Why Is Picture Framing So Expensive? - Logan Graphic

Maybe your like

Dealers About Contact

Products Products
- Mat Cutters
  - Board Mounted
  - Handheld
  - Kits
- Straight Edges
- Plexi Cutter
- Multi-Material Cutter
- Framing Tools
- Foam Cutters
- Cosplay/Costume Tools
- Trimming & Sizing
- Blades & Hardware
  - Blades
  - Framing Hardware
Buy Buy
Learn Learn
- Border Calculator
- Free Books & Guides
- Events & Training
- Video Tutorials
- Complete Picture Framing Guide
- Cos-Tools Project Showcase
Support Support
- FAQ & Troubleshooting
- Owner's Manuals
- Parts Lists
- Contact Us
Search Search
Dealers
About
Contact

Logan's Complete Guide to Picture Framing Why is Picture Framing So Expensive? Home » Learning Center » Complete Guide to Picture Framing » Why is Picture Framing So Expensive? Guide Navigation Introduction to Picture Framing & Matting

The Purpose of Matting
Do it Yourself Framing
Introduction to Picture Framing

Designing Your Picture Frames and Mats Color Selection

Reading Artwork
Selecting a Color
Tips on Choosing Colors in Matting

Matboard Types

Matboard Types
Understanding Differences in Mat Boards

Frame Types

Frame Types
What is Conservation & Archival Framing

Mat styles

Mat Styles
Determine Window Size
Designing Mats for Standard Size Frames
Designing with Standard Sizes
Mat Size and Proportion
Mat Proportion
Should Mat Bottom be Wider?
Trends in Matting Design

Glass types

Glazing Your Artwork
Glazing
Glass or Plexiglass?

Measuring and Sizing Picture Frames and Mats Mats

Measuring and Sizing Picture Frame Mats
Border Finder
Measuring for Mats
How to Calculate Border Size

Frames

Standard Frame Sizes
How To: Standard frame sizes
Basic measuring for Picture Framing

Costs of Picture Framing

How Much Can You Save by Doing Your Own Picture Framing Yourself?
Why is Picture Framing so Expensive?
How Much Should Picture Framing Cost?
How to Hold Down Cost of Picture Framing

DIY Picture Frames

Measuring for Frame Making
Cutting Picture Frame Moulding
Sanding Picture Frame Moudling
Joining with Studio Joiner F300-1
Joining with Pro joiner F300-1
How to Get Perfect Corner Joints
Tips for Joining Using Pro Joiner
Types of Wood Used in DIY Framing
Can You Use Hardwood Nail on Soft Wood?

Mat Cutting Cutting mat board sheet to size

Making the Most of a 32 x 40 Sheet
Trimming Mat Board to Size
Trimming Mat Board to Size with Straight Edge
Trimming Mat Board to Size with Compact
Trimming Mat Board to Size with Simplex

Cutting a single rectangle mat

Mat Cutting
Cutting Single Mat Using a Straight Edge
Cutting a Single Mat With a Simplex-Basics
Cutting a single mat with a simplex-detailed

Cutting a Double rectangle mat

Cutting a double mat
Cutting a double mat- detailed professional version
The professional framers secret for cutting a double mat
How to measure and cut a double mat,

Cutting a stepped corner rectangular mat

Cutting a stepped corner mat – basics
Cutting stepped corner mats – detailed
Offset (stepped) corner mat

Cutting an Inlay Mat

Cutting an inlay mat

Cutting a V groove mat

Cutting a v groove mat with the trim –and-tape method
Cutting a v groove with the tape – and –flip method
Cutting a v groove using a logan V groover (discontinued)

Adding decorative ink lines to rectangular mats

Adding decorative ink lines to your mats

Cutting multiple opening mats

How to cut a multiple opening mat
Multiple opening mat examples

Cutting oval and circle mats

Cutting oval and circle mats
Cutting a double oval mat
Cutting a double inlay mat
Cutting a roman mat
Cutting an arch mat
Cutting a notched oval mat
Cutting an oval or circle mat
Proper cutting technique model 201

Mat Cutter Choices

Understanding the differences between mat cutters
The crucial importance of a squaring arm in mat cutting
Sorting out the differences in the new simplex mat cutters

Mat Cutting Help, Troubleshooting and FAQs

Slip sheets
The importance of using a slip sheet when cutting
The importance of using a backing sheet
Why am I getting a ragged cut?
How to avoid rough or ragged edges when cutting mats
Dealing with inconsistencies in the bevel edges
Adjusting your mat cutter for proper blade depth
The importance of proper blade depth
Why am I getting a hook in the corners or curve in the bevel cut?
How come I don't cut all the way through the mat board?
How to conquer overcuts and undercuts?
Dealing with overcuts and undercuts
Why am I getting overcuts in the corners?
Why are my mats not coming out square?
Why is my bevel cut going the wrong way?
How to cut left handed
How to cut a 40" sheet of mat board on the 32" compact mat cutter
Is using production stops the fool proof way to get perfect mats?
Tips for working with production stops on your mat cutter
Basic mat cutter maintenance

Mounting Your Artwork Methods of Mounting

Mounting your artwork
Grappling with conservation and archival mounting concerns
Supporting Artwork
Hinge mounting T, V and S methods
A simple method to a T-hinge mount
Trapping methods
Permanent mounting
Wet mounting
Pressure sensitive adhesive mounting
How to mount artwork using positionable mounting adhesive (PMA)
Spray adhesives

Mounting different types of Artwork

Mounting paper art
Hanging paper art
How to mount a watercolor
Mounting Pastels or Charcoal drawings
Mounting stretched canvas
How to mount and frame a canvas board
Mounting Needle art
Framing needlework and fabric
Shadow box mat
Creating shadow box effect
Mounting 3D objects

Glazing with Glass and Plastic

Glazing your artwork
Hard and Fast: Glass vs Plexiglass, Which is better?
Essential tools for glazing when picture framing
Reducing glass to size
Cleaning and cutting glass
Tips for cleaning glass when picture framing

Securing or Fitting your Artwork in a Picture Frame

Fitting Basics
Options for securing the contents in a picture frame
Loading and securing your framing components
Fitting wood frames
Fitting metal frames
Fitting art on canvas
How to hold stretched canvas in a picture frame

Finishing Your Artwork

Installing a dust cover
Installing hanging hardware
Installing hanging wire and bumper pads

Part One in a Series

Picture framing is expensive. The problem is not just one of price, but of perception. Many things are expensive but few things are as out of alignment with what consumers expect them to cost. Many consumers express shock at the cost of picture framing, and it's no better for the poor framer who must justify his upward spiraling prices as he grapples with ongoing price increases from suppliers.

But how did it get this way? Some reasons are obvious, like the soaring costs of raw materials like wood and paper. But many industries have weathered price increases in raw materials without provoking push back from consumers. The picture framing industries' problems go much deeper.

The Problem of Inventory

At bottom it has to do with the large inventory requirements of small, storefront frame shops. A typical storefront frame shop offers their customers dozens of different moulding styles and hundreds of mat board colors. In addition, they offer four or five different glazing options and a selection of different backing boards.

This makes for a large number of stock keeping units. But the store has no place to keep all those stock keeping units, so it must rely on an outside vendor to hold all those units and ship them quickly when needed. This outside vendor is a wholesaler.

A wholesaler is essentially a middle-man who stands between the manufacturer of the products and the small, storefront frame shop. He has large floor space, a significant cost for financing the inventory, and certain degree of spoilage costs with products like wood and paper. Plus, he has to make a profit.

Any cost increases from the manufacturer become magnified when passed through the lens of the wholesaler. The cost to the frame shop is therefore high, and since the frame shop has to make a profit too, the cost to the consumer is even higher.

In many other industries the cost of middle-men have been rooted out and this multi-tiered distribution system has been leveled to provide a more direct conduit of goods to consumers at a lower cost, but not in picture framing.

The Problem of Distribution

For years storefront frame shops have insisted that wholesalers sell to them exclusively and refuse the requests of consumers to be sold directly. They feared that if consumers could buy the equipment and supplies to do their own picture framing, they would stop patronizing their frame shops. This attitude was shortsighted and ultimately self-defeating.

As the lines between wholesalers and retailers have blurred in other industries, manufacturers have been compelled to switch from pricing based on designation to pricing based on volume. If a manufacturer can't tell whether his customer is a retailer or wholesaler anymore, he has no choice but to base his prices on how much the customer can buy. The customer who buys the most gets the lowest price. It's as simple as that.

But in an industry that refuses to sell to certain customers, this can be a disaster. If lower costs are based on higher volume, no one benefits from a policy that deliberately turns customers away. Doing so keeps prices high at the source, the manufacturer, and those higher prices are magnified down the line through the wholesaler and retailer to the consumer, creating another problem – customer pushback.

The Problem of Pushback

With a discretionary purchase like picture framing, once the price reaches a certain level consumers simply refuse to buy. This loss in volume accelerates a downward spiral. Since retail overhead is fixed (the rent remains the same regardless of the volume), any loss in the number of consumers must be made up for by an increase in price to those consumers that remain.

Naturally this increase in price tends to lead to more customer pushback, which triggers another round of price increases.

At the end of the day, picture framing becomes expensive, prohibitively so for many consumers.

This creates an urgency on the parts of artists, photographers and others who frame frequently to do it themselves. It also creates an opportunity for those who have learned to do their own picture framing to do it for others who are seeking a lower price.

So how much should picture framing cost? We will answer that question next, in the second part of this three part series on the cost of picture framing.

learning center