Help understanding what all these sizes mean

There are three sizes to understand.

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1. Artwork

This refers to the size of the actual painting or drawing portrait you see. In the case of paintings and charcoal drawings it means the area inside the mount. For pencil caricatures it means the size of the paper, ie A4. Pencil caricatures are supplied with a slim 20mm mount so they will fit into any A4 frame - a really easy size to find yourself from places like Ikea, Homebase or Wilko's etc.

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2. Mount

This is the overall size of the cardboard mount (and therefore the glass) that sits inside the picture frame. To give a good visual balance I use a white mount as standard at 20mm for A4, 40mm for regular and 55mm for large.

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3. Frame

This is the overall size of the frame, so you know how big it will be when you hang it on a wall. The design of 20" x 16" frame I use has a 20mm border (yes, it's given in mm and the frame is given in inches, but that seems to be the way framers operate), so it's 30mm bigger all round. That's 20mm each edge but less 5mm for the bit that sits under the frame's lip. (Aaaargh!)