Glass Floating Picture Frame
The first type holds the photo between glass. The photo is inserted between two pieces of glass so it looks like it’s floating in the frame. Normally with glass floating frames there is some type of frame border to give the photo a more decorative look. Here is a Leather Floating Picture Frame that’s a perfect example of this type of floating picture frame (the black bar you see through the glass is the easel back stand).

Magnetic Floating Picture Frame

The second type of floating picture frame suspends the photo with magnets. The frame has a metal backing and the magnets go on top of the photo to keep the photo in place. Although you can see the magnets in the corners of the picture, it still makes the photo look like it’s floating in the picture frame. Here is one example of a floating magnetic picture frame.  This particular frame is especially cool, because it can act as both a floating picture frame and a shadow box frame. It has a 1 1/4″ depth space between the glass and the metal backing so you can display a variety of different sizes objects with your pictures.

Archival Floating Picture Frame

The fourth type of floating picture frame is any type of floating frame that is archival or acid free. Archival frames are designed for photos or artwork that are irreplaceable and need to be protected from deterioration. The problem with most frames is that the wood, cardboard or paper in the frame contains trace amounts of acid that can degrade your photo over time. However, with archival floating picture frames they’re made to be acid free.

The tricky part to describing archival floating frames is that they don’t all look the same. Here is one example of an archival floating picture frame. This particular metal floating picture frame comes with a set of archival foam mounting tabs that stick to the back of your photo and then attach to the archival foam core backing. Each frame comes with 8 mounting tabs as well as the adhesive you use to stick these 1/4″  tabs to the back of your photos. They are super simple to use and easily come off when removed from your photo.

By using these archival mounting tabs, it allows the artwork to float and prevents the image from touching the glass.  As you can see in this picture, this floating frame has an extra deep space between the glass and the archival foam so you can use it for more than just displaying photos.  With this extra space you can display thick items up to 1/2″ thick and use this frame as a shadow box frame.

Hopefully, you’ll have a better idea of the types of floating frames available so you’ll be able to choose the perfect floating frame for your photo.