Home Wallpaper & pattern matching
How do you cut straight-match and half-drop wallpaper?
Published by Roll & Repeat
A straight match places the same point in the design at the same height on adjoining strips. A half-drop moves that point by half the vertical repeat on the next strip. Set out two neighboring lengths side by side to identify their starting points before cutting the rest.
Find one unmistakable mark
Choose a small feature you can identify twice, such as the tip of a leaf pointing left. Measure vertically from that tip to the next identical tip. A different leaf at the same height across the sheet does not establish a vertical repeat. Then bring the right edge of one strip to the left edge of another and slide the second until the whole motif joins across the seam.
With a 64 cm repeat and a half-drop, the same feature sits 32 cm higher or lower on the next strip. A four-strip run alternates A, B, A, B. The shift describes the position of the design. You still need a full wall-height blank, plus trimming, at each position.
Mark the order before separating the strips
Use slips of paper on the back to mark the top and sequence. First choose the motif you want near the ceiling on strip A. Align B beside it and mark the two top trim lines. Look across both the top and bottom of the proposed join. If the design works only halfway along, recheck which motif you matched and whether the strips point in the same direction.
Keep a second cutting list for the offsets
List each drop, its required length and whether it starts at A or B. Whenever you move to a fresh roll, find the correct starting phase again. A remainder long enough to cover the wall might still be too short after the lead-in for B. Keep offcuts with their top direction marked until all short pieces are matched. For a multiple-drop mark or an instruction to reverse alternate lengths, follow the specific roll directions.