If you’re looking for something unique and creative as a focal point in your home or business, consider an extra-large panoramic image. These can be installed as artwork or even wallpaper and used as a bold accent wall to decorate your home.

Cover a wall or ceiling with a shot of the ocean or abstract graphics. Use one of your own photos or designs, or purchase the rights to something else you would love to hang on your wall. With a skilled printer and high-resolution source files, no space is too large to get creative with printing!

Extra-Large Prints as Home Decor

 Using extra-large prints as home decor is not a new concept. In fact, artists have been using them to create accent and statement walls for some time now. Looking for how to decorate a room? Follow their lead.

Artist and photographer Mark Andrews combines his panoramic images with home decor in an innovative way. He prints his images on canvas material and installs them like wallpaper. That in of itself is not so out of the ordinary. Where he chooses to install the mural is the ceiling.

Mark begins by stitching hundreds of images together to retain the highest possible resolution and detail for output. His studio will spend hours color adjusting and profiling the image before printing. The final image is printed on a matte canvas.

One advantage Mark points out in using a canvas-like material for his mural installations is the ease of removing when a new look is desired for the room.

“The wallpaper hangers flipped out when they checked out the characteristics of the canvas. Not only is it tough as hot nails when they put it up, especially since most wallpapers are very flimsy, but if you want to strip it off you can pull it off in one strip. It’s a 10-minute job to strip one room,” says Andrews.

Pros and Cons of Various Print Mediums

Canvas is a great option for Andrews, but it may not be the look you’re going for when hanging your own floor-to-ceiling piece. Here’s a shortlist of other mediums to use for your panoramic art piece, besides canvas:

  • Brushed metal is perfect to design a modern look and can create a bold, compelling image for black and white photographs. However, it’s limited to 4’ x 8’ size.
  • Use Chromaluxe if you want to display vibrant colors with simple cleaning, also limited to 4’ x 8’size.
  • Acrylic will create a lustrous image that’s 5’ x 10’ or smaller.
  • Canvas is the most forgiving medium in both resolution and size, allowing you to create a print that’s up to 10-foot tall and 150-foot long.

Experts at ArtisanHD are happy to show you examples or talk you through options to get the look you want for your extra-large print.

Viewing Distance and Environment

Viewing conditions can make a big difference in how viewers get to enjoy your shot. Something of considerable size needs the proper environment to live in, and it will likely be viewed from more than a few feet away.

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When you pick a wall or ceiling in your space to cover with an extra-large print, consider how it will be used. Walls that greet guests or customers from a distance, such as in an atrium or foyer, are ideal candidates for this. Likewise, high ceilings in open rooms can make a real statement with ceiling prints.

More Than the Sum of Its Parts

These extra-large wall or ceiling prints are often composed of several smaller photos stitched together. They are carefully merged with software and may be printed in pieces to fit the shape of the space.

This is a helpful hint when taking photos yourself that you would like to turn into an extra-large print. To take multiple, mergeable shots, steady the camera and images with a tripod. Put your camera in manual mode to shoot. Overlap the pictures by one-third to put together later. For taller dimensions, use the same idea shooting vertically.

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You’ll want a powerful image editor like Lightbox or Adobe Photoshop to merge the images together for a panoramic photo. When you work with ArtisanHD and need XL printing, you can upload the file you create to the configurator, and you’re one step closer to your panoramic masterpiece.

Printing Extra-Large Images

At ArtisanHD, we have years of experience working with extra-large prints in all mediums. We know what it takes to create a quality piece for your space and work to create just the look you have envisioned.

Quality control for extra-large images requires a few extra steps. When sending a file to ArtisanHD, the quality-control process starts when the file is received. We will spend hours meticulously making sure the color is just right before output. If there’s an issue with the print, we will reach out to have it corrected.

Custom Large Format Printing of Grand Canyon

Once a print is made, there’s another visual inspection by one of our Artisan printmakers. Then the team applies a quality control check at every step of the process – finishing, mounting, cutting, and trimming. Handcrafted in the USA, every step of the process takes place in our Scottsdale, AZ print shop.

Finally, the artwork is carefully packaged and inspected before it’s shipped. We also offer professional installation to those in the AZ area.

Creating your own Sistine Chapel to decorate your home doesn’t take Michelangelo, just imagination, the right file, and a little help from ArtisanHD!

Updated April 2021