Printable Wall Art Sizes: Which Ratio Fits Which Frame
The most expensive mistake with a printable is not the paper. It is buying a frame the file does not fit.
The most expensive mistake with a printable file is not the paper or the printer. It is buying a frame the file does not fit, then paying a framer to cut a custom mount to rescue it.
It is avoidable, and it comes down to one number in the listing.
Ratio is the number that matters
Every file we sell states a ratio: either 2:3 or 3:4. That ratio is fixed. The size you print is not.
A 2:3 file prints correctly at 10 by 15 cm, 20 by 30, 30 by 45, 40 by 60, 50 by 75 and 60 by 90. In inches that is 4 by 6, 8 by 12, 12 by 18, 16 by 24, 20 by 30 and 24 by 36. All of those are the same shape, just further away.
A 3:4 file prints at 15 by 20 cm, 30 by 40, 45 by 60 and 60 by 80, or 6 by 8, 12 by 16, 18 by 24 and 24 by 32 inches.
Buy a frame from either list and the print drops in with no cutting and no gaps.
The sizes that catch people out
A4 and A3 are not on either list. The A series is a different ratio, roughly 1:1.41, which sits between our two. An A4 frame will leave a strip of empty space at the top and bottom of a 2:3 print, or cut into the sides.
This is fixable and even attractive if you plan for it: print the file at the largest size that fits inside the A4 sheet and let the mount board cover the difference. It is only a problem when you discover it at the framing stage.
Square frames are the other trap. Neither ratio is square, and cropping one of our files to a square usually removes something the composition depends on.
How big should it actually be
For the wall above a sofa or a bed, aim for the art to be about two thirds of the width of the furniture. A 200 cm sofa wants something around 120 to 140 cm wide, which is either one large piece or a pair.
For an empty wall, measure the wall and aim for the art to occupy about 60 percent of the usable width, where usable means the space between furniture, not the whole wall.
For a hallway or a narrow space, go smaller than instinct suggests. You will be looking at it from one metre away, not four, and a large piece in a narrow corridor cannot be seen properly.
Check the maximum before you commit
Every listing states the largest print we recommend for that file, and that number is a real limit, not a suggestion. It comes from the pixel size divided by 300 DPI.
If you want to go bigger than the listed maximum, print it anyway at the maximum and hang it with a wider mount board. A 40 by 60 print inside an 8 cm mount occupies the same wall space as a 56 by 76 print, costs less, and stays sharp.
One practical order of operations
Measure the wall first. Choose the size from the list for that ratio. Buy the frame. Then print, or order the print, at that exact size with no scaling. Doing it in that order means you never need a custom mount.
Every printable design we sell states its ratio, its pixel size and its largest recommended print in the listing itself, before you buy.
See this piece
View it on our site: the printable collection.