Measure the frame or the wall, type the centimetres, and print at 100%: that is the whole trick to making a photo come out at the exact size. The PDF from the tool below keeps the dimensions you set, at actual size on one A4 sheet or tiled across several with overlap for gluing.
Print at actual size →Measure before you print
Find the exact space the print must fill: the inside of a frame (10 × 15, 13 × 18, 30 × 40 cm), a spot on the wall, a pattern piece. Write the number down in centimetres. If the photo’s proportions do not match the space, crop the photo first with any editor; stretching a photo to force a size always looks wrong.
Create an actual-size PDF
- Open the actual-size printing tool linked below.
- Choose your photo (JPG, PNG, WebP or AVIF). Nothing is uploaded; the PDF is made on your device.
- Enter the width in centimetres. The height adjusts keeping the photo’s proportions.
- If it fits on one sheet, you get a centred A4 PDF with a 50 mm check line. If it is bigger, poster mode splits it into A4 sheets with 5 mm overlap and trim marks.
- Download the PDF.
Print at 100%, never “fit to page”
In the print dialog, choose Actual size or 100% scale. The “Fit to page” option shrinks the document to your printer’s margins and silently changes the centimetres. Select A4 paper and the same orientation as the PDF. Before trimming anything, measure the 50 mm line on the sheet with a ruler: if it is not exactly 50 mm, the scale setting is wrong.
Assembling a poster from A4 sheets
For posters, the sheets come numbered by row and column. Trim the border along the dashed lines, lay the overlap strip over the neighbouring sheet, and glue or tape from the back. Work row by row on a flat surface and the grid aligns itself. A3 (29.7 × 42 cm) is 4 sheets; 60 × 90 cm is 9 sheets.
Keep your originals. Conversion creates a new copy; metadata, HDR and extra frames are not retained.
Questions, answered
Why does “fit to page” change the size?
Almost no home printer can print to the edge of the paper, so “fit to page” shrinks the document a few percent to keep it inside the printable area. A 10 cm print comes out around 9.6 cm. Choosing Actual size or 100% keeps the exact dimensions; the white margin is normal and you trim it away.
My photo and my frame have different proportions
The tool never distorts a photo: enter one dimension and the other follows the photo’s own ratio. If the frame is 10 × 15 cm and the photo is 4:3, crop the photo to 2:3 first with any editor. Printing a 4:3 photo forced to 10 × 15 would stretch faces.
How many pixels do I need?
For a sharp print, about 118 pixels per centimetre (300 DPI); viewed at arm’s length or further, 60 px/cm is acceptable. A 10 × 15 cm photo wants roughly 1,200 × 1,800 pixels; any recent phone photo has plenty. Start from the biggest version of the image you have.
Can I print A3 or bigger without a large printer?
Yes: poster mode splits the image into A4 sheets with overlap and trim marks. A3 is 4 sheets in a 2 × 2 grid, and 60 × 90 cm is 9 sheets. Glue the sheets and the seams barely show from a step away.
Sources
Keep going
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Read the guide →How to open HEIC files on Windows 10 and 11
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Read the guide →How to convert many HEIC photos at once: batches and ZIP
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Read the guide →Why images save as WebP, and how to get JPG or PNG
Saved an image that ends in .webp? Find out why websites serve WebP and how to turn a copy into JPG or PNG in your browser.
Read the guide →What is an AVIF file, and how to open it or convert it to JPG or PNG
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Read the guide →How to convert HEIC to JPG on iPhone, Windows or any device
iPhone photos arrive as HEIC and many apps reject them. Three free ways to get a JPG: change the camera setting, let the iPhone convert on transfer, or convert the files in your browser.
Read the guide →