Picture Plumb

A hanging planner.

Plan exactly where to put the nail before you swing the hammer. Picture Plumb is a free, in-browser planner for hanging pictures: enter your wall dimensions and the size of each painting, drag the paintings onto a virtual wall, and read off the exact nail coordinates to mark and drill.

What it does

Snap-to-alignment guides hold paintings to the wall centre, thirds, window edges, and neighbouring nails. Click a painting to see the full dimension stack — distances to wall edges, floor, windows, and neighbours. Toggle Show All Measurements for full dim lines on every painting at once.

Drill Mode

When you're ready to hammer, open Nail Positions → Drill Mode for a phone-sized card with the big numbers you need at the wall: distance from the left edge, distance from the floor.

Privacy

Your wall data lives only in your browser's local storage. Nothing leaves your device.

Small & mighty software · made by Toothbrush Labs

How to Hang a Picture: The Complete, No-Crooked-Frames Guide

Five honest steps, in inches and centimetres - measure twice, drill once.

  1. Plan the layout first

    Pick one hero piece per wall and build everything around it. Size the art to fill most of the wall or the furniture below it, so nothing looks marooned in empty space. Lay the whole arrangement on the floor, or cut paper templates and tape them up, before a single hole goes in.

    Tip: Group frames in odd numbers - they almost always feel livelier than even.

  2. Mark the real nail spot

    Decide where the center of the art should sit - eye level is the timeless choice, and you set the exact height in the planner. The catch most people miss: the nail sits higher than the center by however far the wire pulls down, so measure that drop and account for it. Above a sofa, judge the gap to the furniture rather than the height from the floor.

    Tip: Always measure to the center of the art - never the top or bottom of the frame.

  3. Pick hardware that holds

    Weigh the framed piece first - weight, not size, decides what will hold it. Angled picture hooks carry far more than a bare nail, while heavy pieces and mirrors need a French cleat screwed into the studs. Whatever you choose, treat its printed rating as a ceiling and stay well under it.

    Tip: An anchor's rating is its breaking point, not its everyday load - give it room to spare.

  4. Fix it to the wall safely

    Knock to find your wall type - a hollow sound means drywall, a dull thud means plaster or masonry - and hang into a wooden stud whenever you can. Pilot-drill plaster, switch the hammer action off for tile, and clear the dust from masonry holes. Never drill directly above, below, or beside an outlet, where cables tend to run.

    Tip: Scan with a live-wire detector and flip the breaker before any deep drilling near fixtures.

  5. Level it and keep it

    Use a small level to mark a true horizontal line where the hook goes. Hang the piece, then sight along its top edge and nudge it until it sits straight. For a gallery wall, keep the gaps even by measuring every frame from one shared baseline.

    Tip: A dab of museum putty in two corners keeps a drift-prone frame sitting level.

Frequently asked questions

How high should I hang a picture?

Hang it so the center of the artwork sits about 57-60 in (145-152 cm) from the floor - average eye level, and the height galleries use. Measure to the middle of the piece, not the top of the frame, and Picture Plumb works out the exact nail position for you.

Where exactly does the nail go?

It depends on your frame's hardware - a wire, D-rings, and a sawtooth notch all catch the nail at different points. Pull the wire or hanger up taut, exactly as it will hang, before you measure - a slack wire sits the frame too low - and Picture Plumb turns that into the nail position.

How high should art hang above a sofa?

It depends on the sofa - a low back leaves more room than a tall one, so judge by clearance rather than a fixed number. Hang the art above where a seated person's head rests, but keep it close enough to feel connected to the sofa instead of floating off on its own.

Can I hang a heavy mirror on drywall without a stud?

Yes, but only with a heavy-duty anchor rated well above the mirror's weight - and even then, a stud or a French cleat is far safer. For anything heavy, especially mirrors, anchor into the studs rather than trusting drywall alone.

Do Command strips really hold pictures?

Yes, for lighter frames on a smooth, clean, dry wall - choose a strip size rated above your frame's weight, wipe the wall first, and press firmly. They tend to fail on heavier pieces, textured surfaces, or freshly painted walls.

How do I keep a picture from going crooked?

Add a dab of museum putty or a pair of rubber bumpers to the bottom corners so the frame grips the wall instead of swinging. Check it with a level after hanging and nudge until the top edge sits true.

Got the numbers but not the patience for the math? Drag your frames onto a to-scale wall and read off the exact nail coordinates in Picture Plumb.

↑ Open the planner