How to determine the measurements for a linen liner.

Adding a linen liner to a frame is a stacking technique where one frame fits inside another. In this case, the linen liner stacks inside another frame of your choosing. Start with your artwork size and order the linen liner you want in accordance with artwork size. For example, if you will be framing a 16”x20” piece of artwork, order the linen liner as a 16”x20”.

Where this gets a little tricky is in determining the size of the frame that the linen liner will stack into. To do this, take the width of the linen liner as noted on the product listing and add it times two to each dimension of the artwork. For example, if the linen liner is 1-1/4” wide and the artwork is 16”x20”, do this…
1.25″ + 16″ + 1.25″ = 18.5″1.25″ + 20″ + 1.25″ = 22.5″

Hold on, you’re not done yet. Here’s where the tricky part comes in. Every frame has a ¼” lip. That is, every frame has a lip that overlaps onto the contents by ¼”. Therefore, the distance from the edge of the artwork to the outside edge of the linen liner is actually less than the stated width by ¼” on either side of the artwork, and since there are two sides to the artwork that means the distance is less by a half inch.

So the final step is to subtract a half inch from each dimension (width and height) of the measurement arrived at.
For example,
1.25” + 16” + 1.25” = 18.5” – .5” = 18” 1.25” + 20” + 1.25” = 22.5” – .5” = 22”

This will be the size of the outside frame. Remember, not all linen liners are 1-1/4″ wide. You must note the width of the linen liner you are selecting. However, the lips of those liners are all 1/4″.

This is how to determine the measurements for a linen liner.