How to Display TV Art on Any Smart TV + Free Art
A quick tutorial to make any smart TV display art to mimic the Samsung Frame TV + 6 free art images to use as TV displays or to print.
You miiiiiiiight have noticed this little thing called a Samsung Frame TV floating around blogland and Instagram the last year or so.
It’s pretty snazzy. I have no idea if the picture quality is all that or not, but its ability to morph into a framed piece of art has definitely made me think to shell out a couple thousand bucks to replace the big black hole above our fireplace.
UPDATE: Eventually, we did upgrade to the Samsung Frame TV. See our full unbiased, brutally honest review of the Samsung Frame TV here.
So I fiddled around with our own non-Frame smart TV and decided to whip up my own art for display, which is the next best thing.
There are several different ways to display art on your TV, depending on what type you have. Here are the steps below to set it up.
How to Display TV Art on Any Smart TV:
Chromecast
1. Upload photos or art images to a gallery in Google Photos.
2. Choose that Google Photos Album in Ambient settings.
3. Open the Google Home app and find your Chromecast device.
4. Click on Chromecast > Ambient mode > Art Gallery
Apple TV
1. Upload photos or art images to an album in iCloud.
2. Turn on iCloud integration in Apple TV settings.
3. Do not turn on Photo Stream when prompted.
4. Go to screen saver options in Apple TV’s settings.
5. Click Photos > iCloud.
6. Choose which album you’d like to use.
Roku
1. Upload photos or art images to a gallery in Google Photos
2. Install the Photo View channel.
3. Open Photo View and follow the prompts to sign in with your Google account.
4. Choose an album with the images you want to display.
5. Set Photo View as Roku’s screen saver
6. Adjust the amount of time before the screensaver starts from Roku’s settings. Click Settings > ScreenSaver > Change Screensaver > PhotoView option. Settings > ScreenSaver > Change wait time.
FireTV
1. Download the Amazon Photos iOS or Android app, or sign in on the web browser.
2. Log in, upload the photos or art images you prefer, and create a folder for them.
3. On your FireTV, click on screen saver settings and select your album.
4. Customize the timing you prefer for when the screen saver will display.
That’s it!
Once you set it up, you can play with your TV lighting and dim it to make the art look more realistic, but that’s up to you.
If you want to use the 6 public domain art images I formatted for display on TVs you can join the Bless’er House subscriber list to get access to the Printable Library by clicking here or the button below. (It’s free.)
(If you’re already a subscriber, access to the printable library is at the bottom of every email I send.)
Or if you just want to print them out and stick them in a frame without bothering with a TV display, you can do that too.
Which is your fave? I can’t pick.
If you want to see more free printables from the past, you can check out all of them here.
And now, at least, we won’t be lusting after a new TV anytime soon. As long as I can still have Netflix, I’m a happy camper.
If you want to save this post for later, you can pin it here:
Related Posts
- Our Unbiased, Brutally Honest Review of the Samsung Frame TV
- 12 Ideas to Decorate Around a TV
- The Secret to Find Free Printable Wall Art Online
- Antique Landscape Oil Painting Printable Art
- DIY Large Wall Art and Landscape Printable
Frequently Asked Questions
You would need to use an art image sized to 3840 x 2160 pixels.
LCD TVs can experience image retention, which is why it’s best to only display an image on your TV occasionally, not 24/7.
Right smack-dab in the middle of a remodel and changing the look a bit….so all ideas are fun to analyze and see if it is something I can use. Now I am not a techie…and at 81 I don’t suppose I want to jump into that; however, we have a passel of grandkids and great grandkids that love to take on a task like that so I will hand that project over to them. Joined your 5 day course and am looking forward to what you have going on. New kitchen..that was fun. New master bath on the way. Flooring and painting on the horizon and a deck re-do when all that is completed. Hope I live long enough to enjoy it after spending months of searching for the right flooring, the right carpets, the right furniture. Whew! Thanks for all that you do to help those of us who are less creative or inspired. Diana
Hi, Diana! I am so happy you are making your home the way you want it. 🙂 Thank you for stopping to share your journey and the projects you have going on at your house. I am excited to have you following along.
Hi. Looking at your article for artwork on your tv. My mantle is very high and I have a small Frame TV on another piece of furniture. I would have to arrange my living room set the same as you have in those photos. How do you like watching TV at that angle? My chairs don’t spin so our heads would be turned unless you are on the corner of the couch. I would be curious to know what else you have in the room behind the chairs and couch. I would have big open spaces if I arranged like this which would make the room awkward. But this set up would be so much prettier.
We have had this set this way for a little over a year now. We have decided to keep it this way. I guess it doesn’t bother us too bad. (; On the other side of the chairs and couch is open space. Both also have doors so we use it as room transition space. I am not sure if this is helpful. Open space can be functional. However if the space doesn’t feel functional it may not be as appealing to have the open space behind the furniture.
The only problem is you need to have the tv switched on I assume so it’s using power- the Frame TVs only show a picture when the pick up movement in the room- not sure how expensive this would work out?
If it helps, have not had a difference in our power bill. 🙂
I like the sheep best. a
I was totally intimidated just by the instruc tions, never mind trying to program them into an actual TV!!! (very low techie person) the idea is great though.
Thank you for sharing, this. I have a Samsung series 7 TV but not the frame. Do you know anyway to do it on that?
Many thanks
Siobhan xx
These are the only instructions I know. So sorry. Maybe this will help. https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00082463/
I was excited to see these art pieces on my TV but I was disappointed after downloading the image files. All the files provided for download have been cropped so that they no longer fill the whole TV. The art looks great in the staged shots, but we can only download the art pieces with the sides cropped away.
Lauren would you be able to provide the full resolution images?
Thank you.
This is brilliant! I hate having a TV over our fireplace. I’m going to try the Roku instructions.
Lauren, I am loving everything you have done lately. I am taking baby steps to catch up to you. After my success in just now turning my roku tv and my fire tv into *awesome* TVS – well what can I say, this is ALL DOWN TO YOU! Perfect art and perfect directions! Much appreciated 🙂
My DIL, Angela Lanter, introduced me to your blog a few weeks ago and I wasn’t surprised when I took your house tour, that several of your rooms were pinned to my boards already! Soooo last night when I couldn’t sleep, I got your latest email for this post. I was beyond excited!! I tried back in December researching to see if turning a smart tv into a “painting” was possible. Well, apparently my TV was smart, but I was not…cause I could never figure it out. I jumped out of bed last night and quickly followed your instructions. Although it took me close to an hour to figure out the whole uploading your prints to my google photos…..once I completed that….S.U.C.C.E.S.S.!!! I am beyond excited. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your home is beautiful, your posts are so professional. Your talent and creativity shine brightly. Looking forward to viewing your past and future posts.
You are brilliant! You keep amazing me, with each post. I love this idea. I hope I will be able to download later, because my computer I have at home, for some reason will not print. Since I do not leave my home, I will not be able to go shopping for a new computer until I feel safe to go out shopping. Now is not that time, at least for me. Especially since there is no vaccination yet.
Stay safe and healthy!
This is great we have a smart tv and I love the sheep. My only problem is I am not tech savy at all and dont have a clue when reading your instructions 🙁 I would be doing it through chrome. Thanks for sharing.
I am looking at your post and would love to know where you purchased your ceiling fan? It is gorgeous.
Thank you in advance
Janie S
Wow!! This is amazing. I used the instructions for the Roku tv & it worked perfectly!! THANK YOU for the techy post today & the photos to use too. 🙂
Can this be done with Dish service?
Umm, not too sure. We don’t have Dish, so I can’t speak to that directly. Sorry!
Is there any way to lock on one image instead of having it stream multiple pictures?
Hi, Sarah. great question. You should be able to choose an album with one picture in it to stay on one image.
Thank you so much for this Lauren, I was thinking about purchasing a frame tv in the near future but I think that I can do the chrome cast option instead! Yay for money saved.
All the art looks lovely in your room, but my favourite is “Pieve sul Taro” by Oreste Carpi followed by the landscape with sheep. Keep safe 🙂
Great idea! We are in the market for a new TV and I really want a Frame but my hubby doesn’t think the TV itself is all that great so this is a perfect compromise!
Though it doesn’t seem that the link to the Oil Paintings is working.
Lauren, I just wondered what happened to your Ikea sofa?
Perhaps I missed a post..
Lauren, you rock!! This is SO cool and helpful! ❤️❤️❤️
You are so clever! I just love this!
Lauren, thanks for the information. What a great idea. I’m not real computer savvy when it comes to electronics and TVs. But I’m going to try it on the Roku. I will let you know how I make out. I really like the sheep, that’s the farm girl in me.LOL. But they’re all beautiful (yours). You’re right it beats having a big black hole. Hoping you and yours stay safe and healthy. Have a great week. Blessings, Patricia