FAQ
If your questions are not listed here, please costact us via hello@lwframing.com
Framing
The price tag on ready-made frames from places like Ikea can be extremely tempting - but remember - that low-cost framing can actually damage your precious art.
Budget framing uses low-cost material, such as acidic matboard or MDF backing. These materials contain lignin which becomes acidic over time. The acid will migrate into your art and leaves stains. Only quality custom framing with archival materials can truly protect your art (and good memories!)
- Ready-made frames seriously limit your choice on style and size. And you won’t have the ability to enhance your art, such as creating a box frame design or customise the width of the matboard. Items such as calligraphy and artwork with custom size is close impossible by a ready-made frame.
- With custom framing, we are able to talor made each materials specially for your art.
When you buy a ready-made frame or go into a traditional frame shop, you can ONLY imagine how the finished frame will look like with your art. With our online framing customiser, you can test out different mat or frame options that will perfectly complement your art, and be able to instantly visualise what it will look like right on the screen.
Placing an order
- A membership account is not required and you may select GUEST CHECKOUT to place an order without an account.
- However, creating an account offers many benefits:
- Your personal information will be saved securely, for a faster, more convenient experience at checkout
- Purchased items will always remain in your account
- Track your order status and history
- We accept the following payment methods on our site:
- MasterCard, Visa and American Express Card
Hong Kong Dollars
- Please kindly make sure all information entered is 100% correct and there are no spelling errors. Please also avoid short forms of City, and do not include State information within the City input box. If the details are correct but the payment still cannot be made, the problem is likely caused by your specific bank or card.
- When we submit a charge to your bank, they have automated systems that determine whether or not to accept the charge. These systems take various signals into account, such as your spending habits, account balance, and card information like the expiration date and CVC.
- Since these signals are constantly changing, a previously successful card might be declined in the future. Even if all of the card information is correct, and you previously had a successful payment, a future charge can still be declined by a bank’s overzealous fraud systems.
- If all of the card information seems correct, it is best for you contact your bank, inquire for more information, and ask for future charges to be accepted.
Ordering
- Within 48 hours, when the framing materials for your frame hasn’t been prepared yet, you may still modify your order. Reach out to our team at hello@lwframing.com and we’ll make it happen. Be sure to include your order number.
- If you would like to change your design, please also include the URL or name of the new design. We do not accept changing the order after 48 hours.
- Bear in mind, each of our frame is custom made just for you, which means that once the framing materials have been produced, it will be extremely challenging for us to reuse / resell it to another customer should you decide to change or cancel the order.
- We have done everything to make it easy to visualise what your frame will look when you place the order. Proofs of finished frames before shipment are not available at this time.
Each of the frames are custom made and produced just for you. That means once the frame is produced, it will be extremely challenging for us to repurpose it should you decide that you do not want it. Therefore we will not be able to accept returns.
Unfortunately, we are unable to re-apply missed campaigns to any new or existing orders.
- There is a missing error on your shipping address.
- You have uploaded an image that violates our terms & conditions and potentially infringes other’s copyrights.
- You will always receive an email from us if any problems occurred regarding your order. So please be sure to check the Spam / Junk mail folder of your email account.
- If you confirm your order at our physical shop.
- Around 14 business days after we have received your artwork
- If you upload your a photo
- 14 business days after we have received your order.
Absolutely, we are able to frame your art that is up to 100” x 80”, just that you will need to visit and place the order at our physical shop and the shipping address have to be within Hong Kong. For delivery, an important thing to note is that due to their size, courier shipping is an additional cost and depends on the delivery location.
- You can upload a .jpg or .png file under 30mb and at minimum 200 dpi. After that, we'll print and frame it for you!
- As the printing size go larger, the resolution requirement of the photo becomes higher too.
- To print this size, the resolution of the photos must be larger than 1936 x 1452 px (60x40cm)
- To print this size, the resolution of the photos must be larger than 2590 x 1936 px (90x60cm)
- To print this size, the resolution of the photos must be larger than 4500 x 3000 px (120x80cm)
At the moment, framing components are not available for individual purchase. We offer full service custom framing only.
We can absolutely make a frame with multiple mat openings, please come to our physical shop and place the order there.
Absolutely, we frame scarf for our clients. Most scarf however, the sizes are 35” x 35” and has exceeded the maximum size of our online customiser due to shipping restriction. Please come to our physical shop and place the order there, If you require delivery, an important thing to note is that due to their size and nature, courier shipping is an additional cost and depends on the delivery location.
Absolutely, we frame mirrors for our clients. Since we are not able to ship glass, please come to our physical shop and place the order there, If you require delivery, an important thing to note is that due to their size and nature, courier shipping is an additional cost and depends on the delivery location.
We understand that some artworks are too important to leave someone’s hand. While we currently do not offer offsite framing service for our customer, upon visiting our shop and making special requests, we might be able to complete the frame on the same day within 6 hours when all the materials are ready.
Yes sure, for canvas and acrylic painting, you can frame your art with just a canvas without a frame on it. However, if you art is paper based, it is recommended to have glazing protecting it, as your art will get dirty / dusty very easily and it is always difficult to clean the art (might require treatments from a professional conservator)
Framing process and materials
Yes sure, for canvas and acrylic painting, you can frame your art with just a canvas without a frame on it. However, if you art is paper based, it is recommended to have glazing protecting it, as your art will get dirty / dusty very easily and it is always difficult to clean the art (might require treatments from a professional conservator)
Regular and UV protection acrylic is only available at our online platform at this moment. For non-reflective glazing (aka Museum Glass, Museum Acrylic and Art Glass), please come to our physical shop and place the order there, If you require delivery, an important thing to note is that due to their size and nature, courier shipping is an additional cost and depends on the delivery.
Yes sure, when you upload your art into our online customiser, there is an option to adjust the visible area of your art. Anything exceeding the visible area will be trimmed.
Depending on the type of art, we are able offer different mounting method specifically for your art types.
- For Photos, Prints and Posters
- Dry mounting, which involves adhering your piece of art onto the mat board underneath. Your artwork will visually stay flat even in a higher humidify seasons but you will not be able to remove it from the mounting board.
- Photo corners and strips, common for limited editions and originals. This involves fixing your piece of art by a thin strip of transparent plastic strips. Since no adhesive will be in contact with your art, it is considered a completely reversible method and your art can be removed in the future. However, it is not possible for larger artworks and your art will turn and stay wrinkled after humidity seasons.
- Hinge Mounting, common for limited editions and originals. This involves fixing your pieces of art by a minimum number of adhesive points behind your artwork. It is a relatively safe method to fix your artwork and your art can be removed in the future. However, professional treatments might need to be involved for removing the adhesive residual. Also, your art will turn and stay wrinkled after humidity seasons.
- These are just a few examples for mounting your artworks. For additional mounting requirements, feel free to email us at support@lwframing.com and our designer will be able to assist you.
You may tell us at the special instruction checkbox and we will adjust the matboard / trim down your artwork accordingly.
Delivery
- Courier delivery service is available for art that has been framed by Acrylic glazing and within 14” x 12” in size.
- For In-store orders, you may also select in-store collection service or charter delivery.
- For all online orders, we need at least 2-3 weeks to craft and hand assemble your frame after you confirm your design and place the order through our online platform.
- Please allow extra time for your order to be processed during public holidays and busy periods. Customs and Postal Service may also require extra time to work on processing/ delivery during peak season or before major festivals (e.g., Valentine’s Day). For details on public holidays in the destination country, please refer to the local government website. Please also note that delays may occur as a result of pending payment authorizations.
- Delivery (Hong Kong)
- 2-4 business days
- Delivery (Macau)
- 3-6 business days
- Delivery time is not guaranteed. The above are estimated times required by the postal service and do not include processing time by Customs in the destination country.
- Hong Kong
- Free delivery service for online orders over HKD800
- For all other orders: HKD80
- Macau
- Free delivery service for online orders over HKD1500
- For all other orders: HKD80
- All other countries
- Delivery services currently is for Hong Kong and Macau only.
- Our site only allows for one shipping address. The easiest way to do this, without contacting us, is to place one order per shipping address.
- Additional shipment fees will be charged for split shipments if the per address value goes below the minimum amounts for free delivery.
Taxes and duties are calculated according to your selected shipping destination.
- Some countries outside Hong Kong may require import duties or related customs clearing fees for imports and these costs are not covered by payments made to us. These charges, if applicable, are determined and charged by the Customs office of the destination country. For further details of charges, please contact your local Customs office directly.
Measuring your artwork
- When you’re submitting an order request online, you will be asked to provide the dimension of you art. When measuring your art, you can round up to the nearest ½ inch or 1 cm. So, 16 ¾ “ can be entered as 17” and 1.5cm can be entered as 2cm vice versa.
- Flatten out your print as much as possible and measure from paper-edge to paper-edge.
- After receiving your artwork, our framing experts will hand-measure your art down to ⅛ or 2mm so we can tailor made the exact frame matching your art.
- Note that if you add a mat to a frame, the matting will overlap your artwork by approximately 1/8” on each side to hold it in place. As noted above, we will make this adjustment for you based on the actual edge-to-edge dimensions you provide.
- If you would like any other special requests on the size of the mat window opening, please contact us via chat or hello@lwframing.com
Combinations not available
While most of our frames available in every size, certain thinner and delicate mouldings are not available for sizes larger than 20” wide.
- Float mount requires high moulding and some moulding do not have the required extra depth for this purposes
Our online platform do not offer total dimension of frame size larger than 12” x 14” due to shipping restriction. For artwork larger than 12” x 14”, please email us at support@lwframing.com for framing assistance.
Likewise, our matboard manufacturer produces less variety of matboard beyond 32” x 40”. Therefore, some colours will not be available after this dimension.
Caring
- Avoid direct sunlight
- Direct sunlight fades colours and discolour paper. Try to avoid hanging pictures directly opposite large windows. Special UV-protection glasses can help to slow down the process.
- Beware of humidity
- Avoid hanging and storing pictures in humid conditions. Dampness can cause the picture to ripple, which might touch the glass, the cause the picture to stick to the glass, which is hard to remove. It also encourages fungal growth, leaving brown stains or mould. Keep the room well-ventilated, and turn on the dehumidifier during humid seasons.
- Avoid heat / rapid temperature change
- Ideally pictures should not be hung above radiators, or being exposed near the outlet of the air conditioner ventilation fan. Extreme or rapid changes in temperature cause paper and wood to dry out and adhesives to fail. it will also create moisture within the glass that could damage the painting.
- Hang securely
- Make sure screws or hooks are secure enough to support the painting weight. When safety is crucial, in a children's bedroom or crowded public area for example, talk to our framers about security fittings and glazing.
- Clean gently
- Dust frames with a soft brush, rather than risk applying water or cleaning fluids. Don't use cleaning fluids or water on the varnished surface of oil paintings; again dust carefully. If cleaning fluids have to be used on the glass, apply them to a cloth first (rather than spraying the glass directly); take care not to let the fluids touch the frame, as the liquid is likely to run down between the frame and glass, which could damage the artwork.
- Handle with care
- When carrying and transporting a picture, grasp the frame firmly on both sides. If you have to store pictures, make sure they are stacked vertically and the right way up. When stacking pictures, stand them 'glass to glass' so that the hangers do not damage the frames.
- Inspect the frame regularly
- In order to maximise the longevity of the frame and its enclosed artwork, inspect every frame by a professional once every 5 years.
We currently do not offer warranty services to our frames. If you are not satisfied with your frame, please contact us via chat or support@lwframing.com within 7 days after you receive your frames.
Each of the frames we make are made to order and produced just for you. That means once the frame is produced, it will be extremely challenging for us to repurpose it should you decide that you do not want it. Therefore we will not be able to accept returns unless the watch was defective when shipped.