FRAMEBUG
Frame it right — mat sizing, print prep, and the picture-framing calculators every DIY framer needs.
From sizing your mat and frame to checking a crop, weighing your glazing options, and finding the exact hook height, FrameBug pairs free hands-on framing calculators with practical guides and a richly illustrated museum. Frame it once, frame it right.
Picture Framing Tools & Calculators
Free tools for every framing project — mat border calculator, frame size calculator, aspect ratio calculator, print resolution calculator, glazing weight calculator, and picture hanging calculator.
Mat Border Calculator
Work out the outer mat size and frame opening from your artwork size and desired border width — or solve the reverse for an even border.
Frame Size Calculator
Get the outer frame dimensions and molding length to buy from your artwork size, mat border width, and molding face width.
Aspect Ratio Calculator
Simplify any width/height pair to its ratio, and see the largest crop that fits your photo into a target print size like 8x10 or 4x6.
Print Resolution Calculator
Check the effective PPI of a photo at your intended print size, or find the minimum pixel dimensions needed to hit a target PPI like 300.
Glazing Weight Calculator
Estimate the weight of a sheet of glass or acrylic glazing from its size and thickness, and compare the two materials.
Picture Hanging Calculator
Find the horizontal center and the exact hook height for a level, gallery-height hang, accounting for the wire drop.
The Frame Museum
Wander an illustrated museum of the picture frame itself — moldings and gilded finishes, the mat boards and mounting techniques that support the art, the glass and acrylic glazing and conservation practices that protect it, and the ways pictures and photos get displayed, each in its own gallery, so you can get to know the stories behind every material and technique: how it came to be, what makes it matter, and the role it plays in what people choose to hang on their walls.
Tour the museum →From the Journal
Guides on matting and mounting, choosing frame materials, prepping photos for print, and hanging finished pieces — practical reading to pair with the calculators above.
Hanging a Gallery Wall Without Guesswork
A gallery wall is several pictures read as one composition, which makes it a different problem from hanging a single frame. The individual heights stop…
Why Gallery Mats Have a Wider Bottom Border
Look closely at framed work in a gallery and you will notice something odd about the mats: the bottom border is often wider than the other three. It is not…
The Four Numbers Behind Every Framing Job
A framing job is four numbers, computed in order. Get them in the right sequence and everything fits; work backwards from a frame you already own and you…
The 57-Inch Rule, and Where the Hook Actually Goes
Most pictures in most homes are hung too high. The convention that fixes this is a single number: the centre of the artwork sits about 57 inches (145 cm)…
Glass or Acrylic: What the Weight Difference Actually Is
The sheet of glass or acrylic over a picture is usually the heaviest single component of a frame, and its weight decides what hardware the wall needs. The…
How Much Moulding to Buy for a Frame
Buying moulding is where a framing project stops being theoretical. You need a length of stock, and the length is not the frame's perimeter, because every…
Keep Learning
Plain-language explainers on matting, mounting, glazing materials, and print prep, and practical tips for framing your own photos and artwork with confidence — everything you need to dig deeper before you cut, mount, or hang.
Visit the Learn hub →