How to Reproduce a Photograph as a Mural

Any striking photo can be turned into a mural.

Commercial billboards are created by turning high-resolution photographs into multiple printed sheets, which can be aligned and pasted on the billboard to create a jumbo-sized image. Although this kind of large-format printing has been the exclusive preserve of commercial print shops, the speed and quality of today's ink-jet and color laser printers make it possible to print wall- or mural-sized images from a standard photograph. This requires specialized software to scale the photo and smooth the image for large-format printing on multiple pages of standard-sized paper.

Things You'll Need

• Mural-printing or photo-editing software
• Computer
• Color ink-jet or laser printer
• Photo-quality paper
• Scissors or paper cutter
• Glue stick or decoupage glue

Instructions

1. Download and install your poster printing program, or install it from discs.

2. Load your poster printing software, and open the photograph you wish to print. In most programs, you do this by selecting the File menu and then "Open." Some programs have a button or speed key to make this faster.

3. Set the size of your mural. In most programs this is done through the Print Options or Print Preferences menu option, but your program might have a special menu or menu option for this purpose.

4. Check the print settings in the program and make them coincide with your printer's defaults, which usually specify 1/2-inch borders. You can also add crop marks -- typically by ticking that check box in the print settings -- to make the pieces easier to cut accurately. Or specify how much the individual printed pages should overlap at the edges for assembling.

5. Select "Print Preview" to see a version of your final image. The print preview tells you how many pages are required, so load your printer with an appropriate quantity of photo-quality paper.

6. Print the first page as a test to ensure that your settings are correct. If they are, print the remainder of the image. Trim the edges of each page carefully with scissors or a paper cutter, once they are dry.

7. Mount the mural one piece at a time on a wall or a custom-prepared surface of appropriate size. An ordinary glue stick or decoupage glue works well enough for a short-term installation.

Tips & Warnings

• You can purchase a mural-printing software program such as Kneson Software's YottaPrint or RonyaSoft's Poster Printer, or use photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop.

• For a long-term mural, explain your project to the staff at a paint or building supplies store. They can advise you on what type of adhesive to use for the surface you plan to attach it to, and how to seal the mural to protect it from dirt, discoloration or accidental damage.

• Some programs offer the option of saving the mural as a PDF file, so it can be taken or emailed to a commercial printer for printing on their large, high-speed equipment. Depending on the cost of ink for your printer, this may be a more frugal option.

References

• Kneson Software: Yotta Print Mural Program Instructions
• Kneson Software: Yotta Print Mural Program Features
• RonyaSoft: Poster Printer