A mural is printed to fit one wall, and that wall usually has a door, a light switch or an exit sign on it. Measure the wall and mark every fixture before you choose the image. Then the proof shows exactly where each one lands.

Measure the whole wall

Measure the width three times: near the floor, at the middle and near the ceiling. Measure the height at both ends and in the center. Walls aren’t always square. Write down the smallest and the largest number for each.

Measure to where the graphic will stop: a corner, a door frame, a column or the ceiling. If a soffit or bulkhead drops into the wall, measure the height on both sides of it.

Mark every fixture

Walk the wall with a tape measure and a phone. For each item, note its size and its distance from the left edge and from the floor:

  • Doors and door frames, and which way each door swings
  • Light switches and outlets
  • Thermostats and card readers
  • Fire alarm pull stations, horns and strobes
  • Exit signs and emergency lights
  • Conduit, pipes and junction boxes
  • Wall-mounted TVs, whiteboards and hand-sanitizer stations

Plan to leave fire alarm devices, exit signs and other life-safety equipment uncovered. If a device might move, ask whoever handles fire safety for the building before the design is final.

Take the right photos

Stand back far enough to get the whole wall in one shot. Face the wall square, hold the phone at about chest height, and turn on the lights you use every day. Then take a close photo of each fixture with the tape measure in the frame.

Send the photos and your measurements with your quote request. We still measure the wall ourselves before anything is printed.

Place the image around the fixtures

The important part of the image should land on clear wall. On the wall in the photo above, the ship sits in the open center. The exit sign hangs over the upper right corner, where the image is plain sky, and the junction box on the left sits in sky as well.

A few habits help:

  • Keep the main subject, and any text, away from door swings, switches and outlets.
  • Let plain parts of the image, such as sky, water or a solid color, run behind fixtures you can't move.
  • Think about what will stand in front of the wall. A couch, a credenza or a row of chairs hides the bottom of the image.
  • Check the wall from where most people see it: the doorway, the hall or the elevator.

Check the proof

Our design team sends a proof drawn to scale, with the doors and fixtures shown. Before you approve it, check:

  • The dimensions match your notes.
  • Every door, switch, outlet and device is on the drawing.
  • Nothing important in the image sits behind a fixture.
  • Anything that may come off the wall later, like a TV or a whiteboard, is marked as staying or going.
  • The person who runs the space has seen it.

Fixing a proof takes a few minutes. Fixing a printed panel means printing it again.

Need a mural sized to your wall?

ANP Graphics Inc. measures, prints and installs wall murals for offices, labs and plants across Lake County and the North Shore, from our shop at 3420 Grand Ave in Waukegan. See our wall murals and office wall graphics.

Send a photo of the wall and its rough size for a quote or call 847-336-4515.