I had an old canvas that I had bought ages ago and wanted to use the structural part of it as a new frame for a picture I printed on the large format printer at Techshop Menlo Park.

Step 1: Take the Canvas Off the Frame and Mount the Plywood

In order to get to the bare frame you have to remove the staples that are holding the canvas in place. I grabbed a screw driver and did just that by wedging the screwdriver under the staple and prying it up. Careful not to nick yourself with the screwdriver if you apply to much force and slip.

Once the canvas is off, the frame is exposed. I wanted the picture to sit a good distance off from the wall. To accomplish this I cut down a sheet of 3/4' plywood to brad to the top of the frame. This not only gave me the height I wanted but also supply a realativly smooth surface to adhere my picture to. To mount the plywood to the board I used a pneumatic brad gun and put several brads along the parimeter of the frame as well as down the middle.

Step 2: Adhereing the Picture to the Frame

I also wanted the background/boarder of my frame to be white so I painted the edges that would show. This would really make my picture stand out.

I marked the edges of the picture on the board so that when I was ready to lay the picture down I would have these marks as references. I used a spray adhesive that was photo safe to stick my picture to the plywood. I followed the instructions which were to spray both the plywood and the back of the picture.

To ensure that my picture would be wrinkle free after applying I ran my hand behind it while I was laying it down. I did not want to use a hard object like you would for laying down vinyl in fear that it would damage the ink of my picture.

Once that was done my picture was ready to hang for all to enjoy!