Everything you need to run your framing business. And the tools to grow it.

Virtual Framer maintains what is very likely the largest visual database of frames, mats, and fabrics in the framing industry. We work with most major moulding and matboard suppliers across our key markets:

• North America: most suppliers including Larson Juhl, Roma, Bella, Framerica, Crescent, Bainbridge, Omega, Decor, International Moulding, and many others.
• United Kingdom: Wessex, Lion, Larson Juhl UK, D&J Simons, Mainline, Nielsen UK, Centrado, Rose & Hollis, and others.
• Australia: Larson Juhl, Antons, APM/Champton, Partos, and others.
• New Zealand: Larson Juhl, Avon, Crawford, and Harrison Frames.
• South Africa: Supreme Moulding, Serame, and Lanco.
• Europe: a growing network of regional suppliers including Larson Juhl, Spagl, Mittermeier, CAMI, Molgra, Wohlleb, Delf, Lys de Provence, and many more.

We add new vendors regularly. To see the full live list and search by country or zip code, visit our vendor map at https://tutorials.virtualframer.com/framer/find-vendors/?findVendors.

If a vendor you work with is not yet on Virtual Framer, let us know. We are always expanding our coverage, and many of our partnerships started with a request from a subscriber.

Yes.

We will happily help you add your own frames to the app, and we offer two paths depending on your needs.

You already have photos of your frames. Send them to us with the relevant information (pricing, dimensions, supplier, etc.) and we will upload them to your account. There is no charge for uploading the images, but an editing fee of $1.25 USD per image applies to ensure each frame displays correctly in the visualizer. If you prefer to upload the images yourself, we will share the photographic parameters required for visualization.

You need photography. Send us your physical samples and we will photograph them for you, including in 3D if you wish. Photography is charged at $250 USD per day. Our professionals typically photograph between 75 and 100 frames per day.

Prices are shown in US dollars for reference. Pricing in other currencies is adjusted by region. Please contact us for rates in your country.

Please note: any frames uploaded to your account are visible only on your account, not to other Virtual Framer subscribers.

The easiest answer: tell your vendor they should be on Virtual Framer.

If you cannot reach them, send us their contact information and we will reach out on your behalf.

If time is of the essence, you have two other options:

Photograph the samples yourself. We will share the photographic parameters required for visualization and upload the images to your account.

Send us the physical samples. We will photograph them for you, including in 3D if you wish. Photography is charged at $250 USD per day. Our professionals typically photograph between 75 and 100 frames per day.

An editing fee of $1.25 USD per image applies to ensure each frame displays correctly in the visualizer.

Prices are shown in US dollars for reference. Pricing in other currencies is adjusted by region. Please contact us for rates in your country.

Please note: any frames added through this process are visible only on your account, not to other Virtual Framer subscribers.

The number is constantly growing. You can see who uses Virtual Framer here.

Virtual Framer has two parts.

The customer-facing app, used to design and visualize projects with your clients, is a native app downloaded from the Apple App Store. It runs on iPad or on a Mac with an M-series chip, and does not run on Windows PCs or Android tablets. We chose the iPad as our primary device because it offers the most comfortable and natural experience when working side by side with a client at the counter or at the client's place.

The backend, used to manage your workshop, orders, inventory, purchase orders, and reporting, is web based. You can access it from any device with a browser, including Windows PCs, Macs, iPads, and Android tablets.

So the iPad is only required for the customer-facing part of the work. If you already have a desktop computer in your back office, you can keep using it for everything backend-related.

For the iPad, any model recent enough to run iOS 13 or later will work. Screen size matters, so we recommend avoiding the iPad mini. Adding a keyboard and, if possible, a trackpad will make for a better user experience.

Our ideal setup is a 13-inch iPad Air with 128 GB of storage and a SIM card, paired with the Magic Keyboard.

For the production floor, Virtual Workshop is a web-based companion to the backend, designed for phones, that lets your workshop staff track jobs from any iPhone or Android device.

The Guest version of Virtual Framer is a simpler version that does not include many of the features available to your account. If you grant Guest access to a client, they will be able to use it on any device.

When you embed Virtual Framer in your own website, your customers can use the visualizer on any device, including phones, tablets, and computers, regardless of operating system.

When a vendor notifies us of a price change, an out-of-stock item, a discontinued line, or a new collection, we update our database immediately with the information they provide.

Vendors typically send price updates to all POS systems on a regular cycle, though some are more diligent than others. You can always see the date of the last price update for every frame and matboard directly in Virtual Framer.

There is nothing to download, sync, or refresh on your end when prices are updated.

Yes, and you can choose between two ways to do it.

Basic embedding. This is the simplest option and requires almost no setup. With just a few clicks in the backend, you generate a link you can embed in your website. Your clients can then select a frame, choose a framing method, make their own adjustments, compare options, and send you a quote request directly from your site.

Embedding with the Design Vault. This is a far more powerful option. Once you have trained the Design Vault on your own framing style, embedding it on your website means your clients are guided through a tailored framing experience based on your expertise. They upload their artwork and indicate the artwork type, its size, and whether it is very valuable, moderately valuable, or inexpensive. The Design Vault then suggests complete framing designs you have approved, including frame, mat, glazing, and all the materials. Your clients can refine the proposal and request a quote, all without any staff involvement, 24/7.

Privacy and control. Whichever option you choose, you stay in full control of what your visitors see:

• You decide whether or not to display prices.
• You can hide the real frame style numbers by showing random references instead. These references are uniquely generated for your account and can only be deciphered by you. No other framer, not even another Virtual Framer user, can identify a frame from a random reference generated by your account.
• Users who connect to your account cannot see which vendors supply the frames you are sharing.

This means you can give your clients a rich online experience without exposing your suppliers, your pricing structure, or your sourcing strategy.

Yes, depending on the software you have been using. In most cases, we can transfer your clients, payment history, invoices, and work order history into Virtual Framer.

Data transfer is typically charged at $500 USD. Contact us for a quote.

Yes.

You can create up to 5 staff accounts. If you need more, please let us know. Additional fees may apply.

Staff accounts are automatically connected to the master account, so you and your team can use Virtual Framer simultaneously on separate devices without any issue. What makes this especially powerful is that any project created on any device, and from any location, is immediately accessible on all other devices connected to your account.

Yes. Once you have entered your mouldings into the system, Virtual Framer tracks your inventory and usage automatically. Whenever you take an order using an in-stock moulding, Virtual Framer subtracts the correct quantity from your inventory levels and generates an optimal cut list.

Yes. Virtual Framer handles all the tasks you would expect from a POS, and goes well beyond what most framing POS systems offer.

You can also accept online payments through Stripe directly from Virtual Framer. More payment options are coming in the next few months.

Yes. Every confirmed order is automatically added to your in-app Virtual Framer calendar. You can access this calendar from the backend or from your phone through Virtual Workshop.

Virtual Workshop is a streamlined version of the Virtual Framer backend, designed for easy access by your staff while they are working in the workshop. It can be used from a phone or a tablet.

Virtual Workshop gives your team access to the calendar, the workflow summary, every work order, the artworks database, and all purchase orders. It can be used to update artwork locations and upload artwork images.

Yes. Daily reports include pending invoices, payments, allocations, open invoices with unpaid balances, confirmed orders, and cost breakdowns, among others.

Monthly reports include more comprehensive versions of all the above, plus tax reports. You can also view your month-by-month revenue, with comparisons to the previous year, as well as moulding usage and client activity, including the proportion of new clients each month.

Yes. Virtual Framer is currently integrated with Stripe. Once you open a Stripe account, your clients can pay you online directly through Virtual Framer. More widely used payment systems are coming soon.

The biggest difference is the philosophy behind the product. Virtual Framer does everything you would expect from a strong POS system, but it was built to go further and actively help framers sell more. Most other POS systems in the framing industry are designed primarily to help framers manage what they already sell.

Several features reflect this. The visualizer, Virtual Framer's most recognizable feature, helps framers close deals more easily, upsell frames, and design with frames they do not have in stock, with over 200,000 mouldings available and counting. It can also be embedded directly on the framer's website.

The Proposal feature is another way Virtual Framer helps framers close more deals. Instead of sending clients a plain quote, framers can send a visual proposal that shows the artwork in each design option, side by side, so clients can see exactly what they are choosing between before making a decision.

The Design Vault is unique to Virtual Framer. It allows framers to train a design assistant on their own framing style, similar to training a new employee. The Design Vault can be used in store with clients or embedded on a framer's website, where it guides visitors through a tailored framing experience based on the framer's expertise.

Beyond sales, Virtual Framer also offers what we believe is the most accurate pricing engine in the framing industry, along with workflow and project management tools designed specifically for the way frame shops operate.

More broadly, Virtual Framer was designed by framers, for framers. The platform is updated regularly with new features specific to the framing industry, and we are committed to continuing in that direction.