Canvas vs poster vs framed print — which one should you buy?

The three most common ways to put art on a wall — canvas, poster, and framed print — produce very different results from the same image. They also age differently, cost differently, and suit different rooms.

This guide compares all three head-to-head so you can pick once and not think about it again.

At a glance

• Canvas — printed on woven cotton, stretched over a wooden frame. No

glass. Reads as a finished object the moment you unbox it. Best for: most rooms, most images, most people. The default.

• Poster — printed on heavy paper, supplied unframed and unmounted. Needs

a frame to be hung. Best for: temporary spaces, students, layered gallery walls where you'll change the prints.

• Framed print — printed on archival paper, mounted behind glass or

acrylic in a wooden or metal frame. The traditional gallery format. Best for: photography, fine art editions, and rooms where you want the frame to contribute visually.

The five dimensions that matter

1. Finish

• Canvas has a slight texture — the weave of the cotton. Reads as

warm, organic, hand-made. Works with almost any aesthetic.

• Poster has a flat paper finish, often slightly reflective. Modern

and graphic, but reads as transient unless framed well.

• Framed print has a paper surface behind glass. Sharp, formal, more

"museum" — but the glass introduces reflections that can be a problem in bright rooms.

2. Longevity

• Canvas — pigment-archival inks on cotton last around 100 years indoors

with no special care. Won't yellow. Won't fade in indirect light.

• Poster — depends entirely on the frame. Unframed, posters fade within

two or three years. Framed well, similar lifespan to canvas.

• Framed print — archival paper behind UV glass can last centuries. The

longest-lasting format, but only with the right glass.

3. Cost

For an A2 piece, expect roughly:

• Canvas — £40–80 finished, ready to hang.
• Poster — £15–25 for the print alone; another £40–100 for a frame.
• Framed print — £80–250 depending on frame quality.

Canvas is the lowest total cost when you factor in framing. Frames are where the poster route becomes expensive.

4. Effort to hang

• Canvas — one nail, sometimes two. The piece arrives ready to hang.

Five minutes.

• Poster — buy a frame, cut a mount, mount the poster (often crooked),

hang the frame. An hour, sometimes two.

• Framed print — usually arrives ready to hang if you buy framed. If you

frame yourself, see "poster."

5. How forgiving it is

Canvas is the most forgiving. The texture and matte finish hide minor imperfections in the print, the wall, and the lighting. Posters and framed prints punish reflections, fingerprints on the glass, and uneven walls.

Which should you buy?

Buy canvas if: you want one decision, one delivery, one nail in the wall, and a piece that reads as finished from the moment it arrives. This is the right answer for ~80% of cases.

Buy a poster if: you're in a temporary space, you want to change prints often, or you're building a gallery wall where the unframed-then-framed flexibility matters.

Buy a framed print if: the artwork is photography or a fine art edition that wants glass and a frame as part of its visual identity, or you're buying something you intend to keep for decades and pass down.

What we sell

Canvas. Specifically: pigment-archival inks on 380 gsm tightly-woven cotton, stretched over kiln-dried European pine, printed and assembled in the United Kingdom, delivered ready to hang in 3–5 working days. No glass. No frame. One nail.