Framing Your Canvas With a Floating Frame
As you shop for different framing solutions, you may come across a canvas floater frame. While these products are relatively new, they are a popular framing option due to their ability to create a sleek, contemporary look that mimics gallery artwork. At Tribeca Printworks, we offer the opportunity to frame your canvas prints with a floater frame to help unify an existing theme and give any space a touch of elegance.
What Is a Canvas Floater Frame?
As the name suggests, canvas floater frames give the appearance that a stretched canvas is floating within a frame. This appearance is partly due to positioning the canvas edge away from the inner edge of the frame, rather than having it disappear behind a traditional frame lip. A true canvas floater frame surrounds the canvas with a small gap, giving the illusion that the canvas is “floating” inside it.
This should not be confused with float mounting, which is a different technique used for paper prints and involves suspending the artwork within a shadow box-style frame.
If you are looking for a gallery-style framing option for your canvas print, you can’t go wrong with a canvas floater frame. This frame helps to provide further definition, and the gap between the artwork and the frame edge adds visual space to attract the eye. Also, most canvas floater frames don’t place the canvas behind glass, allowing for greater texture.
Materials and Sizes
At Tribeca Printworks, we offer frames in many different materials and sizes to fit your framing needs. We can customize these products to any length or width to match your print’s dimensions. You can also choose between black and white finish options to ensure the float frame matches your existing décor.
See Our Custom Frame Options
Browse our fine art frames and choose from:
Our Premium-Quality Canvas Prints
At Tribeca Printworks, we specialize in high-quality canvas printing and custom framing to suit a variety of artistic needs. Whether you’re printing fine art or photography, we offer premium canvas materials and finishing options to ensure your work looks its best.
Our canvas offerings include:
- Exhibition Matte Canvas (by Epson): Exhibition Matte Canvas feature an acid free, lignin-free heavyweight cotton-poly blend, with a matte non-reflective surface.
- Silverada canvas: This material has a semi-gloss finish that adds an appealing glow to fine art prints. The luster from metallic, silver and pearlescent surface finishes enhances depth and color intensity.
When Should You Use a Floating Frame?
Your decision to use a float frame will ultimately depend on your personal preferences. However, there are a few instances in which a floating frame may be the best option for your needs:
- Your picture does not complement the surrounding décor: If your canvas print is a contrasting style or color, you may wish to choose a frame similar to your interior scheme to help tie your décor together and make it look more cohesive.
- Your canvas background blends in with the wall: In situations where your print resembles the wall, using a floating frame is an excellent way to bring attention to your image and create contrast.
- Your other artwork is already in frames: While you do not need to match all your frames, if you want your newest canvas print to hang next to your other framed pictures, you may wish to invest in a floating frame, so the artwork does not clash with your décor.
- You want a finished look: Using a floating frame is a great way to give any canvas a finished look while showcasing the canvas’s texture.
- You want to protect the canvas edge: If you plan on placing your artwork in a high-traffic area of the house, it’s natural that it may experience bumps and knocks. In these situations, investing in a floating frame can protect your canvas.
Floating frames are also an excellent option for displaying canvas printing treatments that do not require additional protective glazing. For example, you can use a floating frame to showcase canvas artwork that has undergone printing treatments similar to those used for our HD aluminum metal prints or our Acrylic Face Mount prints.
The Difference Between Float Mounting and Canvas Floater Frames
While float mounting and canvas floater frames have similar names, they differ in several ways. Float mounting refers to a specific mounting technique that involves attaching a piece of artwork to a mount board or uncut mat board. With a floating mount, your artwork will rise slightly above the mat to give the appearance that it is floating.
Conversely, a floater frame is a style of frame specifically for uncovered art on a stretched canvas. In a floater frame, the outer edges of the artwork do not touch the interior frame edges, which makes the art appear as if it is floating within the frame.
Another aesthetic benefit of float frames is that when combined with a stretched or gallery-wrapped canvas print, the frame aids in producing a more finished appearance. While a stretched canvas print by itself is an option for creating ready-to-hang artwork, the addition of a floater frame makes it feel more like a piece of art.
Printing and Mounting a Canvas Photo
For canvas artwork, floater frames are the recommended choice. After printing your image onto a canvas, we will mount it on stretcher bars before attaching it to the floater frame. After successfully mounting the photo on the stretcher frame, we will insert it into the floater frame to complete the process.
Throughout our many years in business, Tribeca Printworks has mastered the art of custom framing through our in-house process. Every frame we create in our SoHo location is a creation of one of our master artisans. Since we make each part to order, we can quickly create custom frames for all your framing needs.
Choose Tribeca Printworks for Floating Frames
Whether you want to create a gallery wall or hang a few frames at a time, using a canvas floater frame is a beautiful way to make your favorite canvas prints stand out in your home or office space. Tribeca Printworks offers the option for custom framing to personalize your photos and ensure your favorite images shine. Schedule a phone or in-person consultation at our location in New York City to learn more about our floater frames for canvas prints!