How to Hang a Canvas

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There’s nothing quite like the feeling when you hang a piece of art or printed photo on the wall in your home or office. You step back, cross your arms, place your hand on your chin and smile as you admire the new item now proudly featured.

Quick Links

What do you use to hang a canvas?
How to hang a canvas
Alternative ways to hang a canvas
How to hang a canvas on a wall with J-hooks
How to hang a canvas with adhesive strips
7 tips for hanging a canvas
Make a personalized canvas photo print with Motif

The degree of enjoyment one experiences depends a great deal on how well that piece of art got there. If you left a few more holes in the wall than you’re willing to admit, your satisfaction might be more like a sense of completion. To avoid that feeling altogether, we’ve got a few pointers to make your hanging art experience much more satisfying.

What do you use to hang a canvas?

Fortunately, hanging canvas prints does not require a full set of tools. Here’s a list of what you’ll most likely need for hanging a canvas:

A canvas hanger set (if your canvas didn’t come with one)
A pencil
A tape measure or ruler
A level
A small screwdriver
A hammer
A little patience

Assemble your tools. Have a beverage handy. We don’t want you cramping up right in the middle of the process. Maybe stretch a bit as well. Ok, here we go.

Measure to find the height of the center of the canvas.
Add 57” to that canvas center height. Art galleries and museums often position the center of artworks at approximately 57 in (140 cm) from the ground. That’s the eye level for the average person. So, take the height of the canvas center and add 57 in (140 cm) to determine how high the top of the canvas needs to be from the ground.
Mark that height on the wall with a pencil.
Choose your hangar method of either a basic nail in the wall, a sawtooth hanger, or a wire hanger.

You can hang canvases on a bare nail in the wall
Installing the sawtooth or wire hanger provide additional security for your canvas art

If you choose the basic canvas on nail method, hammer your nail in to allow for the height of the frame. Then hang the canvas.
With the sawtooth method, use your screwdriver and mount the sawtooth hanger to the top of the wooden canvas frame. Place the sawtooth hanger on the nail in the wall.
The wire or cable hanger method requires screwing in the steel eye screws or the d-rings into the sides of the wood canvas frame. Measure the distance from each and then add 8”. Cut your cable to that measurement and insert the ends in the screws or d-rings so there’s enough to hang the canvas and also enough to wrap back to secure the wire on itself. Hang the wire over the nail.
Step back and assess to see if it looks good. Use the level to adjust.

Alternative ways to hang canvas art

Your choices on how to hang canvas art are quite simple. Considering most house walls are made using drywall, here’s a few other options.

How to hang a canvas on a wall with j-hooks

J-hooks are great options to hang canvas art when you have larger or heavier canvases. They come in various sizes and can come with one, two or even three nails. A simple, smaller hook would work best for lighter, smaller canvases, while hooks with more nails will support more weight. You can place two or three hooks across the wall to ensure sturdy hanging.

Hanging canvas art with J-hooks works best with the cable or wire method as opposed to the nail or sawtooth methods.

How to hang a canvas with adhesive strips

If you’re opposed to putting holes in your walls, various types of adhesive strips will do the job. They’re probably the easiest of all hanging methods. They are very easy to use and typically come with an adhesive and velcro combination. Before selecting an adhesive strip, be sure you know the weight of your canvas. Adhesive strip products will state weight capacity on their packaging.

Hanging canvas prints with adhesive strips involves applying the strips to your canvas and then applying to the wall.

7 tips for hanging a canvas

These seven tips will make the process even easier. They can be applied to all methods:

Clean the wall with a damp cloth before hanging.
Take measurements of where you would like the canvas to be displayed.
Measure your desired distance from the ceiling, floor and side objects. We recommend hanging the canvas with its midpoint between 56 and 60 inches from the floor and eight to 10 inches above a piece of furniture.
Mark an ‘x’ in pencil on the center spot to help guide you.
Consider moving furniture or items out of the way to make hanging easier.
Make sure to place stick-on wall pads on the backside of your canvas to protect the paint and minimize movement.
Use a level to get a perfectly straight canvas.

Make a personalized canvas photo print with Motif

With this thorough knowledge of canvas art hanging, all you need is a canvas art or two to hang. Creating high-quality photo canvas art is possible with Motif. It’s a free app for your Mac, iPhone and iPad that lets you turn your own photos into printed photo canvases.

Motif works seamlessly with your Apple Photos so there’s no photo uploading necessary. There’s a variety of canvas sizes and finishes to fit your available wall space. On your Mac, simply open Photos and select the images you’d like to create your photo canvas with. Right-click or in the File menu select Create then the Wall Decor, then Motif. On your iPhone/iPad, simply open the Motif app and then select New in the upper right corner, then choose Gallery Printed Canvas.

FAQs about canvas prints

How do you hang a gallery of canvas prints?

A good way to approach a gallery wall is to arrange it on the floor before putting anything on the wall. If you have computer design skills, taking photographs and assembling layout options can also be very helpful.

How do you hang unframed canvas?

Binder clips attached to nails or push pins are one way. An unframed canvas can be nailed to a wall as well. It can also be looped over a wire or rod.

What is the best way to keep the canvas clean?

Dust the canvas with a soft, lint-free, dry cloth or feather duster. If a deeper cleaning is needed, use a lint-free, clean cloth with warm soapy water and gently rub the affected areas. Do not immerse in water or use cleaning products as these can damage the material.

Bring your best photos to life with Motif.

Experience how easy creating personalized photo projects is with Motif. Our photo project app seamlessly works with Apple Photos in macOS and iOS. We do all the complicated stuff leaving the fun creative freedom to you.

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