Gallery Wall Templates: Test Your Layout With Paper First

An arrangement that looked right on the floor can look quite different once it is upright, above furniture and under a ceiling. Finding that out with frames means extra holes. Finding it out with paper means moving a bit of tape.

Gallery wall templates are paper cutouts the same size as your frames, taped up where the frames will go. You see the whole arrangement at full scale, shift it as often as you like, and mark the wall only when you are sure.

What paper shows you that the floor cannot

A floor layout settles how the pieces relate to each other. Paper on the wall answers the remaining questions: how high the group sits, whether it is centered on the furniture, how close it comes to a switch or a door frame, and whether the overall size suits the wall. It also carries the exact position of each hanging point, so you do less measuring on the wall itself.

What you need

• Plain paper: kraft paper, wrapping paper used on the plain side, or newspaper
• A pencil and scissors
• A tape measure
• Low-tack painter’s tape
• A level

Paper in a tone that contrasts with the wall is easiest to judge from a distance.

The paper-template method in seven steps

1. Trace each frame. Lay the frame face down on the paper and draw around its outer edge.
2. Cut out and identify. Cut along the line, then draw a quick sketch of the picture on the paper, a tree or a face or a few stripes, so you know which piece it stands for and which way up it goes.
3. Find the hanging point. Turn the frame over. Measure from the top edge down to the point where the hardware will rest once the frame hangs. With a wire, pull it taut toward the top first, as it would sit under load. Measure in from one side as well.
4. Copy that point onto the paper. Mark the same spot on the cutout with a small cross. A frame with two hangers gets two crosses.
5. Tape the papers to the wall. Start with the central piece and work outward, using small pieces of tape at the corners. Check the central one with a level.
6. Live with it. Leave the papers up for a day. Look from the doorway, from your usual seat, in daylight and in the evening. Move anything that bothers you.
7. Fix through the cross. Put each fixing straight through its marked point, tear the paper away and hang the frame.

What to check while the paper is up

Use the day of waiting to look for specific things:

• The outline. Squint. The papers should form one clear shape, not a scatter.
• The link to the furniture. The group should look attached to the piece below it, not floating far above.
• The gaps. Uneven gaps are obvious in plain paper. The guide to spacing between frames covers how to choose a gap and hold it.
• Obstacles. Check that no cutout covers a switch or sits in the path of a door.
• The seated view. A group that looks fine standing can feel high from a chair.

If the arrangement itself feels wrong, not just its position, take the papers down and go back a stage. The step-by-step guide on how to plan a gallery wall covers setting the outer boundary and editing the pieces.

Fixing through the paper

The cross tells you where the fixing goes; it does not tell you which fixing to use. Choose mounting hardware for your wall type and the weight of each frame, and follow the hardware manufacturer instructions. For a mirror or a large glazed frame, get help if you are unsure.

Work from the center outward, and hang each frame as soon as its fixing is in. Seeing real frames go up beside the remaining papers lets you catch a problem while there is still paper to move. For frames with two hanging points, hold a level across the two crosses before you commit.

Two alternatives to plain paper

A floor layout and a snapshot

Arrange the frames on the floor, take a phone snapshot from directly above and hang from the picture, measuring as you go. It is quicker to set up and suits a simple row of three. For anything larger you lose the full-scale preview and have to measure every hanging point on the wall.

Stiff card cutouts

Cutouts made from stiff card packaging do not curl or tear, and you can reuse them when you rearrange. They are heavier than paper, so they need more tape, which makes the surface test more important. Lift each card away before you place the fixing, marking the cross position on the wall in pencil first.

Small problems and quick fixes

• The paper keeps curling. Roll it the opposite way before cutting, or add tape at the middle of each side.
• You cannot tell the cutouts apart. Add a note of the frame finish next to the sketch.
• The hung frame sits lower than its paper. The wire was slack when you measured. Remeasure with it pulled taut and correct the remaining templates.
• You are short of frames for the space. Cut a blank template for the missing piece and leave it up as a reminder of the size to look for.

If this is your first attempt at a group of pictures, the beginner’s guide to gallery walls explains the decisions that come before the paper stage.