How to Frame a Poster Yourself

What You Need Before You Start

Gather a tape measure, a pencil, and a frame of your choice. The unframed poster arrives on thick matte paper ready for a frame of your own, so nothing else is required to get it wall-ready.

Before you buy anything, measure the wall. The store advises measuring the wall first and picking a size that leaves some space around the print, which matters just as much when you already own the poster and are choosing a frame for it.

For help working out how much space to leave, see our guide to measuring for a print.

The task in short:

1. Measure the poster.

2. Measure the wall space.

3. Choose and fit the frame.

4. Check the result on the wall.

Framing a Poster Yourself, Step by Step

Work through the steps in order. Each one takes only a few minutes, and the measurements are the part worth doing twice.

Steps:

1. Measure the poster. Note its height and width in the units you prefer. Customers in the US and Canada see sizes in inches, and everyone else sees them in centimeters, so use whichever matches the frame you plan to buy.

2. Measure the wall. Mark the area where the poster will hang, and pick a position that leaves some space around the print rather than filling the wall edge to edge.

3. Choose a frame. The unframed poster is sold without a frame, so pick one that suits the paper and the room. Check the frame's stated dimensions against your poster measurements before buying, since the evidence here does not cover how to match a store-bought frame size to a poster size.

4. Fit the poster into the frame. Handle the matte paper carefully as you place it, and make sure it sits flat and square inside the frame.

5. Hang and check. Step back and confirm the poster sits level and centered in the space you measured.

If you would rather skip the frame entirely, the poster with hangers is held at the top and bottom by two wooden bars with magnets inside, with no pins or holes in the paper, and the print can be swapped whenever you like. It is a different approach from framing, but it solves the same problem.

What Poster Sizes Look Like in Practice

Documented museum posters give a sense of how poster sheets and their frames relate in size. The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds a lithograph poster, Albert Morris Bagby's New Novel, Miss Träumerei by Ethel Reed, dated 1895, with a sheet measuring 21 15/16 x 13 9/16 in. and a frame measuring 30 1/2 x 24 1/2 in. The frame is noticeably larger than the sheet it holds.

The Met also holds a poster for summer festivals and carnivals in Montevideo, Uruguay by A. González, dated 1939-40, an offset lithograph with a sheet measuring 38 3/16 x 26 3/8 in. A larger sheet like this needs a correspondingly larger wall space, which is why the wall measurement comes first.

For comparison, the Met's holdings are not limited to posters. The museum lists Virgil's Tomb by Moonlight, with Silius Italicus Declaiming by Joseph Wright (Wright of Derby), dated 1779, an oil on canvas measuring 40 x 50 in., a reminder that sheet sizes vary widely across formats and periods.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

The pitfalls the evidence supports are straightforward. Skipping the wall measurement is the first: the store advises measuring the wall first and picking a size that leaves some space around the print, and the same advice applies when choosing a frame for a poster you already own.

The second mistake is forgetting what the unframed poster is printed on. It arrives on thick matte paper with a soft off-white tone, so handle it with clean hands and keep it flat while you work.

One honest gap: the evidence does not explain how to choose or fit a store-bought frame, such as matching frame size to poster size. Check the frame's listed dimensions against your own measurements of the poster before you buy.

Finally, think about where the framed poster will hang. The store advises hanging prints out of direct sunlight and away from damp walls, dusting with a soft dry cloth, and never using water or cleaning spray on the paper or canvas.

If you are weighing a frame against other formats, our guide to choosing a framed Morris print covers frame, size and mount in more detail.

Quick Checklist

Before you call the job done:

• Measure the wall.
• Measure the poster.
• Allow space around the print.
• Confirm frame dimensions match the poster.
• Handle the matte paper carefully.