engineering prints = Inexpensive large wall art
Engineer prints are a great way to design a boy bedroom, bringing custom touches through large photo prints on a budget.
I’m very slowly beginning the process of decorating our new home, and focusing on the areas where inspiration strikes me the most. Dub’s room is the one I have the most concrete vision for, and I knew exactly where I wanted to start when I saw this idea for engineer prints for a boy’s room.
I immediately set out taking images of the things most important to Dub. He loved being able to be a part of it in this way.
He loves Legos, video games, and the Wilson brand holds special inside meaning for us
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I was able to order the engineering prints online by sending the images to the FedEx Kinkos copy store.
I ordered 18×24 engineer prints. 
The trick to having your local print shop print your engineer print is to call in advance to make sure they offer this service – not all of them are set up to make these prints.
Additionally, make sure your print has at least 25-50% white space, if possible. I’ve heard of print shops refusing to print images as an engineer print if it uses too much ink, which is hard on that printer and not what it was designed for.
My print shop called me to double check I actually wanted the images printed this way, because the quality is not that of a photo. Once I confirmed it was exactly what I wanted they printed them, no further questions, and I was very pleased with the result.
I mounted the engineer prints to inexpensive particleboard with a white coating, so the wood color wouldn’t bleed through on my white images.
I chose particleboard because I was worried that foam core would warp over time, and I plan to have these images up for years!
I positioned the print over the pre-cut particleboard, then carefully lifted the print corner by corner, edge by edge, spraying adhesive spray directly to the board underneath. I smoothed the paper over the board with each spray.
Fortunately, I found that the paper and spray to be very forgiving, and lifted the paper multiple times before re-smoothing onto the board before deciding I was happy with the result.
I then followed the same DIY frame tutorial I’ve now used in several projects around the house, like my DIY Marquee Letter Board, and to frame out the Proverbs 31 wall art I painted.
I used poplar wood for these DIY wood frames, because it was the least expensive option.
I’m super happy with how this project turned out.
Dub and I may or may not have hung out in his room and just stared at them for awhile. He tells me he plans to use the frames as mini shelves for all his important little treasures.
Not only do I love how they turned out, but you can’t beat the price! All four for around $20.
What do you think of my engineer prints DIY for a boy room?
I love this idea because it works great, whether you’re decorating for a boy boy bedroom, a tween boy bedroom, or even a little boy room. Just adjust the subject matter of your photo and run with it!
Are you a fan of this look, but not in the mood to take on a project? Try these similar, inexpensive frames here.
Engineer Prints DIY Details:
- Adhesive Spray
- Wood stain for frames
- Wall Paint – Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray
- Dresser Paint – Rust-Oleum Navy Blue Spray Paint
- Terrarium
Want to see more progress on Dub’s room? What about my daughters’ rooms? Read all about them here:
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Love this room! Gathered lots of great ideas, thank you for sharing! We’ll be featuring this space at our link party later today! XO
That’s so exciting – thanks so much for featuring our wall gallery in your link party!
This is a great idea and it turned out so good! My boys would love this!
Over The Apple Tree
Thanks so much, Laura!
What is the paint color of the dresser?
Ginna, we used Rust-Oleum navy blue gloss spray paint. It went on incredibly even – you’d never know it was spray paint!
Love the navy!! Nice funky piece to boldly paint!
Love this! Just did my own based off your post! Cannot wait to put them up in my boy’s room 😉
I’m glad I could inspire you – thank you so much for taking the time to tell me about it! Please come back and link to your photos!
How did you mount the engineer prints ? Are they covered in glass ?
Hi Maria! We mounted them with ordinary hanging brackets screwed onto the wood frames. We did not use glass for these.
Thanks for your reply. Did you spray glue and mount the engineer prints (thin paper)onto foam core before putting into frames? How did you avoid having the engineer prints buckle/get wavy or not sit flat once inside? This is tricky paper to work with in large size and other bloggers used heavy glass to weigh down the print (front and back – cut glass from Lowes — mind you they were bloggers that got the materials free from Lowe’s) and others used double sided tape and or spray glue. Jsut wondering what you did!
Goodness, I originally had all of that information, but somewhere along the way I inadvertently deleted it from the post! Thank you for notifying me of that! I went back in and shared exactly how I adhered the engineer prints to the boards. While you do definitely need to smooth out bubbles as you work with the paper, I found that the paper and adhesive glue were forgiving, and I peeled it back and re-smoothed it until I got it to the place. Even if I had the luxury of sponsorship for this project, I wouldn’t have chosen to add glass because it didn’t fit the rustic/industrial look I was going for. I hope that is helpful! Thank you for stopping by!
The adhesive spray link doesn’t work for me… What product sis you use ? Thanks for sharing all this info !!
Where do you have engineering prints made?
I had mine made at my local FedEx print shop, but many printing shops offer this service. Just call in advance to ensure they offer it, as I’ve heard some stores resist printing photos on this paper. The trick is to ensure your image has lots of white space. The more ink your photo uses, the harder it is on their printer and they sometimes guide you to printing a regular enlarged poster.
What color are the walls?
Hi Alisa, the wall color shown here is Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray, and his accent wall is Sherwin Williams Indigo Batik.
How did you get the background of your picture is white… Did you Photoshop? Or did you use a background? Very cute idea… I think I’m going to try it for my sons room
I photographed him in front of a brightly light white wall, then before I sent it in I also erased the background in Photoshop so the only thing printed would be the subject of the photo. If you don’t have Photoshop, there are many phone apps that would allow you to do this!
Hi! Love this artwork idea! Where did you get the dresser? Love it!
Hi Maureen – I thrifted it and painted it blue :).
Wow this is amazing! I’m going to try… do you even glue down the middle of the paper or just the corner and edges??
Hi Cameron! I used the spray adhesive across the whole backing to help prevent bubbling.
I love this!! Can you tell me why engineering prints are best for this? I stopped at a Staples and they said that it’s just thinner paper and too much ink could make a hole in it because it would saturate it too much. They said they have heavier paper (still pretty light) that would work just as well. I really like the look of these so I want to make sure I’m not missing something with the engineering print. Thanks so much!
Hi Kristi! The benefit of the engineering print is a large scale image at an exceptionally low price. Even poster prints at the local copy store cost much, much more! The trick with engineering prints is to ensure you have a nice balance of white space, to ensure a clean, attractive print.
Hi! Your DIY for the frames are awesome, I noticed that the sizing is different from the original DIY do you mind sharing the dimensions of these frames? Thanks for sharing!
Hi Toya!The finished dimensions of my frames are 24.5″x18-7/8″. I hope that helps!
Hi
I know this is old, but how many cans of spray paint would you have to use on a dresser this size? And did you prime it first? Thank you!
Hi Tammy! I wish I could remember exactly how many cans we actually used, but based on more recent projects I’m guessing it was between 5-7. This particular spray paint and color has very nice coverage. I like to use Rust-Oleum 2x primer (http://amzn.to/2IDmNgr) or Kilz primer for all of my projects – the coverage is fantastic.
I love this so much! Would you consider making some of these for me? Thanks Lisa
I know I am MAD late but where did you get that dresser?
I found it at a thrift shop and spray painted it. It’s one of my favorite pieces of furniture in our house!