“Can you print on wallpaper?” is one of the questions we hear most, usually followed by “and will it actually look good?” It is a perfectly normal worry. A wall is big, and nobody wants to stare at a blurry or wonky mural every day.
The answer to both is yes, as long as the design, the measurements and the hanging are planned properly. Here is how it works, from your first idea to the last panel going up.
Key takeaways
- You can print almost any design onto wallpaper: photos, patterns, illustrations and brand artwork.
- Custom wallpaper is printed to your exact wall measurements and split into panels that line up when hung.
- Measure the full width and height of each wall and note doors, windows, sockets and switches.
- Your artwork needs enough resolution to stay sharp at full wall size.
- Good preparation and a straight first panel make or break the finish.
- For busy spaces, an antibacterial, wipe clean laminate keeps walls looking fresh.
Can you print on wallpaper?
Yes. Wallpaper printing is a large format job, and modern wide format printers can put full colour artwork onto wallpaper at sizes that cover a whole room. We print bespoke wallpaper and murals in house on our 3.2m Liyu roll to roll printer.
That means you are not limited to what a shop has on the shelf. Popular choices include:
- photo murals of a city skyline, a landscape or a favourite place
- hand drawn illustrations for nurseries and kids bedrooms
- repeat patterns in your exact colours
- branded walls for receptions, offices and shops
- botanical and scenic murals for restaurants, bars and hotels
Real jobs: a hand drawn London skyline for a boutique hotel corridor, and a crane and palm mural wrapped across three walls.
How is custom wallpaper printed?
Custom wallpaper is printed to fit one specific wall, not sold by the roll. The process looks like this:
- You send the sizes. The width and height of each wall, plus a photo.
- We lay out the design. The artwork is scaled to the wall and split into panels, with the key parts of the image placed where they will be seen.
- You approve a proof. Every job gets a free artwork check and a digital proof before anything is printed.
- We print the panels. On our 3.2m Liyu roll to roll printer, in house in Uxbridge.
- The panels are hung. By our own installation team, or collected from our studio.
Pro tip Think about what will sit in front of the wall. A sofa, a desk or a headboard can hide the best part of a mural, so tell us where the furniture goes and we will place the design around it.
How do you measure a wall for custom wallpaper?
Getting the measurements right is the single most important step. Here is what to send:
- the full width and height of each wall, measured in a few places, because walls are rarely perfectly square
- the position and size of doors, windows, radiators, sockets and switches
- a straight on photo of each wall
- where furniture or fittings will sit in front of it
Not sure? Send us a photo and your rough sizes on WhatsApp and we will tell you what else we need.
What artwork works best for printed wallpaper?
A wall is one of the biggest things you will ever print, so image quality matters. A small phone photo stretched across three metres will look soft. A few rules of thumb:
- Use the largest, highest resolution version of the image you have.
- Logos and text should be vector files, so they stay crisp at any size. Our guide to vector files explains why.
- Screens show colour as RGB light, while print uses CMYK inks. We can convert RGB to CMYK but there is a possibility of colour change, so read CMYK vs RGB explained before you sign off a colour critical design.
- Check sizes, bleed and file types in our artwork guide.
No artwork yet? Our in house design team can create a design from scratch, or adapt your photo, pattern or brand artwork to fit the wall.
How is printed wallpaper hung?
Printed wallpaper goes up much like traditional wallpaper, one panel at a time. The difference is that every panel is part of one big picture, so accuracy matters more. In general, the job runs like this:
- Prepare the wall. The surface should be clean, dry, smooth and sound. Fill holes and cracks and sand them flat, because printed wallpaper shows every bump underneath it.
- Mark a straight line. Walls and ceilings are rarely true. Hangers use a plumb line or laser level to mark a vertical guide for the first panel, so the whole design stays straight.
- Paste. Depending on the wallpaper, the paste goes on the wall or on the back of the panel. Always follow the instructions for the paper you have.
- Hang the panels in order. Panel one goes up against the guide line, then panel two lines up with it, and so on. This is where the numbered layout matters.
- Smooth out the air. A soft smoothing tool pushes out bubbles from the centre outwards without stretching the print.
- Trim and finish. A sharp blade trims the top, bottom and around sockets and frames. Switch off the power before working around sockets and switches.
Pro tip Leave murals to people who hang them regularly. A panel that starts a few millimetres off true can be very obvious by the far end of the wall.
Our team hanging a children's jungle mural at Garden of Eden in Windsor, and the finished play area.
We hang our wallpaper with our own team, so the panels go up straight, matched and bubble free. See our installation service for how we work on site.
Is printed wallpaper good for offices, hotels and healthcare?
Yes, with the right finish. For busy spaces we can finish the print with an antibacterial, wipe clean laminate. We used it for an NHS staff breakout room, where the wall has to stand up to daily cleaning.
Great for
- hotel rooms, corridors and receptions
- offices, breakout areas and meeting rooms
- restaurants, bars and shops
- healthcare and staff rooms
- nurseries, bedrooms and feature walls at home
Easy to look after
- wipe gently with a soft, damp cloth
- avoid harsh or abrasive cleaners
- ask about the wipe clean laminate for high traffic walls
Printed wallpaper or something else?
Wallpaper is not the only way to put a design on a wall. Here is how the main options compare at a glance:
| Option | Best for | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Printed wallpaper | Feature walls, murals and branded interiors | Made to your measurements and hung in panels, like traditional wallpaper |
| Printed wall vinyl | Graphics on smooth walls, doors and panels | A self adhesive print, so no paste is needed |
| Paint | Plain colour | Cannot carry a photo, a pattern or your branding |
| Framed prints such as canvas | A focal point on part of a wall | Easy to move, but it covers only a small area |
Not sure which suits your space? Tell us about the wall and how it is used, and we will recommend the right route.
Ready to print your wall?
If you can picture it, we can print it. Send us your wall sizes, a photo and your idea, and we will lay out a design that fits your space. We print custom wallpaper in London, ready to collect from Uxbridge or hung by our own team. Standard jobs take 7 to 10 working days, with express options of 3 days or 24 to 48 hours.
