Where should I get a poster framed in San Francisco?

April 11, 2011 6:05 PM

Can you recommend a framer in San Francisco? I am going out there at the end of May for my aunt's 60th birthday, and the present I'd like to give her is a large poster, framed. I do not wish to travel with the framed poster, nor ship it already framed, so I was thinking I could contact a good framer out there, ship the rolled poster in a mailing tube, and pick it up when I arrive in SF. Does this sound like a good plan, and who would you recommend?
posted by starvingartist to Shopping (6 answers total)

Hmmm ... I used to have the Dow & Frosini guy as a client years ago, and he is awesomely nice (and it is bugging me because I can picture him but can't remember his name) and really knows his way around framing a poster. But, like, fine art posters ... dunno what your price range is like.
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 6:23 PM on April 11, 2011

Walter Adams is probably the biggest "fancy" frame shop in town. They have four locations all in the city and do good work, but are definitely on the pricey side. I've used Frame-O-Rama on Polk St. a few times too and have been very pleased with the results, despite the cheesy name. They aren't a big chain store as the name might suggest and the staff is very good about working with you to figure out what materials would look best, which would be helpful if you're trying to plan this out over the phone.

How long will you be in town before her birthday? I'm wondering if there will be time for you to go in and look at the framing materials when you arrive and then have the frame made in time for the event? The frame shop might be able to promise you a shorter turnaround time if you arrange this in advance.
posted by zachlipton at 6:45 PM on April 11, 2011

I can recommend Cheap Pete's.
posted by dunk at 7:46 PM on April 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Cheap Pete's is pretty great.
posted by kdar at 8:51 PM on April 11, 2011

Cheap Pete's is in fact great, but I'm not sure they'd excel with the added wrinkle of out of town shipping and keeping track of things - they're primarily a self-serve kind of place. For this sort of thing, I'd call Under Glass (5 stars on Yelp) - they really excel at the extra bit of customer service and making sure everything's exactly right. Plus, they're right on the MUNI line (near the Church station), which will make it easier to get to if you're not renting a car.
posted by judith at 10:04 PM on April 11, 2011

As an add-on to judith's recommendation, I randomly just got an email from Yelp Deals about an hour ago offering $49 for $125 worth of custom framing at Under Glass. Deal expires at noon on the 13th and must be redeemed in one transaction anytime in the next year.

Disclaimers: I've never used Under Glass before and have no recommendation on their services. I don't ordinarily post coupons and promotions like this to AskMe (don't think I ever have), but since it precisely fits your situation and is for a shop recommended above, I figured I might as well pass it along. I'm not a Yelp affiliate. I did use Yelp Deals once for a restaurant, and the experience was perfectly fine.
posted by zachlipton at 2:05 AM on April 12, 2011