Custom wallpaper printing used to require talented photo professionals with a keen eye and expensive equipment, costly printing processes, and a lot of time and patience. Today, anyone can:<\/p>\n Indeed, improvements in modern digital photography and photo scanning technologies combined with improvements in large format printers, inks and wallpaper materials has opened up a whole new world for wallcoverings.<\/p>\n Maybe you have an aversion to wallpaper. Maybe you remember you and your folks peeling it off the walls in small pieces, never being able to get off the glue and residue, even taking the wallboard or plaster right off with it. Or is that just my memory?<\/p>\n In any case, wallpaper murals now come in a variety of materials<\/a>, from pre-pasted wallcoverings that you wet with a spray bottle to peel-and-stick wall decal material to commercial grade Type II that requires paste (and a little bit of experience).<\/p>\n All of them apply \u2013 and perhaps more importantly, remove \u2013 with ease. No stripping, scraping or scrubbing required. In fact, the self-adhesive wall murals can be removed and re-installed somewhere else, making them perfect for students, renters or people who move frequently.<\/p>\n Now that you\u2019re more sure of this whole idea of turning your favorite family portrait or vacation photo into a 5 FOOT by 8 FOOT wall mural instead of a 5 inch by 8 inch table-top photo, lets drill down into the process a bit to make sure that you get absolutely the best quality and most satisfaction possible.<\/p>\n Before I tell you all of the things to look out for, I\u2019m going to tell you not to worry about making a mistake when working with Magic Murals to create your wall-sized (or smaller) masterpiece. You see, on the front end we make it easy to do pretty much everything yourself\u2026 you really just upload your photo file, pick your size and material, get a confirmation that your file meets minimum image requirements and click \u201cadd to cart.\u201d It\u2019s all automated.<\/p>\n On the back end, however, actual real-life, eating\/breathing\/sleeping human beings take over. You see, we\u2019re craftsmen at Magic Murals and if we wouldn\u2019t want it on our walls, we\u2019re not going to let you put it on yours.<\/p>\n Every image that is submitted is looked at by our eagle-eyed technicians. If the image isn\u2019t going to look good at the size you\u2019ve selected, we\u2019re going to put production on hold, contact you, and work on the solution. The solution might be a different photo, a smaller sized print, or some photo-editing on our end to make the picture workable for the size you want. We\u2019ve got a lot of tricks up our sleeve.<\/p>\n First things first\u2026 the larger the print\/mural you want to make, the higher the resolution of the digital image needs to be. This has nothing to do with focus or contrast or anything else; it\u2019s simply a matter of how many pixels wide by how many pixels high the image is.<\/p>\n If you Google \u201chow big can I print my iPhone pictures?\u201d you\u2019ll get dozens of sites (like this<\/a> or this<\/a>) that will tell you. Don\u2019t take their recommendations as law. They\u2019re mostly talking about pictures printed on matte or glossy stock meant to be viewed up close and personal. Your wallpaper mural is going to be viewed from a distance, generally of at least a few feet to a few yards away.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a handy equation that will help you determine if your image is large enough for the photo wallpaper you want to create:<\/p>\n Well, the truth is this is as much art as it is science. And even the science is a little funky. You see, not all pixels are created equally. Some will pack in more \u201cinformation\u201d than others. Some pixels have noise or distortion in them. Some are effected by the software of the camera or even the quality of the lens.<\/p>\n So\u2026 generally\u2026 if you have a relatively new digital camera or cell phone, it likely has a 12MP, 18MP, 20MP or 24MP camera. A 12MP picture can generally be printed at up to 6 or 8 foot in either direction. A 24MP picture can generally be printed at up to 12 or 14 foot in either direction. But that\u2019s ALL \u201cgenerally.\u201d When in doubt, let us check it out \u2013 we might be able to create some magic for you.<\/p>\n The above guidelines are meant to help for planning purposes. If you\u2019re taking pictures with the explicit purpose of turning them into wallpaper murals, you\u2019ll want to make sure you\u2019re using a phone or camera with the highest MP rating possible.<\/p>\n But what if you\u2019ve already taken the picture? It\u2019s beautiful, the whole family is together on vacation, and it can\u2019t be retaken. Well\u2026<\/p>\n The easiest way to check is to just upload it here<\/a>, input your desired size, and let our image quality tool take a look. If the tool says the image quality isn\u2019t good enough, then either use a different picture, select a smaller size, or send it to us and ask if we can work our magic for you<\/a>.<\/p>\n While it\u2019d be awesome if you\u2019re a wizard with Adobe Photoshop<\/a> and can remove unwanted photo-bombers, electrical lines and telephone poles, etc. — most photos work best as wall murals and large prints when submitted in their original\/natural state without filters, image manipulation, or any kind of editing. While photo-editing can drastically improve a small print, it usually adds noise and distortion to a large print. Just download it from your camera or phone and upload it to our site. On our site, you\u2019ll be able to crop the image (particularly as needed to match the size of the print you want) and adjust the color\/tone to sepia or black and white.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not a Photoshop expert but there are things you want changed in your image (like erasing your ex from the family photo or ditching the trash can on the beach), then just send your image to us at service@magicmurals.com<\/a> and we can take care of those things for you. Because, well\u2026 we are Photoshop geniuses. We know just how to fix it so it looks good when printed in our large formats. FYI: Depending on how much effort is required, there may be a nominal fee in addition to the standard cost of the mural. Be sure to be explicit with your instructions and include your phone number so we can call to discuss.<\/p>\n Then by all means\u2026 work your magic. Do all of the manipulations and enhancements you want. But\u2026 check the image, inch by inch, at 100% of size that you want printed. If you\u2019re creating an 8 foot by 10 foot mural, then look at it on your monitor as full sized and slowly scroll form screen to screen. If you notice distortion in your image or elements in a panoramic shot that didn\u2019t stitch together properly or anything else funky, then you\u2019ll notice them in your mural too.<\/p>\n Always double check your panoramic shots. Even though you took the picture as one shot, it\u2019s generally a composite shot made up of multiple images stitched together. You\u2019ll want to be on the lookout for disjointed elements that don\u2019t line up correctly.<\/p>\n Elements that are virtually invisible when looking at a small image or print can be quite noticeable when blown up to cover your wall. We once had a customer with a beautiful picture of the family standing on some ancient steps of a Roman ruin. The sky was blue with wispy clouds, everyone had a great smile and open eyes\u2026 just a perfect picture from a wonderful vacation. Until it was blown up to life-sized and all your eye was drawn to were the piles of cigarette butts on the ground. It was just such a jarring juxtaposition. No worries, though\u2026 we erased the butts\u2026 bringing focus back to the family and the wonderful memories created together.<\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to take a look for nasty stuff like this in your own photos but you don\u2019t have Photoshop, you can use a free tool like Free Picture Resizer<\/a> (which you\u2019ll download and use on your computer) or BeFunky<\/a> (which is a great, free, on-line picture editor for the novice). Both of them will allow you to view your images at least up to 400% of their full, original size.<\/p>\n Note: With BeFunky, you\u2019ll be tempted to play around with all of their image editing tools to change contrast, sharpen, remove background, change colors, etc. It\u2019s fun. But don\u2019t do it with the image you plan on enlarging into a wallpaper mural. It will add noise and distortion to your final product. (But for sharing online, printing in small sizes, etc. \u2013 go ahead, play around, have fun!)<\/p>\n With the Free Picture Resizer*, you<\/p>\n You\u2019ll then be able to see what your digital image will look like (more or less) when printed at your desired size. If you\u2019re printing a large mural, you probably won\u2019t even recognize that what is showing on screen is your own photo. You\u2019ll need to mouse over the image (your cursor will turn into a hand) and move the image left and right\/up and down in order to review the entire image. To see the whole image on your screen, just go to the Zoom function and select \u201cFit Screen.\u201d<\/p>\n *Note: While we\u2019re using Free Picture Resizer and BeFunky as examples here, we do not \u201cendorse,\u201d them or make any claims or warranties about them. We have no partnership nor other relationship with them. We\u2019ve downloaded and used it without mishap or any problems, but you never know when that might change or they might be hacked, etc. So\u2026 use at your own risk, make sure you read all of the fine print in the boxes that pop up during installation, etc. In short: our lawyers want it to be clear that we accept no liability for anything you do that doesn\u2019t involve only our site and services.<\/em><\/p>\n One of the hottest trends right now in the interior design world is using vintage photos to create photo wallpaper and wall murals. These are photos that never existed in digital form, so you\u2019ll need to get them scanned.<\/p>\n If you have a relatively new flatbed scanner, that might be good enough. You\u2019ll want to scan at least at 600DPI. If your scanner setting allows for a higher DPI, then try up to 1200. Anything higher than 1200 is probably overkill.<\/p>\n Save your scanned images as TIFF files. Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) will capture more detailed image information (i.e., do a better job of capturing the photo) than the more familiar JPG files you\u2019re probably used to.<\/p>\n For more details on DPI, PPI, TIFF, JPG, etc., and how\/why they\u2019re important when dealing with vintage photos, check out The Photo Restoration Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n After you\u2019ve got the images scanned and saved as digital files, open them up (as per above) and take a look. Do they look good enough? If so, then upload them here<\/a> and we\u2019ll take a look. As I reported above, Magic Murals actually looks at every image uploaded prior to printing. You\u2019re in good hands.<\/p>\n But\u2026 what if the photo just doesn\u2019t look good to you? Well\u2026 email the digital file to us and we\u2019ll see what we can do. We might be able to use some of our tricks and techniques to get rid of those creases and lines and wrinkles. If not, you might be well served by searching for \u201cphoto restoration near me.\u201d We recommend using a local service so there\u2019s little chance of your precious photo being lost or damaged in the mail. If you don\u2019t have a local service, check with your local photo shops and see if they can help you. Many of them offer high resolution digital scanning services. Explain to whomever you\u2019re working with that you need a high resolution image that\u2019s going to be used to create a photographic wall mural. They\u2019ll know what you need. If not, just show them this article.<\/p>\n For a truly complicated way to create your own photo mural, including bringing it to a local printer, check out this article on the HGTV site<\/a>. You\u2019ll immediately see why it\u2019s so much easier to just upload your photo here<\/a> and be done and satisfied without unpleasant surprises. There\u2019s an equally terrible article on WikiHow.com<\/a> with plenty of terrible advice. In particular, they spend a good amount of space talking about how to enhance your photo with editing software\u2026 exactly the thing you should NOT do unless you\u2019re a true professional and know how to make such edits without adding noise and distortion to a wallpaper mural-sized print.<\/p>\n Articles like those are exactly why we’ve gone into such detail here for you.<\/p>\n Turning your own photos and digital images into wallpaper, wall murals and large wall graphics is one of the easiest things anyone can do to create truly unique d\u00e9cor for their home, office, retail store, restaurant or any other kind of business. [Note: If you want to know the ins-and-outs of creating your own custom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,40,44],"tags":[164,194,198,193,192],"class_list":["post-6994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-posts","category-murals-at-home","category-murals-at-work","tag-custom-murals","tag-photo-murals","tag-photo-wall-murals","tag-photo-wallpaper-murals","tag-use-your-own-photos","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6994"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7264,"href":"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6994\/revisions\/7264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"With](\"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/erica-delorme-design-california-300x300.png\")
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This Is Not Your Grandmother\u2019s Wallpaper<\/h2>\n
Forget The Inches & Switch To Feet<\/h2>\n
![\"Your](\"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DavidBenners_72018-1-225x300.jpg\")
It All Starts With A Quality Photo or Digital Image<\/h2>\n
The More Pixels In The Image, The Larger The Print Can Be (generally)<\/h2>\n
![\"For](\"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/MonikaMencl-2-225x300.jpg\")
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Wait\u2026 what\u2019s with all of this “plus or minus a foot” mumbo-jumbo?!?!?<\/h2>\n
![\"Wallpaper](\"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/flipped-JeffreyLerner_72018-3-225x300.jpg\")
Helpful Hints for Shooting Pictures You\u2019ll Turn into Wallpaper Murals<\/h2>\n
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I\u2019ve Already Taken My Photos \u2013 Now What?<\/h2>\n
![\"Turn](\"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/MusaOlona_62418-1-300x178.jpg\")
It\u2019s Exactly The Picture I Want\u2026 Except For One Thing<\/h2>\n
![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/501-Realty-Office-Logo-Murals-300x225.jpg\"){kind=logo}
But What If I Am<\/em> A Photoshop Expert?<\/h2>\n
![\"If](\"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/ChrisSchulz_121215-1-225x300.jpg\")
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![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/1-Annotation-2020-02-15-170154.jpg\")
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![\"Solution:](\"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/6-annotation.jpg\")
Scanning Takes Your Already Printed & Vintage Pictures To A Higher Level<\/h2>\n
![\"Kristen](\"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Kristen-L-Tribute-to-Dad-Mural-169x300.jpg\")
![\"Vintage](\"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AndrewMyers_92618-300x225.jpg\")
Do Not Show Them These Articles<\/h3>\n
![\"Making](\"https:\/\/www.magicmurals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/JorelUribe-3-225x300.jpg\")
That\u2019s it. Go for it. Start turning your digitized memories into real-world wall murals. If you\u2019ve got any questions, just contact us here<\/a>.<\/h2>\n\n