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Photos from different phones and years do not match on the wall? See how to give them one style in the Framky AI editor: an analogue-film look, golden hour, or watercolour, with ready instructions.
Short answer: Photos from different phones and years look chaotic together because they have different colours, contrast and white balance. The simplest way to hold them together is one style for the whole gallery. In the Framky AI editor, next to each photo, you choose “Edit with AI” and type the same instruction, for example “Black-and-white mood of analogue film, gentle grain, do not change the faces”. Test the style on 2 photos first, then apply it to the rest. One style per gallery, with no mixing.
A holiday photo from a new phone, a birthday from five years ago on an old one, a walk from a friend’s camera. Each one is nice on its own. Together on the wall they look like a random collection: one is bluish, one is yellow, one is oversaturated, one is dark.
The classic advice is: edit the photos so they look like a set. We described that in detail in the article on colour consistency in a gallery. This article goes one step further: instead of evening out the sliders by hand, you give every photo one style with one instruction in the AI photo editor.
The eye compares neighbouring photos faster than their subject. Before you notice who is in the photo, you see that one is cool and the other is warm. Four of the most common differences:
| Difference | Where it comes from | How it looks on the wall |
|---|---|---|
| White balance | Each phone judges bulb light and daylight differently | One photo blue, the next one orange |
| Saturation | Newer phones boost the colours | One “shouts”, the rest look faded |
| Contrast and brightness | Night photos, shots into the sun, photos indoors | Dark patches between bright frames |
| Sharpness and noise | Older cameras, poor light | Some photos look older than they are |
Matching frames help, but they do not remove these differences. A shared style removes them all at once, because each photo gets the same palette and the same contrast.
In the AI editor you will find ready ideas for a style, including a black-and-white analogue-film mood, golden-hour light, and watercolour. You can start from a ready idea or describe the style in your own words. This is the same photo in three versions:
The safest choice when the photos differ a lot. Black and white removes the colour problem entirely, and grain hides differences in sharpness and noise. It joins photos from different decades well, including old prints and new phone photos.
It fits: a corridor, stairs, a bedroom, interiors in white, grey and oak. When black and white works better than colour is covered in black and white or colour.
Example instruction: Black-and-white mood of analogue film, gentle grain, deep blacks, do not change the faces.
Warm, soft light, like just before sunset. It works for outdoor photos: holidays, a garden, walks, the beach. It brings cool and grey photos into one warm tone.
It fits: a living room in beige, oak and green, a kitchen, a dining room. Be careful with night photos and indoor photos under a lamp. There the effect can be less natural, so check the preview especially carefully.
Example instruction: Warm golden-hour light, soft shadows, natural skin colours, do not change the faces.
The photo becomes a picture painted in watercolour. This is the strongest change of the three, so treat it as a choice for a smaller gallery or a child’s room, not for the main wall of family portraits. Landscapes, animals and photos taken from a distance come out well. Close-ups of faces can lose the likeness, so zoom in on the preview before you create the final version.
Example instruction: A gentle watercolour style, a light background like paper, keep the shapes of the faces and the figures.
One style is an idea for consistency, not for a special effect. Five rules:
If one photo in the gallery has a problem, for example closed eyes or strangers in the background, fix it first with a separate instruction, and apply the style at the end. How to fix closed eyes in a group photo is covered separately.
Want to leave some of the photos in colour? You can, but then plan the layout on purpose. The rules for combining both tones are in how to mix black-and-white and colour photos.
An example set for the wall above a sofa, in an analogue-film style:
| Position | Photo | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Top row, left | Children on the beach | A bright photo, good for testing the style |
| Top row, centre | Grandparents at the table | An instruction with “do not change the faces” |
| Top row, right | A walk together in the mountains | The landscape gains from the grain |
| Bottom row, left | A dog in the park | It comes out well in every style |
| Bottom row, centre | Blowing out the candles | A dark photo, the second one for the test |
| Bottom row, right | An autumn walk with the whole family | Figures from a distance, the style will not distort them |
Six frames in a 3 by 2 grid with gaps of 5–8 cm look calm, and one style orders it further. The gallery should be about two thirds of the width of the sofa. With a 210 cm sofa, that is about 140 cm. More ideas for layouts of family photos are in the article on a wall of family photos.
If you mix your own photos with artist photographs in the gallery, a shared style helps here too. More is in how to mix artist photos with your own photos.
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Hang the centre of a picture or a group about 145–150 cm above the floor. Heights above a sofa, a bed, a dresser and on the stairs.
Under a sloped ceiling, hang the gallery on the low knee wall or the gable wall, not on the slope. Heights, layouts and fixings for attic rooms.
Treat the TV as one frame: centre the gallery on the screen, align edges, keep equal gaps and use larger frames near it. Four layouts that work.
Give it a try?
See how it works