How to Make Your Own Wallpaper with Photos

Printing your own wallpaper is one of the most unique ways of decorating your home. If you’re a keen photographer or enjoy having life’s special moments on display, make wallpaper printing your next project around the house.

Our custom printed wallpaper service can transform any pro or amateur photograph into a paste-the-wall wallpaper or a ‘peel and stick’ wallpaper for easy installation. It can be cut to the perfect size and dimension to fit your wall too, eliminating that fiddly part of working out how much paper is needed from a roll. It really couldn’t be easier! All you need to get started is a little bit of creativity and a camera so you can turn anything you desire into a stylish piece of wall art for your home or office.

Here’s our handy guide on making custom wallpaper using your own holiday photos, wedding photos, family photos, and more.

How to take high-quality photos for wallpaper

Printing When it comes to capturing beautiful images for your wall, it’s important to use a good camera. DSLR cameras are the best, but there are also some smaller, less technical models that can get similar results. Anything with more than 12 megapixels should be fine in terms of picture quality, but 18 megapixels and over is ideal for large applications.

Some mobile images won’t be clear enough for custom wallpaper, but there are a number of smartphones out there with high MP cameras. Right now, these include the iPhone 8, iPhone XS, Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, Huawei P20 Pro, Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel 3. Other devices may be alright too – you just need to check the camera specs.

If you’re unsure whether the photos you already have are high quality enough for making your own wallpaper, use our simple uploader. It features an image quality checker to let you know whether your photo is ‘good’, ‘excellent’ or ‘poor’. Any photos that are ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ tend to be suitable for wallpaper, but any that are ‘poor’ will not be sent to print and you will be contacted should you.

As a general rule, opt for the largest image files you have to get the best effect. The bigger your file, the more clarity you will get with your finished wall.

How to get the right composition and style for photos

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to composing your photographs for printing into wallpaper. Our advice is to practice and take photos from different angles to see what works for you. Some of our customers like centre composition and symmetry, whilst others stick to the rule of thirds. But these aren’t the only ways to take a good photo.

You can also use leading lines to highlight angles in architecture, use diagonals and triangles to create a sense of intrigue, focus in on patterns and textures, or use the rule of odds with your subjects (this is when you avoid even numbers as odd numbers are considered to be more interesting).

For flowers and nature, you can try shooting in macro mode for better visual clarity and focus. You can also change the depth of focus on photos to create more foreground interest and make the background blurred. The options really are endless with photo wallpaper, and you should play around with different styles to find the best one.

Another thing to bear in mind when you make your own wallpaper with photographs is your room layout and design. For instance, choosing off-centre positioning works well if you have certain furniture in the way. You wouldn’t want the main subjects of your photograph to be hidden by a headboard or cupboard. Or if your image is large enough, you can crop into it to give your subjects more presence in a busy room.

How to choose the right wallpaper photo for your room

If you already have images that are ready for turning into wallpaper (such as holidays snaps or family photos), you’ll want to make sure you select the right ones. Most of our customers choose the images they like best, or the ones that trigger their happiest memories. But you should also take into consideration your room design, and the style of your property.

Things like bespoke wedding photo wallpaper can be a wonderful way to remember your special day, but to really do your photos justice, there needs to be harmony between your imagery and your interiors. For custom office wallpaper, you may want something a little more generic to suit your work environment.

Here are some of the things to bear in mind: 

• Colour schemes – this can be especially important for wedding photos, as your wallpaper will need light, elegant and neutral colours to match. If you’re custom printing a feature wallpaper, make sure you shop around for the right wall paint to complement it.
• Room lighting – certain ambient lighting may not be suitable for all types of images. Make sure you consider warm and cool lighting, as well as different brightness levels. If you’re designing a feature wall, think also about where the natural light hits your room in the daytime.
• Furniture style – is your room shabby chic or mid-century mod? Minimalist or industrial? Sometimes, your favourite photo may not be the best match for your interiors. If you’re furnishing from scratch, the world is your oyster. If you’re keeping the rest of the room the same, try to make a photo wallpaper that coordinates well.

How to avoid copyright issues when you make your own wallpaper

One of the things to remember when printing your own wallpaper is to stay within the rules of copyright. You should always use your own images for printing (or seek permission if they are someone else’s). But if shooting your own photo wallpaper isn’t for you, why not look for a paid image online?

We recommend that you get in touch with our studio first if you’ve found a copyrighted image you want to use. We regularly source images from stock libraries such as Adobe Stock, so there’s a chance we may already have access to it and you won’t have to buy it separately. You can also search for copyright-free images on sites such as Pixabay.

For any further advice on copyright or seeking permission from image owners, feel free to contact our team. Or get more tips on how to print your own wallpaper with Wallsauce on our blog.