How to make a magnetic board from your own photo

The board is printed at 150 dpi at full size. For a large board, 100 × 75 cm, that is 5965 × 4488 pixels. A smaller board needs fewer.

So before you start, find the original: the file from your camera or the full-size photo on your phone, not a copy sent through a messaging app or saved from social media. Those are usually shrunk, and a screenshot or a social media download is often too small to print well.

We take JPG, PNG, TIFF and PDF files. If you’re not sure what you have, upload it anyway. The tool measures it and tells you where it stands.

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Go to the Create Your Own page and press Upload your image. Choose your photo, or drag it straight onto the board in the preview.

Your photo appears on a picture of the real board, with its rounded corners and screw caps, so you see the finished thing rather than a flat rectangle.

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Use the crop slider under the preview to zoom in. Then click and hold on the photo and drag it until the part you want sits where you want it.

What you see on the board is what you keep. The print runs 5 mm past every edge so the colour wraps round the corners, and anything outside the board is trimmed off when it’s made.

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Turn the board to landscape or portrait to suit the photo. The board is pre-drilled for the way you order it, so choose now rather than turning it on the wall later.

Then pick a size. Each one is drawn to scale, so a small board looks smaller than a large one in the preview:

The larger the board, the larger the file it needs. If your photo is on the small side, the resolution check further down will tell you which sizes it suits.

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The board screws to the wall through a hole near each corner, and a cap covers each screw. Choose white or black and the preview shows the one you pick. Both sets come in the box, so you can change your mind once it’s up.

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Press On the wall above the preview to see your board hanging in a room, at true scale next to the furniture. It’s the quickest way to check the size before you commit.

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Under the preview, the resolution check measures your file against our production standard of 150 dpi at the size you’ve chosen. It tells you whether your photo is big enough to print well.

If it isn’t, try a smaller board, or look for a larger copy of the photo. A phone photograph is usually fine for small and medium boards.

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When you’re happy, press Add to basket. Your original file goes with the order, along with the crop, size, format and caps you chose.

A person here checks every file before it goes near the press. We’ll email you to confirm it, and if anything won’t print well we’ll tell you before anything is made. Once it’s confirmed, your board is made in 3–5 working days + delivery.

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Pin it for later.

Will my magnets stick? Yes. The board is 1.2 mm steel, so ordinary fridge magnets work anywhere on it.

Can I write on it? Yes, with a dry-wipe pen, and it wipes clean. Pens are dark, so plan a white or pale area in your design if you want somewhere to write.

How does it go up? It comes pre-drilled with the fixings included, and screws flush to the wall.

Can I use a logo or artwork instead of a photo? Yes. Anything you can save as an image file will work. Ordering several for a business? Create Your Own for Business adds a quantity, a purchase order reference and a proof to sign off.

Need a hand with your file? Send us a message through the contact page and we’ll help.