Picture Hanging Calculator
Work out exactly where the nail goes — hook height from the floor plus the left-edge, centre and hook marks for a whole gallery wall.
Fill in the frame height, hanger drop and centre height to see where the hook goes.
- Hook height above the floor
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- Top of the frame
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- Bottom of the frame
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- Gap between frames
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- Total width of the group
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- Empty wall each side
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| Picture | Left edge | Centre | Hook mark(s) |
|---|
Mark the hook height with a pencil, check it with a spirit level, and find a stud or use the right fixing for the weight of the frame. Nothing you type here leaves your device.
How it works
This calculator uses the gallery standard: the centre of the artwork sits 57 inches
(145 cm) above the floor, which is average eye level and the height museums hang to.
The hanger drop the calculator asks for is the distance from the top of the
frame down to the point the hook takes the weight — pull the wire taut towards the ceiling
and measure the gap, or measure straight down to the slot of a D-ring or sawtooth hanger.
From there the nail position is simple arithmetic —
hook height = centre height + ½ × frame height − hanger drop. A 24 in tall frame
whose wire pulls up to 3 in below the top edge, centred at 57 in, needs its hook at
57 + 12 − 3 = 66 in above the floor, putting the top of the frame at 69 in
and the bottom at 45 in. Change the centre height if you are hanging above a sofa or a
console table — a common rule is 6–10 in (15–25 cm) of clear wall between the furniture and
the bottom of the frame.
Give it a wall width and it also works out the horizontal marks. With even spacing the gap is
(wall width − number of pictures × frame width) ÷ (number of pictures + 1), so
three 30 in frames on a 144 in wall get 13½ in of air between and beside them, with centres at
28½, 72 and 115½ in from the left. Choose a fixed gap instead and the whole group is centred
on the wall. Two-hook hangs get a mark either side of the centre line, half the hook spacing
apart — two hooks share the load and keep a wide frame from tilting. Inch results are rounded
to the nearest sixteenth and shown as fractions you can read off a tape measure; metric
results are rounded to the nearest millimetre. Everything is computed in your browser with
plain JavaScript — no uploads, no sign-up, no ads.
Frequently asked questions
How high should I hang a picture?
The gallery standard is to put the centre of the artwork 57 inches (145 cm) above the floor — average eye level, and the height most museums hang to. Keep that centre line constant across a room and pictures of different sizes still read as a set. Hanging above a sofa, headboard or console table is the main exception: there you line the picture up with the furniture instead, leaving roughly 6–10 inches (15–25 cm) of clear wall between the top of the furniture and the bottom of the frame, which usually lands the centre a little higher than 57 inches. In a stairwell or a room with very high ceilings, measure 57 inches from the tread or the floor directly below each picture.
Where do I put the nail if the frame hangs on a wire?
Not at the top of the frame — the wire sags. Measure the hanger drop first: hook a finger or the tip of a tape measure under the wire, pull it up towards the ceiling as if the wall hook were taking the weight, and note how far below the top edge of the frame the taut wire sits. Then hook height = centre height + half the frame height − hanger drop. A 24 inch tall frame with a 3 inch drop, centred at 57 inches, needs its hook at 57 + 12 − 3 = 66 inches above the floor. D-rings and sawtooth hangers work the same way; just measure straight down from the top of the frame to the slot the hook enters.
How do I space several pictures evenly on a wall?
For equal air between and beside the frames, gap = (wall width − number of pictures × frame width) ÷ (number of pictures + 1). Three 30 inch frames on a 144 inch wall give (144 − 90) ÷ 4 = 13½ inches, so the centres fall at 28½, 72 and 115½ inches from the left edge. If you would rather fix the gap yourself — 2 to 4 inches is typical for a tight gallery wall — the calculator centres the whole group on the wall instead and gives you the same left-edge, centre and hook marks. Mark the hook height with a pencil, check it with a spirit level, and use a fixing rated for the weight of the frame.