What are the most common standard poster sizes?

Artwork and photos come in a wide variety of sizes, but over time, the poster and framing industry have settled on a few standard sizes for posters.  When you print a poster in one of these standard sizes, you won’t need to worry about custom framing issues, as you’ll often find pre-made frames at stores and on Amazon in these custom sizes.  Then all you’ll need to do is slide your standard sized poster print into the frame.

Small Poster Sizes

Smaller posters are typically sized at the standard American paper sizes of letter (8.5 x 11), legal size (8.5 x 14) and tabloid (11 x 17).  11×17 is the most common small poster size and is typically used for advertisements and promotions in small areas like lampposts, bulletin boards, and used as handouts and giveaways.  A “handbill” is a common band or concert poster and is typically 8.5 x 10 or 8.5 x 5.  These handbills are often used as flyers and handouts by bands outside concert venues.

Medium Poster Sizes

18 x 24 is the most common and popular medium poster size, as it’s the perfect size to catch the eye of anyone passing by, but not so large that its unmanageable or difficult to find a place to hang the poster.  It’s commonly used in stores and malls, outdoor advertisements, and for posters and photo enlargements around the house, and it’s a common standard frame size.  13 x 19 and 16 x 24 are less popular, but common medium poster sizes.

Large Poster Sizes

24 x 36 and 36 x 48 are the most common large poster sizes.  These are typical pin-up posters, art reproductions, large advertisements and displays and large photo enlargements.  Use a large poster size when you really want to make a statement and have enough area to hang a large poster.  Frames can easily be purchased in these standard large poster sizes.  These sizes make a great conversational piece when used in the home, like living room and bedroom art and wall posters.

Movie Posters Standard Size

The standard size for a true “movie poster” is 27 x 40.  It’s often called a one-sheet and is recognizable as the size used inside movie theaters and cinemas to promote upcoming films.  As such, this is the common movie poster LED backlit frame size.  Printing custom movie posters on backlit film is one of our most popular items.

Custom Poster Sizes

Even though there are the standard poster sizes explained above, photos and art often often not sized proportionally to these standard poster sizes, and when this happens, you’ll need to crop or stretch the image to fit these standard sizes.

A great thing about Posterprintshop is that we don’t limit you to the standard poster sizes and let you order any custom size you might need.  All of our order methods allow you to enter custom poster sizes (in decimal form), so if you have an odd-sized photo or art print or a custom size frame you need to fit, printing custom size posters is our speciality!

Start a custom or standard size poster order now with our easy order wizard.