Hang a picture straight, with your phone.
You need a pencil, a tape measure and your phone. The level is in your browser.
Open the bubble level →Step by step
- Pick the height. Galleries often hang the centre of a picture about 145 cm (57 in) from the floor. Above a sofa or a table, leave about 20 to 25 cm between the furniture and the bottom of the frame.
- Find the nail point. Pull the wire or hanger tight, measure from it to the top of the frame, and mark the wall that far below your top line.
- One nail: hang the picture, then stand your phone on its long edge on the top of the frame. Open the bubble level: in edge mode it says which end is low. Nudge the frame until it says level.
- Two hooks: lay a straight edge (a ruler, a book, a strip of wood) across the two pencil marks and stand the phone on it. Move the second mark until the edge is level, then drill.
How much does 1° matter?
The rise across a frame is its width × tan(angle):
| Frame width | 0.5° | 1° | 2° |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 cm | 2.6 mm | 5.2 mm | 10.5 mm |
| 60 cm | 5.2 mm | 10.5 mm | 20.9 mm |
| 120 cm | 10.5 mm | 20.9 mm | 41.9 mm |
Most people notice a frame that is about 1° off, especially next to a door frame or a shelf. A phone's own error can be about that size, so do the half-turn check below before you drill.
Check your phone in 20 seconds
Every phone's tilt sensor has a small error from the factory. You can measure it on any surface, flat or not:
- Lay the phone down and read the angle. Draw round it with a pencil, or press it against a straight edge.
- Turn the phone half a turn (180°) and put it back in exactly the same place. Read the angle again.
- The average of the two readings is the true slope of the surface. Half the difference is your phone's own error.
Example: 1.4° and then 0.2° the other way round. The surface slopes 0.6°, and the phone reads 0.8° wrong. The Level & Compass app does this sum for you (we call it flip calibration) and then removes the error from every reading.
Tips
- Phones with a camera bump rock when laid flat. Use the edge mode, or put the phone on a flat book.
- Old houses: a level picture can look crooked next to a ceiling or a door frame that is not level. Trust your eye for the final nudge.
- For a row of frames, level a pencil line first, then measure each nail from that line.
Questions
Can I use my phone as a level to hang pictures?
Yes. Stand it on its edge on top of the frame, or on a straight edge between two marks. Check it once with the half-turn test, because phone sensors can be about 1° off.
How high should a picture be hung?
A common rule is the centre of the picture about 145 cm (57 in) from the floor. Above furniture, leave 20 to 25 cm of wall between them.
How do I level two picture hooks?
Put a straight edge across both marks, stand the phone on it, and move one mark until the level reads 0.0°.