Guide
How to Choose an Art Print Size for Your Wall: 12×16 or 18×24
Most people pick a print they love and then guess at the size. A few minutes with a tape measure works better. This guide covers how to measure, which size suits which spot, how big a print should be above furniture, how high to hang it, and how to frame it. It uses the two sizes we print at Art & Keepsakes: 12×16 inches and 18×24 inches.
The short answer
- Choose 12×16 for small spots and close views: a desk, a shelf, a narrow hallway, the wall beside a door or window, or as one of a pair.
- Choose 18×24 when the print hangs alone on an open wall, or above a dresser, nightstand, or small console.
- For a sofa or a bed, plan a group of prints. One print in either size is too narrow on its own. The math is below.
- Hang the print so its center, or the center of the group, sits about 57 inches from the floor.
Step 1: Measure the space
Measure the open area, not the whole wall
Measure the width and height of the part of the wall the print will own. That might be the space between a door frame and a corner, or the wall above a dresser. Write both numbers down. If a piece of furniture sits below, measure its width too. You will need that number in Step 3.
Try a paper template first
Cut paper to the size you plan to buy and tape it up. Fine Art America's guide to hanging art above a sofa suggests cutting paper templates, taping them to the wall, and living with them for a day before a single nail goes in. Look at the template from the doorway and from where you usually sit. If it looks lost, go bigger or plan a group. If it crowds the furniture or the corner, go smaller.
Step 2: Pick between 12×16 and 18×24
12×16: for close views and small walls
A 12×16 print works where you stand or sit close to the art. Think entryways, hallways, bathrooms, desks, and shelves where a framed print can lean against the wall. It also works well in pairs and rows. Two or three small prints can cover more width than one larger print, and they let you mix works by the same artist or on the same theme.
Some prints in our collection come in 12×16 only. The size picker on each print page shows what that print offers. Boys in a Dory by Winslow Homer is one example.
18×24: for a single print on an open wall
An 18×24 print has more presence across a room. Americanflat calls 18×24 "the standard poster size." Use it where the print hangs alone: above a dresser or a nightstand, on an office wall you face from your desk, or on a bedroom wall you see from a few steps back. Bold, simple compositions read well at this size from across a room. The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai and Irises by Vincent van Gogh both come in 18×24.
Both sizes share the same shape
12×16 and 18×24 have the same 3:4 proportions. Theprints.shop lists both sizes under the 3:4 ratio. The shape does not change between the two sizes. Only the scale does. That also makes it easy to put a 12×16 and an 18×24 on the same wall: their edges line up in proportion.
Step 3: Size the art to the furniture below it
The two-thirds rule
When art hangs above furniture, size it to the furniture, not to the wall. Fine Art America recommends a piece roughly two-thirds the width of the sofa. It says two-thirds to three-quarters is the range that looks intentional, and that a piece narrower than half the sofa looks stranded. Situ.art gives the same two-thirds to three-quarters range.
Why a group works best above a sofa
Run the numbers. Fine Art America gives 56 to 63 inches of art for a standard 84-inch sofa. An 18×24 print hung upright is 18 inches wide. Turned on its side, it is 24 inches wide. Either way, one print falls well short of 56 inches.
A group fixes that. Three 18×24 prints hung upright in a row, with 3 inches between them, measure 60 inches across: 18 + 3 + 18 + 3 + 18. That lands inside the range. Four 12×16 prints hung upright with 3-inch gaps measure 57 inches: four times 12, plus three gaps of 3. That fits too.
Treat the group as one block. Situ.art says to measure the whole group edge to edge. Keep the gaps tight and even. Fine Art America suggests 2 to 3 inches between frames for a cohesive block. These numbers use print sizes. A frame or a mat adds width, so measure the framed pieces again before you hang them.
Leave room above the sofa back as well. Fine Art America suggests 6 to 10 inches between the top of the sofa back and the bottom of the frame.
Above a bed, dresser, or console
The same logic works above a bed. Fine Art America suggests art about two-thirds the bed's width, with a gap of 6 to 12 inches above the headboard. A queen or king bed is wide, so plan a pair or a row here as well.
Dressers and consoles are narrower, so one print often fits. Take a 36-inch console. Two-thirds to three-quarters of 36 inches is 24 to 27 inches. One 18×24 turned on its side is 24 inches wide. Two 12×16 prints hung upright with a 3-inch gap are 27 inches wide. Fine Art America suggests a tighter gap here, 4 to 8 inches, because the lamp, bowl, or books on top become part of the picture.
Step 4: Hang it at the right height
The 57-inch rule
Bob Vila's guide puts it plainly: "Position your picture so that it is 57 inches on-center." On-center means the middle of the art, not the top of the frame and not the hook. FrameBug notes that 57 inches is the common museum and gallery convention, based on average adult eye height. For a gallery wall, Bob Vila says the center of the whole grouping should hit the 57-inch level, not the center of each frame.
Furniture changes this. When the 57-inch line and the gap above a sofa disagree, Fine Art America says the gap wins, because the relationship to the furniture matters more to the eye.
Find where the hook goes
The hook sits above the center of the art, so you need one small calculation. FrameBug gives it as: hook height = eye-level center + (frame height ÷ 2) − wire drop. The wire drop is the distance from the top of the frame down to the wire. Bob Vila says to pull the wire taut when you measure it.
Here is an example. Say your framed 18×24 print stands 26 inches tall, and the taut wire sits 3 inches below the top. Half of 26 is 13. So 57 + 13 − 3 = 67. Put the hook 67 inches up from the floor.
Use two fixings for anything large
FrameBug advises that a heavy or large frame, or any frame over a bed, sofa, or walkway, needs two fixings into studs or rated anchors, not one hook. A framed 18×24 above a sofa fits that description.
Step 5: Frame it, or hang it as is
Our art prints ship unframed. The frame is not included. That leaves three good options.
An exact-fit frame
12×16 and 18×24 are both standard frame sizes. Theprints.shop lists both among the common ready-made poster frame sizes, and Americanflat stocks frames in each. A 12×16 print goes into a 12×16 frame. An 18×24 print goes into an 18×24 frame. Americanflat explains that a frame's size is the size of the art it holds, not the outside of the frame. Theprints.shop adds a warning worth following: check whether a listed size refers to the artwork, the mat opening, or the frame itself.
A larger frame with a mat
A mat adds a border and gives a print more presence. Theprints.shop pairs a 12×16 print with a 16×20 frame and a mat cut for 12×16. It pairs an 18×24 print with a 24×30 or 24×36 frame and a mat. If you mat a print, redo the furniture math from Step 3 with the outside size of the frame.
No frame
You can also hang a print without a frame, with clips or a poster hanger. This suits a casual room or a print you plan to swap often. A frame gives the paper more protection.
Quick picks by room
- Entry or hallway: one 12×16 at eye level, or a row of 12×16 prints down a long hall.
- Desk or shelf: a framed 12×16 leaning against the wall.
- Bedroom: a pair or row above the bed, sized to about two-thirds of the bed's width, or one 18×24 above a dresser.
- Living room: three 18×24 prints in a row above an 84-inch sofa.
- Kitchen or dining room: a pair of 12×16 botanical or still-life prints. Our art print gift guide groups prints by theme, including botanical, still life, ukiyo-e, and impressionism.
- Office: one 18×24 on the wall you face from your chair.
Before you order
- Check the size picker on the print page. Most prints offer both sizes. Some come in 12×16 only.
- A 12×16 print is $36 and an 18×24 print is $44. Free US shipping is included on art prints. We ship to United States addresses only.
- Every print is printed to order on enhanced matte poster stock. Production usually takes several business days, then the carrier adds transit time. Tracking is sent when the order ships.
- Colors may vary slightly by monitor and paper.
- Sales are final because every item is made for that order. We reprint or refund only when the defect is ours. Email [email protected] with photos and the order number within 14 days of delivery. The full policy is on our Returns page.
- Want your own photo at the same sizes? The Custom Matte Poster comes in 12×16 or 18×24, on the same paper family as our art prints. If you want it framed, see the Custom Framed Matte Poster.
Start with the wall. Pick the size. Then pick the art. Browse all art prints, or read our FAQ if you have a question this guide did not answer.