03. The Most Common Poster Sizes
Nowadays the poster is widely used for different purposes all over the world. Embraced by the mass media, the poster serves for promotion and is the most popular way of advertising. Along with the image and text of the poster, its size (format) is very important as well. The right size of the poster adds to its efficiency and effectiveness. It depends on the printed material, the image and colours used in design, the text (size and quantity of letters), the poster's placement and its ultimate goal.
Actually, no strict definition is available for a standard poster size. Several sizes are considered to be standard and mostly used for posters varying according to their content and message.
US Poster Sizes
The smallest poster flyer is Letter 215.9 mm x 279.4 mm (8.5 in × 11 in) (like with legal paper). They can be used for adds or announcements in space limited areas: comfort rooms, info desks, street posts, and bulletin boards. School or office circulars are usually printed in this size.
Next come Small posters 279.4 mm x 431.8 mm (11 in × 17 in), posters for advertisements and announcements. We usually see them on phone booths, community boards and street posts. You can use this poster for advertising a small business like lemonade stands, garage sales, or selling of baked goodies. The less text a Small poster uses, the better.
US Poster Sizes
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Medium posters come in 457.2 mm x 609.6 mm (18 in × 24 in) size, which are standard indoor formats and best choices for your room. Use them if you have a favourite photo or a picture that you would like to turn into a poster. These are often effectively used with large graphics and one headline message. But you can also place some text below the main heading. Medium poster sizes are commonly used for printing celebrities photos (sports icons, music bands, actors), for family and friends collages with family photos. You can see medium format posters in malls and shops. In fact, they can be used in any point where passers-by will see them.
Large poster size is 609.6 mm x 914.4 mm (24 in × 36 in), best for outdoor advertising. Marketers choose them for services and products promotion using large type sizes for a straight to the point message and eye-catching graphics attracting people on their way. Large-sized posters are perfect for grabbing people’s attention. They can be also placed indoors in heavily populated areas like theaters, coffee shops, book shops, trade shows.
American Movie Poster Sizes
The movie industry became one of the first to use posters. In the days of William Shakespeare, hand drawn posters put up all about the town enticed people to see the latest Shakespeare's play. The entertainment industry keeps on using posters, which come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
One of the oldest forms of movie poster art is a Lobby card – 279.4 mm x 355.6 mm (11 in × 14 in). They were first introduced in the 1910s in theatre lobbies. Lobby cards are no longer used in theaters and are rarely printed for movies. But they still are very popular with collectors today.
The most common and collectible American movie poster size is One Sheet, which is approximately 685.8 mm x 1016 mm (27 in × 40 in). This is the standard movie poster size, widely used to announce or advertise an upcoming movie. Paper printed, one-sheet posters come in rolls. They are often placed in high traffic areas including bus stops, phone booths, theaters, and malls.
US Movie Poster Sizes
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Popular with collectors due to smaller size, Insert format movie posters are 355.6 mm x 914.4 mm (14 in × 36 in). Insert was one of the earliest movie poster sizes and now is rather rare: portrait format, comes in rolls, on thicker paper. Insert posters were quite popular until studios stopped making them in the early 1980’s.
Just like the Insert, the Half Sheet album format 558.8 mm x 711.2 mm (22 in × 28 in) was first introduced in the 1910's and discontinued in the mid 1980's. Posters in this size are used for special sized displays and remain popular vintage products.
Compared to One Sheet standard poster size, 30 x 40 Drive In – 762 mm x 1016 mm (30 in × 40 in) and 40 x 60 Drive In – 1016 mm x 1524 mm (22 in × 28 in) are extremely rare now. Portrait-format posters in these sizes are printed on heavy card stock material. Mostly they featured the same design as their one sheet alternatives and were displayed both inside and outside of cimenas presenting most popalar premiers. Both sizes are no longer in use now.
An extremely popular and a very rare album format movie poster 1041,4 mm x 1371.6 mm (41 in × 54 in)is known as Two Sheet, or a subway, because it was used for subway advertising. Subways are printed on thicker paper compared to one-sheets, so they are more durable. Although posters in this size are somewhat large and cumbersome, they are popular with collectors and highly demanded being extremely rare.
Three Sheet poster size – 1041.4 mm x 2057.4 mm (41 in × 81 in)(portrait format) are very large, rare and demanded. Originally designed for small billboards, they were mainly issued folded due to their formatt. Production of three-sheet posters stopped back in the late 1970's.
Six Sheet posters 2057.4 mm x 2057.4 mm (81 in × 81 in) are extremely rare nowadays. Very large and cumbersome, they were usually printed on thick paper and used for small billboards. They were usually produced in two or more overlapping sections assembled together for display.
Twenty-four Sheet posters 2743.2 mm x 6248.4 mm (108 in × 246 in or 9 ft. x 20 ft.) for billboard advertising are rarely used today. They are produced in 12 or more overlapping sections and are almost always folded.
Bus Shelter posters 1143 mm x 1778 mm (45 in × 70 in) are used in glass-enclosed corner bus stop shelters. Printed on coated card stock or vinyl-like paper, they are eye-catching and colourful. Movie studios still use these " mostly double-sided and coming in series.
Window cards – 355.6 mm x 558.8 mm (14 in × 22 in) were typically used by local cinemas for advertising movies in window displays of stores. Often, they had a blank area at the top for a venue and play dates. Window cards are no longer used.
UK/International Poster Sizes
Posters in the United Kingdom are now printed ISO 216 A series standard poster size. Although other formats are used here for large print and movie posters. In the tables below sizes are given in portrait layout, swap the width and height for landscape layout.
A Series Standard Poster Sizes
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The A series paper size is widely accepted throughout the world and is considered international by right, with the exception of the United States, Canada and Mexico.
A4 standard poster size – 210 mm x 297 mm (8.3 in × 11.7 in) is considered to be the size of business letters in English-speaking countries. In Europe, the A paper sizes were adopted as the official standard in the mid-20th century and then spread throughout the world.
In its turn, The A series paper sizes relate to each other - for example A4 is half of A3 (297 mm x 420 mm (11.7 in × 16.5 in)) size paper and A2 (420 mm x 594 mm (16.5 in × 23.4 in)) is half of A1 (594 mm x 841 mm (23.4 in × 33.1 in)) size paper.
Poster size does matter. And choosing the right one is a huge step on the way to success.