Before anything else, measure the blank border around the printed image. That one measurement decides everything that follows. Most framing advice online assumes you can stretch the canvas over wooden bars. With a paint by number you usually cannot, and finding that out with a staple gun in your hand is an expensive way to learn it.
Step zero: which situation are you in
A framed kit arrived stretched on a wooden frame. It is finished. Hang it, or stand it on the easel that came with it. Nothing in this article applies to you.
An unframed rolled canvas needs mounting before it can go on a wall. That is what the rest of this covers.
Step one: wait
Several days after the last brushstroke, and longer if the paint went on thick or the room is humid. Acrylic is touch-dry in minutes and cured much later, and anything pressed against soft paint leaves a permanent mark.
Press gently on the thickest area with a clean finger. Cool or slightly tacky means wait.
Step two: measure the border
Measure the printed image, edge to edge. Then measure the blank canvas around it on all four sides.
- Under one inch of border: stretching is not possible. Go to Option A or B.
- One to one and a half inches: marginal. A professional framer might manage it on thin bars. Do not attempt it yourself.
- An inch and a half or more on every side: stretching is a real option. See Option C.
Paint by number canvases are normally trimmed close to the print, so under an inch is the common case. That is how they are cut, not a defect, and mounting flat gives an excellent result.
Option A: mount it flat to a board
The simplest route, the cheapest, and the one most people should take. It also pulls out any remaining waviness from the tube.
You need: a rigid backing board cut to the size of your canvas (foam board, MDF or hardboard), an acid-free mounting adhesive or acid-free double-sided tape, a clean cloth or a soft roller, and a frame that fits the board.
- Cut or have the board cut to the exact canvas size. Most framing shops and hardware stores will cut it for you.
- Lay the canvas face down on a clean, soft surface. A folded sheet works.
- Apply adhesive to the board, not to the painting. Spread it evenly, right to the edges. Skipping the corners is what causes lifting later.
- Lower the board onto the back of the canvas rather than dropping the canvas onto the board, so you can line it up before it touches.
- Turn it over and smooth outward from the center with a cloth or roller. Working center to edge is what pushes air out rather than trapping it.
- Weight it flat under a stack of books overnight.
- Put the mounted board into a standard frame.
Use acid-free materials. Ordinary craft glue and cheap tape yellow and go brittle, and the discoloration eventually shows through the canvas.
Option B: frame it flat behind a mat
Good if your canvas edge is uneven from the scissors, or if you want the painting to sit back from the glass.
The mat is a card border with a window cut in it. It covers the trimmed edge, holds the frame off the surface, and gives the picture room to breathe. Off-white or a light neutral, two to three inches wide, is right almost every time. A mat matched to a color in the painting sounds clever and usually looks fussy.
Mount the canvas to a backing board as in Option A first, then the mat, then the frame. A mat generally wants glazing behind it, so budget for glass or acrylic.
Option C: stretch it over bars, only if the margin allows
Only attempt this with an inch and a half of blank canvas on every side. With less, you will pull the printed image around the corner of the bars or tear the edge.
You need: stretcher bars sized to your printed image, a staple gun, canvas pliers, and scissors.
- Assemble the bars into a rectangle and check the corners are square by measuring both diagonals. They should match.
- Lay the canvas face down and center the frame on the back of it, printed image aligned to the bar edges.
- Start at the middle of one long side. Fold the canvas over the bar, pull it just taut with the pliers, and put in one staple.
- Go to the middle of the opposite side and do the same, pulling against the first staple.
- Repeat on the two short sides. You now have four staples and a canvas held in tension.
- Work outward from each center staple, alternating sides, placing staples every two inches until you are a couple of inches from each corner.
- Fold the corners last, tucking the excess flat and stapling it down.
Pull firm but not hard. Over-tightening distorts the image and can crack cured paint along the fold.
Option D: take it to a framer
Worth it when the piece matters, when the canvas has been trimmed to an odd size, or when you simply want it done once and done right.
Take the canvas itself, not measurements. A framer will tell you in half a minute whether stretching is possible, which settles the question better than any article can.
Varnish, and why it is worth the twenty minutes
This is the step that makes the biggest visible difference and almost nobody does it.
Different pigments dry to different sheens. On a finished numbered canvas that means some regions come out matte and others slightly glossy, and in raking light from a window or a lamp the picture looks patchy, with the divisions between colors catching the light. It reads as unfinished even when it is not.
A thin coat of acrylic varnish evens all of it out into one consistent surface, and the whole painting settles. Use a matte or satin varnish rather than gloss. Gloss suits some paintings but it fights the traditional landscape and wildlife subjects most kits use, and it throws reflections at exactly the angle you will be viewing from.
Wait until the paint is fully cured, work in thin even coats in one direction, and test on a corner or the back edge first. Varnish before framing, never after.
Choosing the frame itself
12x16 and 16x20 are both standard off-the-shelf frame sizes, so a ready-made frame usually fits without custom work. Check that before spending on custom framing.
On style, the short version: pick something that does not compete with the picture, and match something already in the room rather than something in the painting. A mid-tone wood frame is the safest single choice for the landscapes, cabins, wildlife and florals most people paint. There is more on this in choosing a frame.
Glass, acrylic, or nothing
Paintings are traditionally hung without glazing, and a varnished acrylic surface does not need it. Leaving it open also lets the brushwork show, which is the part you did.
Glaze it anyway if the wall gets direct sun, in which case UV-filtering glass or acrylic is worth the cost, or if it is going in a kitchen or a busy hallway. Acrylic glazing is lighter and will not shatter; glass is clearer and more scratch-resistant. Above 16x20, choose acrylic.
Hanging it
- Hardware by weight. A sawtooth hanger is fine for a small light frame. Anything heavier wants D-rings and picture wire across the back.
- Into a stud where you can. Into plasterboard otherwise, using a proper wall anchor rated above the weight of the piece. A nail alone in plasterboard will eventually pull out.
- Height. The usual convention puts the center of the picture around 57 to 60 inches from the floor, which is roughly eye level standing. Lower it if the piece hangs above a sofa or a sideboard so it relates to the furniture rather than floating above it.
- Two people for anything large, one holding and one marking.
What not to do
- Do not take a blade to a crease.
- Do not iron the painted surface directly.
- Do not use household glue or masking tape to mount it. Both fail and both stain.
- Do not staple through the printed image. Fixings belong in the blank border only.
- Do not hang it above a working fireplace or radiator, or in a bathroom.
Common questions
Should I varnish before or after framing?
Before, and lying flat. Varnishing a canvas already in a frame is awkward and puts varnish on the frame. The care guide covers how.
My canvas is slightly wavy from the tube. Will mounting fix it?
Largely, yes. Weighting it flat under books for a day or two first, then mounting to a board, deals with most of it.
Can I reuse the frame from a framed kit?
Only if the sizes match exactly and the first canvas can come off without tearing. Usually not worth risking the first painting.
Is there a way to skip all of this?
Yes. Buy the framed version. Framed kits arrive pre-stretched on a wooden frame and include an easel, and a custom canvas can be ordered framed as well. The framed 16x20 range is the largest of them.
