How to turn a kid's drawing into real wall art

A child's drawing is often the most meaningful art in the house — and it usually lives its whole life under a fridge magnet. Turning one into a framed print is easier than most parents expect, and the result holds its own on a living room wall.

Step 1: Capture it well

You don't need a scanner. A phone photo works if you follow three rules:

• Even, indirect light. Near a window on an overcast day is ideal. Avoid overhead lamps, which cast your phone's shadow onto the paper.
• Shoot straight down. Lay the drawing flat and hold the phone parallel to it, or the rectangle turns into a trapezoid.
• Fill the frame. Get close enough that the drawing occupies most of the photo — resolution spent on the table around it is wasted.

If the paper is creased, press it under heavy books overnight first. Wrinkles that are invisible in person become obvious shadows in a photo.

Step 2: The resolution problem (and how it's solved)

Here's the catch: a phone photo of an A4 drawing has nowhere near the resolution a 50×70 cm print needs. Printed naively, crayon lines turn soft and papery textures turn to mush.

This is exactly what Placed's upload path is built for: it upscales your image to gallery-quality print resolution before printing, preserving the character of the linework — the wobble of a marker line is the point, after all — while making it crisp at poster scale. You upload the photo, preview the result, and only pay if you order.

Step 3: Choose a format that elevates it

The framing choice is what shifts a drawing from "cute" to "art":

• A framed poster (from €89) with a generous white border reads instantly as gallery treatment — the border does a lot of work here.
• An art print (from €45) in a frame you already own is the budget path to the same effect.
• Gallery-wrapped canvas (from €119) suits bold, colorful paintings more than pencil sketches.

A tip from framers: pick the frame color from the drawing itself. A drawing with lots of warm crayon tones sings in natural wood; black ink drawings look sharpest in black frames.

Where to hang it

Treat it like any other artwork — center at eye level, properly sized for the wall. A hallway gallery of drawings, one per year, is a classic that guests genuinely stop for. Kids' rooms are the obvious spot, but the confident move is the living room.

One practical note: date the original on the back before it goes back in the memory box. Future you will want to know.

---

Going further: what to do with the rest of the drawings, the two-minute photo guide, display ideas from fridge to gallery, and why this is the grandparent gift.