Pro Handyman Blog

Why Picture Hanging Never ends up where You Want It

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Have you ever noticed that picture hanging never quite seems to end up on the wall where you thought? It is close, but may be off by an inch or so. It is all in how you measure.

If you are like many people, one person will hold a picture on the wall and then move it left or right, and up or down when the other person says to. So finally you have the picture where you want and you make a pencil mark on the wall where the top of the frame is.

If you install a picture hanger at that line, the picture will end up too high. This might not matter, but for people hanging pictures in groups, it definitely matters. The reason for the difference is that the picture wire or fastener is lower than the frame. So the picture will be off by the distance between the wire (or hanger) and the top of the frame.

You can avoid this by simply measuring this distance and compensating for it. If you have a picture wire, hook the tab of the measuring tape under it and pull it taut. Measure the distance to the top of the frame (where you made your mark). Now take this measurement to the wall and lower the mark by this amount. It works the same for hangers as well.