Stretching printed canvas over a stretcher bar frame gives it an instant gallery look. Sizing your artwork large enough to cover the additional depth of the frame is vital to completing the look. First of all, the stretcher bar depth will add that size around the edge of the front facing area. If the stretcher bar is 1”, there will be an additional 1” all the way around the artwork. If the stretcher bar is 2”, there will be an additional 2” on all sides. Then, the stapled area behind the frame needs to be 1.5” to make sure the printed edge is not visible. So with a 1” stretcher bar, the artwork will need to be an additional 2.5” on all sides, or an additional 5” in width and length. With a 2” stretcher bar, there will need to be 3.5” of additional artwork on all sides, or 7” additional in width and length. Use the below diagram and follow these easy rules to make your artwork gallery ready every time.