If you're preparing a canvas for professional stretching, one of the most important (yet often overlooked) details is the blank border around your artwork. Whether you're printing a photograph or painting by hand, the border plays a crucial role in ensuring a clean, secure, and visually balanced stretch.
At Frame2Frame in Pretoria, we specialise in professional canvas stretching services, and we often get asked: “How much border space do I really need?” Here's everything you need to know.
The blank border - also known as the wrap margin - is the extra canvas that wraps around the stretcher bars during stretching. It ensures:
Your artwork remains fully visible on the front
No distortion or cropping of important image areas
Secure attachment to the stretcher frame
A smooth, professional finish (especially for gallery wraps)
This is the standard requirement for most stretching jobs, including custom framing or gallery wraps.
5 cm is suitable for small to medium canvases (e.g. 30 x 40 cm)
7 cm or more is recommended for larger pieces or deep gallery wraps (e.g. 100 x 150 cm)
Pro Tip: The thicker your stretcher bars, the more border you'll need to wrap around them without affecting the image area.
Leave extra space when you’re planning your composition. Avoid placing key elements (like signatures or focal features) within 5 cm of the edge.
Design your image with a white, black, mirrored, or extended colour border in mind. Speak to your printer about the wrap style before finalising the artwork file.
When in doubt, more is better. We’ll guide you on the best border size based on your chosen stretching method, frame depth, and whether the edges will be visible.
A canvas without enough blank border is difficult — sometimes impossible — to stretch properly. It can result in:
Image loss around the edges
Wrinkles, puckering, or uneven tension
Visible staples or structural damage over time
If your canvas doesn’t meet the border requirement, we may need to add a fabric extension or mount it differently, which can affect turnaround time and cost
At Frame2Frame, we’re here to make your artwork display-ready. Based in Garsfontein, Pretoria, we offer:
Canvas stretching & custom stretcher bar construction
Advice on printing margins and artwork setup
Gallery wraps and framing options for every budget
Print & Stretch: send your file, and we’ll do the rest