Do you print photos for the wall, or have them printed?
Monday 29 June 2026, 22:44 by Nando Harmsen | 1,220 views | 6 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
How many photos do you have on your computer? How many of them are worth having printed? How many of those would you like to hang on the wall? Do you regularly replace them with new ones?
I don't have all that many photos hanging on the wall. Too few, to be honest. There's a large photo on aluminium dibond, over 1.50 metres wide, and another one measuring 60 centimetres. Oh yes, and a 1.80-metre-wide panorama on canvas.
Unfortunately, I don't have much more space on the walls. That's just how I live. There's a relatively dark stairwell and a narrow hallway. The latter has a few 10x15 photos hanging in it, but the stairwell is empty.
Perhaps you have more space for photos on the wall than I do. Or perhaps you have even less room available. If you have the space, do you have photos hanging there? And if so, how large are those photos? Have you taken the viewing distance into account?
How do you choose the size of the photos you hang on the wall? What material do you have them printed on, if you don't do it yourself?
As mentioned, space in the house is limited. You can't hang every photo that's worth displaying. Choices have to be made. Then comes the inevitable question: how often do you replace those photos?
The large 1.50 x 1.20-metre print on aluminium dibond has been hanging there for several years now. It's becoming a bit of an eyesore. I could replace it, but what would I do with the photo that's hanging there now?
I'm curious how you deal with prints on the wall, if you have any. How large are they, what material are they made from, how often do you replace them, and what do you do with the old ones? Let me know, and inspire me and others with your ideas.
About the author
Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.
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6 comments
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Jos wrote on Tuesday 30 June 2026 at 12:15 | replyHello Nando.
Translated from Dutch.
Interesting article.
For an exhibition I have my images printed. For the photo review, at the club, I print them myself.
As a result of the exhibitions at the photo club, I have prints in large and small formats.
They are hung up alternately.
The problem with the many prints: where do I put them?
Sell them? In the 30 years that I have been photographing, I have sold 3 works. -
Bas Braad wrote on Tuesday 30 June 2026 at 12:47 | replyHello Nando,
Translated from Dutch.
For me, a photo is not finished if it hasn't been printed. Of course, I can't print all photos, but I regularly print out my photos. I like to do that on somewhat larger paper, A3 or A3+, and since 2019 I have owned an Epson SureColor P600. It is a faithful companion that lasts surprisingly long and manages to produce beautiful photos time and again. I work with the ICC profiles for the best result and own many types of paper, because that too is important for a good print. Cheap and good is the Epson Archival Matte paper, alongside the beautiful but more expensive types from Hahnemühle. I think I print about 50 to 100 a year. And if I feel like it, I put them down on the floor in the living room, because there isn't much room for my photos on the wall either. Finally, I always take the prints with me to the Rotterdam Photography School, because that way you can really show your results. -
paulusvanaken@gmail.com wrote on Tuesday 30 June 2026 at 13:05 | replyHi Nando,
Translated from Dutch.
As a self-finisher I made a lot of prints in the darkroom in the good we days, some of which are still hanging, sentimental value.bgingbtot up to 50x60, and once even, with two sheets,
60x90. When it became digital, and I started printing, I soon saw that A4 was rather tight, and started looking at what was possible, and that became A3+, and that works well for on the wall.
In a changeable frame, so that a new little gem hangs every now and then.
But your house, no matter how big, is always too small for all your beautiful work -
MacBigfoot wrote on Tuesday 30 June 2026 at 23:27
| reply
For an exhibition I once had two photos printed at A1 size, without a mat or clip frame and mounted on hardboard. I still don’t know where I could hang them at home, but they were also too expensive to just throw away.
Translated from Dutch.
For the photo club’s competition I have a photo printed by a professional almost every month, with a bit of extra attention I could never get them printed that beautifully for that price.
Sometimes those photos are exhibited, but usually I keep them in a sturdy box until the moment I can hang them at home on a wall that we still haven’t finished.
Nevertheless, it remains much nicer to have a print in your hands, even if I don’t look at it every day, than to have to look at the photo on a screen.
A photo indeed isn’t finished if it hasn’t been printed. -
Cuno wrote on Wednesday 1 July 2026 at 10:31 | reply
Hi Nando,
Translated from Dutch.
Photos hang on our walls in very different sizes. On a few narrow walls, vertical quick-change frames with 12 photos each, 13x18, of which a photo is regularly replaced.
A beautiful wide panorama (200x50, forex in a frame) with four different contents over the past 15 years. I am no longer allowed to replace my wife's cloud/mountain landscape now
Then several prints on Xpozer: an invisible frame with interchangeable photos on plastic foil. A large 120x80 print that is changed quarterly (seasonal photo). You can simply roll up and store the unused photos.
Three smaller Xpozers, 90x60, some of which hang almost permanently (during the Christmas period something else hangs there) and others are changed irregularly (every 6 to 12 months). Usually existing prints are repeated, sometimes new ones are added.
The largest prints are 2 metres high and 90 cm wide: we have covered several doors with full photo stickers (door posters).
And in the planning is still covering a door completely with a collage of Epix tiles. -
PK wrote on Wednesday 1 July 2026 at 12:13 | replyAt home I have three identical interchangeable frames hanging on the wall (approx. A4) in which I put three photos with similar subjects. They have to be alternated.
Translated from Dutch.
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