Tiling overlaps that actually fit on the wall
·5 min read
A tiled wall graphic lives or dies on the overlap. Too little and the wall shows through when the vinyl relaxes; too much and every seam is a visible ridge.
The arithmetic of a seam
Give each panel 8.5mm of extra image on the seam side and the two panels share roughly 15mm once they are trimmed and applied — the missing millimetres are the trim allowance and the squeeze at the lap.
15mm is the figure that survives a real wall: enough to hide substrate movement and slight install drift, tight enough that the lap disappears under a squeegee on a smooth surface. On textured render, go wider.
Where seams should land
- Away from faces, logos and small type — a seam through a face is the one thing everybody notices.
- On vertical features where possible: a seam that follows a mullion, a downpipe or a change of colour reads as part of the wall.
- Not at a fixture: avoid landing a lap on a socket, a handrail bracket or a door frame.
- Consistent panel widths, so the crew works to a rhythm rather than measuring each drop.
Billboards are a different animal
Billboard panels are wide, applied fast, and often supplied at 10%, 25% or 50% scale. Scaling artwork up to finished size has to scale the bleed with it, or a 10% file with 3mm bleed arrives at full size with 30mm of bleed and every panel is out.
Register marks on tiled panels also need protecting: the artboard has to grow a couple of millimetres past the panel so corner marks are not cropped by the panel edge.
Label every panel
Each panel wants its grid position, the job name and the total count printed in the bleed — 3 of 8, row 1 column 3 — plus an assembly arrow. Panels are installed by people who did not do the prepress, often in the dark on a Sunday morning.
Keep those labels in the waste area so they trim off, and keep them out of the overlap where they would show through the lap.
In the suite
Set the finished size, the panel grid or a maximum print width, and the seam overlap; the Tiling module splits the artwork, adds the bleed on the seam sides, scales supplied artwork up from 10, 25 or 50% including its bleed, and writes each panel out with register marks on a layer named Register plus assembly labels.
Run it on a live job
Every module is included on one subscription — £99/month per user or £990/year. Artwork is processed in your browser and never uploaded.
Request an access code