Understanding straight match, free match & half drop match wallpapers

Here we will provide you with details of the layouts of the wallpaper design. The pattern match type of the wallpaper refers to the technique by which each stripe of wallpaper is matched with its adjacent stripe.

Since the inception of wallpaper, it has been a common practice to print them on a paper of certain standard width. while these papers were wider than standard paper, the walls were generally much wider. Thus, a wallpaper would generally be applied as stripes running vertically parallel. it was a technical requirement for wallpaper designers to create a pattern which would seamlessly match its adjacent stripes. Within this limitation, wallpaper creators got innovative and adopted 3 different types of wallpaper design prints to make the wallpaper most creative.

Free match

In this design type any vertical strip can be applied irrespective of the design match on its adjacent stripe. Several plain designs which do not follow any pattern fall in this category. Such wallpaper generates the least amount of wastage as installation professionals can resume applying wallpaper exactly from the point when they cut it for the preceding stripe. Stripe wallpapers and plain wallpapers are great examples of this.

Straight match

This is a design match type where each vertical strip applied on a wall is exactly matched with its adjacent stripe. The straight match is one of the most common design printing styles. In this design type, you will encounter the same design elements on the same level as you run horizontally along the wall. Damask wallpapers and Geometric shape wallpapers are great examples of such wallpapers.

Half drop match

This type of vertical stripe match is sometimes also referred to as offset match. Here the design is such that each stripe is shifted down by half the design pattern size with respect to its previous stripe. Designers generally adopt such design matches where there is a need to represent a wider design section on a relatively narrow roll width. A half-drop design pattern wallpaper generally requires more amount of wallpaper to cover the same section of the wall as compared to other types. Half-drops are not the most common but a few can be found in marble pattern wallpapers.

It is worth noting that while the pattern type plays a great influence over the wallpaper look after application on the wall, it also determines the amount of wastage generated. In most cases to cover a specific amount of wall, the amount of wallpaper is highest for half drop match, followed by a straight match. while free match wallpapers are most optimum to cover a wall. For your better understanding, please refer to the below table that illustrates this through an example

Disclaimer: The above example is only for illustration purposes. The Estimates are based on certain assumed values of wallpaper aspects. The output will vary based on several factors like wall condition, wallpaper attributes, application professional capabilities and several other factors. These factors are considered at their optimum for the above illustration.

With Morphico you can purchase partial wallpaper rolls. This ensures the is minimal wastage of wallpaper. With Morphico you do not have to worry about your escalating cost due to wallpaper design pattern match type.