoffs (does this look better with no matting or 1" matting? The thicker frame width looks nice, but it bumps the price up. How much do I value that aspect?) Feature wishlist for the future - the ability to handle multiple items in a frame, for a series of photos/triptych/etc.

jhubball 12y ago
I got triptychs on the roadmap - huge fan of how those look!

anigbrowl 12y ago

Good concept, needs work. Hated the step-by-step user interface, I like a form I can fill out and click one button, not least so I can view all options at once. The inches + '0/8' widget was extremely confusing and unintuitive. Simple text box and labels would have been fine or text box + dropdown. Annoyed not to have a metric option. Prices are OK for custom woodwork, but I think you need to play up the 'high quality' angle more on the landing page, because otherwise many people are going to be expecting cheapish frames and get sticker shock. I like nice frames, but more and more I print on canvas with a built-in frame or other 'frameless' options because I have no wish to spend hundreds of dollars on frames. I'm not sure I agree about the mid-price pain point - but I do think your prices are competitive and a slight adjustment to your positioning is all that's needed.

DanielBMarkham 12y ago

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 backing. Not sure about the rest of it. I included a couple of oddball-sized prints just to see how they did. Why couldn't they offer frames? Is there some technical reason this isn't already done? I confess to quickly scanning the second-half of the article, but is there some barrier to entry that I'm not aware of?

jhubball 12y ago
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!
stan_rogers 12y ago
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.
- DanielBMarkham 12y ago

earlyriser 12y ago

What I'd like is to be able to enter the dimensions of my print, let's say 10x10in and no more options: a kind of ikea product, -4 sides of the frame, the sides are made of wood alone, that I can assemble like legos, the cheapest wood with a natural feeling -matting (calculated on the size of print) You could decrease production costs because you won't be making frames by order, just having a bunch of "sides" with different dimensions. If you can deliver this under $20 it would be perfect for me.

demoran 12y ago

Just tried a random size (24x36, + 3 inch matting, other things default) and tried to match it in a German manufacturers webshop. Prices: 180 $ (+ sales tax depending on state, correct?) vs 180 € (= 240 $, includes 19 % tax) Options: Very similar, german site offered more detailed options for materials (neutral, since to much can be to much) and also for different mounting methods and artwork thicknesses (can be relevant depending on artwork) I feel like you need to work on presenting why I should go with you as someone new to the market at not-that-much-better prices than an established, well-regarded company which gives me more options and information about their product. Maybe your materials or craftmanship are better, but I have no real indication that this is the case, or the difference is on a level a might care about. Right now I have you calling your competition criminals and then charging more or less the same.

noir_lord 12y ago

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.

jhubball 12y ago
yes, working on it, and right now can do it manually if someone emails the site or uses the chat box. very nice and richer experience when you have the image (e.g. - https://www.levleframes.com/artists/joey-roth/frame?levle_id=12 https://www.levleframes.com/artists/joey-roth/frame?levle_id...)
- noir_lord 12y ago
  Yeah that is pretty much what I was thinking. Also might be cool to have a variety of stock images of different types for those who don't have the image but can try it with something similar :).
jtheory 12y ago
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).

jmuguy 12y ago

I prefer to get a standard size from IKEA and then a custom mat from www.americanframe.com

primitivesuave 12y ago

Reading the article gave me the impression that this was going to be cheaper than going to a framer. I plugged in some numbers and settings for an almost identical 36 x 24 frame I had made a couple months ago, and the price was about the same ($200). It also seems like you can't make larger frames (beyond 36 x 24), which is where about 80% of my frame expenditures go to. I once paid that same framer a lot to frame, deliver, and hang a 4' x 9' piece of art. If you could make a frame and ship it to me for less, and I could use the cute interface to do it, I'll hang it myself and not have to spend all that time interacting with a framer. Maybe I am subject to some sampling bias here, but people who spend real money on frames usually have large custom framing needs. It also seems like shipping contributes a lot to the price, have you thought about offering an option to deliver the frame unassembled with a lower shipping rate? I'm sure it costs less to mail a long square tube than a flat box. I liked reading about how this idea captivated you - best of luck with it!

vinceguidry 12y ago

It's rapidly becoming a pet peeve of mine whenever someone calls an unexpectedly hard domain and the appropriately high-priced businesses that grew around servicing problems in that domain a "racket". It's just plain intellectual laziness. My mom recently finished a framing seminar that cost her a lot of money to go to, invested a ton in equipment, and talked my ear off for two hours about why custom framing costs so much and why there's only a handful of framers in any area, and it gave me the impression that this isn't a market that's going to be disrupted any time soon.

dj-wonk 12y ago
It is hard for people to understand why custom framing costs so much. Can you explain why it is often so expensive?
- jhubball 12y ago
  So it's traditionally been a very high-touch service with the need for retail overhead. Most frame shops carry way too many supplies/options, and outsource a portion of the work (which accounts for the delay). They are also geographically limited in terms of the business they can do, and get most of it on the weekends when people have time to stop by. So there's a lot of margin in the price above the cost of the components. Having said that, custom framers can do amazing things, and the word "racket" was used mainly for the headlines. The fit for Levle is creating a super high-quality and great looking frame for that $20-$60 print or poster that doesn't need the expertise of a master framer.

nayton 12y ago

This is becoming a very competitive space recently, We launched http://www.mountary.com http://www.mountary.com in March (yes I am a founder) to address the same problem and have been shipping orders across the US for that amount of time. A lot of people we have dealt with wouldn't know where to start when looking to frame a piece. We are making it super easy.

drone 12y ago

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 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 pictureframes, and related (whom I've been buying my frames and mats from for years) may be able to beat you there. Certainly, if I switch to a metal frame, the price starts dropping. Now, if you're focusing on a better user experience, that could certainly use some improving with existing sites, but I don't know that you're really disrupting the price of online custom frames?

cptskippy 12y ago
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.

CarVac 12y ago

I was hoping to be able to frame a 51" wide panorama I have...but I was disappointed.

pjbrunet 12y ago

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-razor-blades-rogue-lint/ http://pjbrunet.com/custom-picture-framing-falling-glass-raz...

aaronbrethorst 12y ago
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.

analog31 12y ago

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?

ultimatedelman 12y ago

Your post made me immediately go measure a print I have hanging on my wall by binder clips because I got excited to finally put that print in a frame for a reasonable price... ...and was immediately let down when the price was pretty much just as expensive as a regular framer. Womp.

williamsharkey 12y ago

Challenge - Upload a photo of the print, see it in frame. Extra credit - Take some photos of your frames in natural room settings. Inside the frame, place a color calibration sheet. Find the transformation of the color calibration sheet (EG - how the room affects color, glare, and shadows), and then apply it to the user-uploaded images. Perhaps this could sell the difference between normal and anti glare.