Thin picture frames, in wood or aluminum

What counts as a thin frame

The molding is the strip around the picture, and a thin frame means a narrow face. In wood, a thin molding is about 1–2 cm. A wide one starts at around 3 cm, and from there the frame adds a presence of its own.

Aluminum can go thinner. An aluminum molding can be thin in a way wood cannot reach without looking fragile, so it gives a frame that almost disappears: what stays on the wall is the picture and one line around it.

In the photo above: an abstract painting of a pianist in a thin natural-wood frame. The painting is colorful and strong enough, and the frame only closes it.

Thin wood or thin aluminum

Both are thin, but they do not look the same.

Thin wood brings warmth and visible grain. It comes in natural tones (light wood, oak, walnut), in black and in white, and it goes with wooden furniture and a warm home. Even the thinnest of it still feels like a material.

Thin aluminum gives a clean, technical line. Matte black is the most common and frames sharply, white blends into a light wall, and silver and natural aluminum almost vanish. There is also a thin gold line in aluminum, which is something completely different from the ornate gold of classic wood moldings.

And one practical difference matters more than it sounds: uniformity. On a gallery wall with eight pictures, eight identical aluminum frames read as one system. Eight wood frames, even in the same tone, always carry slight differences in grain and shade. ← See the aluminum frames page and the wood frames page.

When a thin frame works

A thin frame suits a picture that is the whole point, where the frame only needs to contain it.

Photos and graphic posters: a thin molding in black, white or aluminum works better than a wide one, because it frames without interfering. On a black-and-white photo, a thin black frame gives a sharp, contemporary look.

Gallery walls: when many pictures hang together, wide frames create clutter. Thin, matching frames hold the wall together as one piece. ← See the gallery wall page.

Artists' work and exhibitions: the usual spec is a thin, neutral molding with a wide off-white mat, so the frame does not compete with the work.

Collages and children's drawings: the gallery here includes a collage of dozens of children's drawings in a thin oak frame. When there is a lot of color and detail inside the frame, a thin frame leaves them the stage.

A mirror in a bedroom or facing a wardrobe: there the mirror is a tool, and a thin frame, or no frame at all, is usually more right than a molding with presence.

When not

A thin frame is not the answer for every picture, and it is worth knowing that before you decide.

A large picture: a thin wood molding cut to a long length flexes, so large pictures go wider. Visually too, a thin molding on a meter-wide picture looks weak. If you still want a thin line on a large picture, aluminum is the way: it keeps its shape over a large span. ← See the large picture frames page.

A certificate, diploma or award: a molding that is too thin makes a certificate look like a printed sheet that got hung up. A molding with some presence gives it the weight it is meant to carry.

A shadow box for a jersey or an object with depth: the frame itself is deep, and a molding that is too thin looks weak against that depth.

An oil painting, an art print or a visually "heavy" piece: the heavier the picture, the wider a molding it can carry, and sometimes it needs one.

Thin frames and mats

A combination that works often: a thin frame with a wide mat. The mat gives the picture air, and the thin frame closes it all with a clean line. That way even a small picture gets presence on the wall without a heavy molding.

Just remember the mat increases the outer size: a 5 cm mat adds 10 cm to each axis. If you have a set space on the wall, bring the free measurement and we will work backwards. ← See the picture mats page.

A ready-made thin frame or one made to size

To be honest: if your print is exactly a standard size, like A4 or A3, and you want a thin black frame with no mat, a ready-made frame may be enough.

A frame made to size comes in when the size is not standard, when you want a mat cut exactly to the picture, or when you want a tone, material or width that is not on the shelf. A shelf frame comes in standard sizes only, so it dictates the solution: crop the picture, leave uneven margins, or give up. Here the molding, the glass and the mat are cut to the picture, not the other way round. ← See the custom frames page.

What a thin frame costs

We have no fixed price list for framing: the price depends on the size, the type of molding, the glass, and whether you add a mat. What we can say is that a thin, plain molding is one of the things that brings the price down, compared with a wide, ornate molding at the same size.

You get the exact price at the studio, in front of the picture, before we start. Most jobs are ready within two business days.

Choose a thin frame in front of the picture

The difference between 1 cm and 2 cm, or between matte black and oak, looks small on a screen and large on a wall. So we lay the picture on the table and hold molding samples against it one after another, and you see straight away what works.

The studio is at 3 Naftali Palatin St. in Rishon LeZion, with free parking nearby, open Sunday to Thursday from 08:15 to 17:00, no appointment needed.