Places to buy photo frames?

[Ekliptix]

I'm decorating my office (at work) and I've been checking around places for frames.

So far I've found frames at:
-Dollar stores
-Zellers
-Walmart
-Winners
-Michaels (nicest, but most expensive so far)

Part of the problem is finding a frame to hold a 30x20" photo well. 36x24" is bigger then I want to have printed and the 3x2 aspect ratio seems difficult in general to find frames for.

Anyone have any other suggestions for places to check photo frames out.

Thanks

[The Cosworth]

blacks or japan camera?

[mo_money2supe]

It seems like you're going for the cheap, but good looking frame; have you tried Ikea? They have a huge selection of frames there. I'm sure you'll find exactly what you're looking for there.

[Isaiah]

EQ3 in Deerfoot Meadows had a great sale on a couple of weeks ago. I picked up 4 wicked frames for $4 ea. (regular $24 ea.)

[Ekliptix]

I was looking on the ikea website and they don't seem to have their whole selection available to view, or many details such as what size photo goes in each frame.

I have about 25 pics which I plan to thin down to ~10 to be printed. The hard part is picturing which photo would look good in which frame so next time I go frame shopping I'm bringing a printed sample sheet of the 25 pics.

[Ekliptix]

Originally posted by Isaiah
EQ3 in Deerfoot Meadows had a great sale on a couple of weeks ago. I picked up 4 wicked frames for $4 ea. (regular $24 ea.)
I'll have to check them out. They have nice stuff there, but I'd want to hit them on a sales day.

[D'z Nutz]

Yeah, last time I was at Ikea, they had some decent frames for reasonable prices. Chapters also had some nice looking frames, but I don't recall them being that large.

Ever consider mounting and laminating them?

[Isaiah]

Originally posted by Ekliptix

I'll have to check them out. They have nice stuff there, but I'd want to hit them on a sales day.

I think the sale is on til the end of the month so you still have a couple of days left. Remember, short month though.

[Ekliptix]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
Yeah, last time I was at Ikea, they had some decent frames for reasonable prices. Chapters also had some nice looking frames, but I don't recall them being that large.

Ever consider mounting and laminating them?

What do you mean by mounting them? I'm unfirmiliar with most framing phrases.

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by Ekliptix


What do you mean by mounting them? I'm unfirmiliar with most framing phrases.

Basically take your prints and get them mounted (glued?) onto some sort of board. Then the front is laminated with a kinda of plastic material, ie: matted, glossy, etc.... You can also get frames put onto the edges of the boards if you're going for that sort of look. Think of it as a poster on a wooden board.

If you're looking to get prints framed, sometimes it may be cheaper to get them mounted and laminated rather than finding a frame that size. It might be lighter too. Downside is that it is permanent, where as you can just swap the print in the frame if you get sick of looking at it.

[Isaiah]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz


Basically take your prints and get them mounted (glued?) onto some sort of board. Then the front is laminated with a kinda of plastic material, ie: matted, glossy, etc.... You can also get frames put onto the edges of the boards if you're going for that sort of look. Think of it as a poster on a wooden board.

If you're looking to get prints framed, sometimes it may be cheaper to get them mounted and laminated rather than finding a frame that size. Downside is that it is permanent.

Great idea and they can also do any custom size you are looking for. Costco had terrific prices for mounting and it's done within the week.

[Mitsu3000gt]

+1 for Michaels, my Mom always uses them for frames. As previously mentioned, they look really good but are very expensive.

[Ekliptix]

Anything I get at Michael's will be pre fabbed

[Ekliptix]

I went to Michael's again today. They had 40% off many frames and all large poster frames for $15. I grabbed one for this print for my Brother (He's in the pic so it's a gift).
I plan to keep checking Michael's out for sales. I guess they occur frequently.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b109/Ekliptix/print1.jpg

These are all going in my office at work. $30 per frame
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b109/Ekliptix/print2.jpg

Need to get a frame for this one. I might get something a little better quality then the one at the very top.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b109/Ekliptix/print3.jpg

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by Ekliptix
I went to Michael's again today. They had 40% off many frames and all large poster frames for $15. I grabbed one for this print for my Brother (He's in the pic so it's a gift).
I plan to keep checking Michael's out for sales. I guess they occur frequently.


Those look great! Especially the long one. Do you know when the sale is until?

I completely forgot to mention to check your mail for Michael's flyers. They actually have coupons in there pretty frequently for like 40% off or 50% off.

[Ekliptix]

I don't know how long the sale is. Only certain items are marked as being on sale. I'll have to look for one of those flyers.

[D'z Nutz]

If I see any flyers with the coupons, I'll bump this thread.

I just checked this weekend's thread, and there's a 40% off coupon for regular priced items, good from March 10-16.

Where are you getting your prints done?

[Ekliptix]

I'm out of Canada for the next 3 weeks so no need to bump the thread for my case if you see a deal.

I had them done at Nova Photo. $150 for all the pics above. Seems expensive to me but London Drugs is crap I found out. I've confirmed I'm getting my $ back on this one:

(pic used in an email to convince them of poor quality printing job):
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b109/Ekliptix/london-drugs.jpg

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by Ekliptix
I had them done at Nova Photo. $150 for all the pics above. Seems expensive to me but London Drugs is crap I found out. I've confirmed I'm getting my $ back on this one:

thanks for the info. I don't mind paying extra if the quality's there. I've seen vistek's work and they really seem to half ass it sometimes.

[Mitsu3000gt]

So how do print shops like Nova work? Do I just send them a NEF or TIFF and they will fix the picture (exposure and such) and then print it for me and mail it to me? Or do they just print whatever I give them without fixing it?. I am interested in getting a couple big prints done (20X30" or somewhere around there). I don't know how good Costco is, but it's dirt cheap (under $2 for an 8X10).

Also, I was wondering if it's cheaper in the long run to buy a big printer (like the ones they have on display at TCS for like $2000) or if it's cheaper to always send your pictures to a print shop? Paper and Ink is $$$ but maybe it is less than the premium you pay to have someone do it for you?

Thanks.

[Ekliptix]

For me, the goal was for the colors, contrast, brightness that the photo appeared to be on my computer monitor to be what the print came out as. That's what Nova did for me. They may have an opional touch up service, but I'm not aware of it.

They can mail them to you or you can pick them up downtown.

In the long run, yes it's problaby cheaper to buy a big expensive printer but you'd have to have a lot of prints scheduled. For me, it's not worth it but I'd def print a lot more, and maybe sell some if I had access to inexpensive quality printing or my own printer.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

You know what sucks? It's totally impossible to find a decent 8X12 frame in this town. Everything's 8X10, why? ARGH! :banghead:

[Ekliptix]

Yup, there's not a whole bunch of 2:3 ratio frames.