The Borders card lets you add a white border inside your print before the paper edge. It comes after the Print Size card in the step-by-step order journey. As the card notes, "Borders are subtractive — they sit inside your print size", so they give the print breathing room for framing or signing.
Border options
The Border size toggle offers:
- None — image fills the print size; no border.
- Small — minimal margin.
- Large — gallery-grade negative space.
- Custom — type your own top / right / bottom / left widths.
For Small or Large, a Distribution toggle lets you choose Even (equal all round) or Bottom weighted (a deeper bottom margin for signing). Widths scale with your print size, and the main image previews the border live.
Why add a border
- Framing buffer — a bordered print sits cleanly within a window mount; no risk of the frame cropping the image.
- Signature space — if you want to hand-sign or annotate the print, a border below the image gives you somewhere to write.
- Visual presentation — a white surround can make the artwork feel more gallery-grade.
When to skip the border
- Image bleeds: full-bleed prints look modern and impactful, especially for photography.
- The paper itself is part of the artwork (textured Giclée papers with deckled edges).
- You'll dry-mount or float-frame the print where a border would look strange.
Border + framing
If you've chosen Standard Frame with a window mount, the window mount provides a visual border on top of the paper border — typically choose None in that case to avoid double-bordering.
For Floating, Box, or Tray frames where there's no window mount, add a Small or Large border for a clean look.
Border + dry mounting
Borders are part of the print file at production time. Dry mounting the bordered print is fine — the border just becomes part of the mounted artwork.
Pricing
Borders are included in the print cost — no extra charge for adding them. Because borders are subtractive, they sit inside the print size you set on the previous card; the print size (image + border) is unchanged.
Borders on top of your image size
With the size step's Set the size of anchor on My image, borders are additive: you set the image size, add border width per side, and the Overall paper size readout shows the resulting sheet (the price follows the paper). On Final paper, borders come out of the sheet size you typed — the original behaviour.
If you type a size that doesn't match your image's shape, you'll be asked to pick Crop image or Add border with a live preview before the order continues.