How much does it cost to frame a poster? At a local frame shop, the honest answer is “it depends” — and the range is wide enough to be genuinely unhelpful until real numbers sit next to it. Below are two chains’ own reported figures, our framed range set against them, and the four things that actually move a quote up or down.
Short version first: a local custom framer will typically land somewhere between $80 and $300 for a standard poster-sized piece, more for a large one or upgraded glass. Our own framed range starts lower than that and finishes about where theirs does, because a moulding and a mat account for most of the bill either way.
How much does it cost to frame a poster at Hobby Lobby and Michaels?
Neither chain publishes a national price list — the number is set in-store, by size, moulding and glazing — so the closest thing to a public figure is what has been reported after getting a quote. Hobby Lobby’s own custom-framing promotion only discounts the moulding, not the whole job: frame mouldings are marked 50% off, while matting, glazing and mounting are priced separately and added on top. Put together, a standard photo, print or artwork project has been reported landing between $80 and $300, and a large or premium piece between $400 and $500 or more. Size matters more than it looks: a 24×36 frame needs roughly 3.3 times the linear moulding of an 8×10, and about 10.8 times the glazing area — which is most of why the range is so wide.
Michaels prices its own custom framing the same way, by size and materials. A digital-photo job with acrylic glazing has been reported running from about $39 up to $194 across sizes from roughly 5×5 in to 32×40 in, and upgrading to a premium glass option can add over $100 to the total on its own. Both sets of figures are reported quotes, not a published tariff — the only way to get an exact number for a specific print is to ask in person, because the same 16×20 can price differently between two counters in the same city depending on the moulding chosen.
Where our own framed range sits
We price the frame as one flat figure per size rather than a moulding-plus-mat-plus-glazing build-up, and it is available on twelve of our seventeen print sizes, from 27×35 cm up to 70×100 cm. Across that range the framed price runs $125 to $310: solid wood, assembled by hand, with the hanging hardware already fitted to the back. There is no separate moulding line, no mat line and no glazing line to add — the number on the size chip is the number at checkout.
That puts the small and mid sizes inside what a local framer would quote for the same job, without a second trip to pick a moulding. The Porsche 911 Turbo (930) poster and the Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing poster both carry the full framed range if you want to see it against a real size chart rather than a number sitting on its own.
The flat-pack alternative
There is a third route neither shop above sells: a ready-made frame you assemble yourself, most commonly IKEA’s RIBBA range, bought separately from the print. It is the cheapest of the three by a distance, and the trade-off is that you are matching a print to a frame’s opening rather than the other way round. Will our prints fit an IKEA RIBBA frame? works through exactly which sizes line up.
What actually drives the number
Four things move a framing quote more than the shop’s name on the door:
- Size. Moulding is priced by the linear foot and glazing by the square inch, so the jump from a small print to a large one is never linear — see the 3.3x / 10.8x figures above.
- Glazing. Standard acrylic costs least; a premium conservation or anti-glare option is usually the single biggest upgrade on the ticket.
- Mat or no mat. A cut mat board adds a material and a labour step. Skipping it is the cheaper choice, and on the right print, the better-looking one too — whether you need a mat at all is its own question.
- Moulding profile. A wide, ornate profile costs more per foot than a plain flat one, independent of what is inside it.
Framed or unframed, before any of this
None of the above matters if a rolled print already suits the wall it is going on. Framed or unframed: which print to order is worth reading before comparing any shop’s numbers, because the honest answer for some walls is to skip framing altogether — and the Vintage F1 Pit Lane Kiss print ships rolled just as readily as it ships framed.
Common questions
Is it cheaper to frame a poster myself than to pay a shop?
Usually, for materials alone — a ready-made frame and mount board cost a fraction of a custom quote. What you are trading is time, a steady hand and the risk of a crooked cut. For a standard size, a flat-pack frame is the cheapest route; for a size that does not fit one, custom framing earns its price.
Why do Hobby Lobby and Michaels quote such a wide range for the same size?
Neither chain publishes a fixed price list. The final number depends on the moulding profile chosen, whether glazing is upgraded, whether a mat is added, and whatever promotion is running that week — so two identical 16x20 orders can price differently at two counters for exactly those reasons.
Does a framing quote include the glass or acrylic?
At most frame shops, yes — glazing is part of the custom quote and priced as a separate line, with a premium anti-glare or UV-filtering option usually the biggest single upgrade available. We do not publish a glazing specification for our own framed prints, so ask us directly if that detail matters to your order.
Is a more expensive frame actually better?
Not automatically. Most of the price difference tracks moulding profile, a glazing upgrade and whether a mat is cut — none of which change how the print underneath is made. A plain profile in solid wood does the same structural job as an ornate one costing several times as much.
