Anime poster frame with lights
An anime poster frame with lights, sized for B2 and B3 prints
An anime poster frame with lights has to deal with the JIS B series first, because none of it matches a US frame. A B2, the size most key visuals and event posters come in, measures 515 × 728 mm, about 20.3 × 28.7 in, which lands between two of our panels. So the first decision is not which frame looks best. It is whether you want the light to pass through the print or run around it, and how you handle the margin when the sizes do not agree.
Two ways to light anime art
-
Best for printed key visuals
Lumi Frames Lightbox
Poster stock passes light, and this frame is built around that. A guide panel spreads the LEDs evenly behind the sheet, so the wide fields of flat color that key art lives on stay flat instead of brightening toward the middle. White runs anywhere from 3000 K up to 6500 K, which is how you match a cool night scene or a warmer older print, and the snap-open edges suit anyone who rotates prints by season.
From $249
Lightbox sizes for this Size What it fits Price 24 × 36 in Key art and 2:3 prints, and the nearest panel to a B2 poster $379 16 × 24 in The closest size to a B3, with a small lit margin around it $299 12 × 18 in Small event and character prints, or a tight grid of several $249 -
Best around a canvas or art board
Lumi Frames Neon
An opaque piece cannot be backlit, so this frame lights the wall instead. A continuous COB LED line follows the face of the frame in 16 separately controlled zones per meter, holding one color or moving a gradient around the border, while the artwork sits behind a clear center panel. The profile is about 1.25 in deep, so measure a stretched canvas before you order. In black it disappears at night and leaves only the line of light.
From $349 · Black finish
Neon sizes for this Size What it fits Price 18 × 24 in A standard 18 × 24 print or art board, centered behind the panel $519 20 × 30 in A larger canvas print in the 2:3 shape most key art is sold in $569
About this setup
Japanese B-sizes against US frame sizes
Every anime poster frame with lights runs into the same wall. The JIS B series is a separate standard, and it does not line up with US frame sizes at any point. Three sizes cover most of what fans buy, and none of them is a drop-in match.
| Format | Metric | Inches | Nearest Lightbox | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | 728 × 1030 mm | 28.7 × 40.6 in | None | Bigger than the 27 × 40 panel on both edges |
| B2 | 515 × 728 mm | 20.3 × 28.7 in | 24 × 36 | About 1.8 in of lit panel each side, 3.6 in top and bottom |
| B3 | 364 × 515 mm | 14.3 × 20.3 in | 16 × 24 | About 0.8 in each side, 1.8 in top and bottom |
B2 is the size most Japanese theatrical and event posters are printed at, so a B2 poster frame with light is what most people on this page are really shopping for. Three and a half inches of glowing panel above and below a print reads either as a deliberate wide mat or as a mistake, and which one it is depends entirely on how you handle it. Center the print and mask the bare panel around it with opaque black card, and the margin goes dark and looks intended. Leave the panel bare and you have a light source with a picture in the middle of it.
B3 is the easy case. The margin in a 16 × 24 is narrow enough to read as a border rather than a gap, and most people leave it lit.
B1 has no answer here at all. Hang it in a conventional oversized frame and light the wall around it, or buy a smaller print of the same artwork for the Lumi Frames Lightbox.
Light through the print, or light around it
These are two different effects, and the deciding factor is what your piece is printed on.
A light box puts the LEDs behind the paper. Poster stock is thin enough to pass light, so the wide areas of flat color that key art is built from come up saturated the way a backlit sign does. Night skies, sunset gradients, the rim light along a character’s hair: those are the parts that change most. It only works on something light can cross. Poster paper, yes. Heavy art board, canvas, or a print already bonded to foam, no.
The Lumi Frames Neon works the other way around. Its light line sits on the face of the frame and throws color outward into the room, so nothing has to pass through the artwork and an opaque piece is fine. The frame lights the wall rather than the picture.
A short way to decide: if you want the poster to glow, buy the light box. If you want the corner of the room to glow, buy the neon frame.
Putting a wall together
Collections grow one print at a time, which is exactly why they stop looking like a collection. Three habits hold a wall together.
One shape per wall. Every B-size shares the same proportion, so a row of B2s already agrees with itself. A 24 × 36 is a little longer in proportion than a B-size, and the difference is visible the moment the two hang side by side.
One white across every lit frame. Two frames set to different temperatures make a wall look broken, even to someone who could not say why. Match the white and the brightness, then vary only the piece you want people to look at.
One lit piece, not five. A wall where everything glows gives the eye nowhere to land. Light the key visual that matters to you and hang the rest unlit. Our guide to light up wall art ideas covers spacing and how big to go for the wall you actually have.
Choosing the white, and the brightness
Modern key art is usually graded cool: city nights, cyan rim light, deep blue shadow. That work holds together between 5000 K and 6500 K, where the whites stay white and the blues stay blue. Warmer settings, 3000 K to 4000 K, suit cel-era artwork, anything carrying a lot of skin tone, and prints with a cream paper white.
Over a desk, brightness matters more than temperature. The panel dims to 1 percent, and a poster hanging above a monitor usually wants to sit below the monitor’s own brightness. Set it while the room is dark, not in daylight, or you will set it too high.
What we would leave out of a frame
Wall scrolls and tapestries. Fabric hung from rods is not a flat print, the sizes have nothing in common with ours, and a snap frame has nothing to close on.
Foam-mounted prints. Standard for convention purchases, too thick for the profile. Mounting is usually permanent, so buy a second unmounted copy if you want that artwork lit.
Anything signed, numbered or convention-exclusive. Framing is not the risk; shipping is. If you use Send Us Your Piece, ship something you could buy again and keep the irreplaceable print at home.
Questions
Will a B2 poster fit one of your frames?
Not exactly. A B2 is 515 × 728 mm, roughly 20.3 × 28.7 in, which falls between our 16 × 24 and 24 × 36 panels. Most people center it on the 24 × 36 and either leave the lit margin showing or cut a black card window to darken it. Nothing in our range matches a B-size edge to edge.
What about a B1?
A B1 is 728 × 1030 mm, about 28.7 × 40.6 in, which is larger than our biggest panel in both directions, so a light box is out. Hang a B1 in a conventional oversized frame and light the wall around it, or put a smaller print of the same key art in the Lightbox.
Can I put a canvas print in the Neon frame?
A flat print or art board goes behind the clear center panel without trouble. The frame profile is about 1.25 in deep and stretcher bars vary a lot, so measure the depth of your canvas first, and tell us what you have if you are not sure.
Which white suits anime artwork?
The Lightbox tunes from 3000 K to 6500 K. Cooler settings hold modern, cool-graded key art; warmer ones suit cel-era art, skin tones and a cream paper white you do not want turned gray. Our guide to the best color temperature for art goes into the detail.
Do you frame wall scrolls or tapestries?
No. A wall scroll is fabric held by rods rather than a flat sheet, the sizes have nothing in common with our panels, and a snap frame has nothing to close on. Frame a paper print of the same artwork instead.
Can you mount the print for me?
We can. Send Us Your Piece covers it. Pick the frame, ship the print to us, and it comes back mounted, with the brightness set for the print. Anything you ship travels at your own risk, so choose a print you could buy again rather than a signed or convention-exclusive one.
Send Us Your Piece
Already have the piece? Let us mount it.
Ship it to us and we'll fit it into the Lumi Frames you choose, check the lighting and send it back ready to hang. $499 plus the frame.
Pieces you send travel at your own risk, so please don't send anything irreplaceable.
Guides for this project
More ways to use a lit frame
-
Man cave wall decor
Plan a basement bar, game room or home theater wall around one lit piece and two quieter supports.
-
Movie poster frame with lights
Light a one-sheet from behind so the artwork reads the way it did outside the cinema.