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Canvas Sizes: The Ultimate Canvas Sizing Guide

Trying to pick out your next canvas print? Today, we'll walk you through the process of picking the right canvas size, both for your space and for your chosen photograph.

Canvas Sizes: The Ultimate Canvas Sizing Guide article hero
A family wall display of canvas prints featured over a gray couch in a bright living room.

Are you trying to pick out your next canvas print? If you want to make the design of your home look cohesive, you'll need to be thoughtful about what you add to your walls. Too many people make the mistake of picking the wrong size of canvas, leaving it looking out of place and awkward.

Thankfully, our expertise in this area has given us lots of knowledge that we're happy to pass on to you. Today, we'll walk you through the process of picking the right canvas size, both for your space and for your chosen photograph. The tips we'll share will make finding the right size easy!

Picking the Right Canvas for Your Living Space

One of the best ways to achieve success is to plan out where your print will go before you order it. If you don't make a plan beforehand, you may find that the size you order doesn't work well in your home, forcing you to re-order or make unnecessary compromises.

Here are some tips on how to choose the right size of canvas for any area of your home.

A young woman hangs a 8x10 canvas print on the wall featuring other canvas and framed prints.

1. Fill an Empty Wall

When you want to fill an empty wall with a canvas print, a good rule of thumb is to make sure the print takes up to 60% to 75% of the available space. You don't necessarily need to make it one print as well – having a large, empty wall allows you to group a few prints together, gallery-style.

To get an accurate measurement, measure both the height and width of the wall, then multiply both by 0.6 and 0.75. This gives you an upper and lower threshold for you canvas print sizes.

A mother and child embrace on a couch in front of a large canvas print of the beach.

2. Don't Overwhelm Furniture

Picking out a print to go above a piece of furniture? Make sure it stretches 2/3 to 3/4 of the piece's width. This helps ensure the print has enough visual impact, without being so large that it overwhelms your living space.

Three canvas prints of two parents and their child on a minimal white wall.

3. Embrace White Space

When you're purchasing multiple canvas prints to make a gallery wall, you'll want to make sure that you have enough space to leave at least 1" between each print. This is especially important for unframed canvas prints since they don't have a frame that visually distinguishes one photo from the next.

Photograph of a wall display featuring framed prints and canvases with two spots mocked up with painter's tape.

4. Mock it Out With Painter's Tape

Not sure what size will work for your space? You can mock it out before you purchase using painter's tape. Simply use the painter's tape to mock up a shape that matches the size of canvas you want to buy. This should give you a good visual indication of how the size will work on your wall.

Canvas on Demand offers more than a dozen sizes of canvas, ensuring that you can always find one that works for your photo and your living space.

Here's a short breakdown of our most popular sizes.

Large Canvas

Popular Sizes: 24x36, 20x24

Large Canvas print of a beach over a gray couch in a contemporary living room.

These larger sizes that we offer are fantastic for empty walls or hallways. They look great on their own, or you could pair a few large prints together on a blank wall to create an incredible visual display.

Nature prints, landscapes, and photos with a wide perspective look best in these large sizes. Avoid close-ups of faces or group shots – these canvas be overwhelming when printed in a larger format.

Tips:

• When you're working with large prints, maximize heir visual impact by sticking with multiple prints of the same size.

Medium Canvas Sizes

Popular Sizes: 16x20, 11x14

16x20 Canvas Print of a mother and child over a table in a modern entryway.

Our medium-sized prints are undoubtedly the most versatile. They can be grouped in a block of four to create a large square, or hung solo on a smaller wall. These sizes are great for office décor, or bedroom walls.

Almost any picture will work well at medium size. The only photos to avoid are large, intricate pictures that may lose some detail at a smaller scale.

Tips:

• Medium-sized canvases work well when mixed with both larger and smaller canvases. Don't be afraid to mix and match!

Small Canvas Sizes

Popular Sizes: 12x12, 8x10

8x10 Tabletop Canvas of a dad and his two children leaning on a living room end table.

If you have limited space, there's a lot you can do when you opt for smaller canvas prints. These sizes are incredibly versatile, and can be used on coffee tables or bookshelves as well as walls.

If you only have room for a smaller print, maximize its impact by picking a photo with one central object, like an individual portrait. Don't get tempted to go too large, or you'll lose all the photo's meaningful details.

Tips:

• If you have a limited amount of space but don't want to be limited to one print, hang several small ones grouped close together.

We hope our tips will help you pick the best canvas for your next home decorating project. Feeling ready to get started? Head over to our canvas print page to check out all the different sizes we have available.  


Since 2003, Canvas On Demand has been crafting affordable, high quality, personalized home goods that celebrate life's moments, both big and small, through the permanence of print.

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