Poster Sizes: A Guide to Standard Dimensions

July 20, 2026

The right poster size depends on where the poster will hang and how far away people will see it! A poster pinned to a coffee-shop corkboard does a very different job than one in a trade show booth or at a fundraising event.

In the US, standard poster sizes range from 11″ x 17″ for small bulletin-board prints up to 36″ x 48″ for oversized displays, with 18″ x 24″ and 24″ x 36″ the most common choices for events and advertising.—

This guide covers the standard poster and flyer dimensions, what each size does best, and how to choose the best size for your event, fundraiser, or promotion.

Standard Poster Sizes at a Glance

Size (inches)	Size (cm)	Pixels at 300 DPI	Typical use
8.5″ x 11″	21.6 x 27.9	2550 x 3300	Letter-size notices, handouts, small displays
11″ x 17″	27.9 x 43.2	3300 x 5100	Bulletin boards, storefront windows, indoor promotion
16″ x 20″	40.6 x 50.8	4800 x 6000	Framed prints, photo posters, indoor campaigns
18″ x 24″	45.7 x 61.0	5400 x 7200	Concerts, campus events, retail signage
22″ x 28″	55.9 x 71.1	6600 x 8400	Lobby stands, sidewalk sign inserts
24″ x 36″	61.0 x 91.4	7200 x 10800	Trade shows, street advertising, large retail displays
27″ x 40″	68.6 x 101.6	8100 x 12000	Movie posters, transit and bus-stop displays
36″ x 48″	91.4 x 121.9	10800 x 14400	Oversized wall displays, maximum-impact installations

Outside the US, poster sizing usually follows the international A-series: A3 (11.7″ x 16.5″) is close to the American 11″ x 17″, A2 (16.5″ x 23.4″) sits near 18″ x 24″, and A1 (23.4″ x 33.1″) is the rough equivalent of 24″ x 36″.

Small Poster Sizes: 8.5″ x 11″ and 11″ x 17″

The 11″ x 17″ poster — also called tabloid or ledger size — is the workhorse of local promotion. It is small enough to fit community bulletin boards, café walls, and shop windows, and large enough to be read from a few feet away. For school events, fundraisers, open mics, and local concerts, this size delivers the most coverage per printing dollar, because you can post dozens of them around town instead of betting everything on one big display.

Eventgroove’s standard custom posters measure approximately 11.5″ x 17″. Printed on heavyweight stock, it’s sized for a high-visibility local campaign. Anything printed at this scale should keep text minimal: a headline, the essential details (date, time, place), and one strong visual.

The smaller 8.5″ x 11″ format is letter size. It’s technically a poster when it hangs on a wall, though most often people use them as flyers and hand them out. If you plan to post them, tighter spaces help them sand out, so stash them on doors, bulletin boards, and in restrooms.

Medium Poster Sizes: 16″ x 20″ and 18″ x 24″

If you have wondered whether 18″ x 24″ is a standard poster size, the answer is yes — it is one of the most widely used poster dimensions in professional printing. It’s big enough to read across the room, but small enough for most surfaces.

The 16″ x 20″ format is more common in the photo and framing world than in advertising. It matches standard frame sizes, which makes it the natural pick for commemorative event prints, team photos, and artwork you expect people to keep.

Medium posters can carry more content than smaller flyers. You can add a supporting line or two, a sponsor row, and a QR code, but the basic rules of good poster design still apply. Readers should get the who, what, and when in under three seconds, so be judicious in deciding on what you want included.

Large Poster Sizes: 24″ x 36″ and Up

The 24″ x 36″ is a large format poster generally used for retail displays, trade show booths, and street-level advertising. Since this dimension is something passersby see from across a street or venue floor, needs bold visuals, high-contrast color, and short, punchy text.

Two specialty sizes sit above it. There’s 27″ x 40″ format, which is the classic movie-poster size. You’ll see them in theatres, play and opera houses, and at bus stops. Finally, the 36″ x 48″ is the largest standard poster size. It’s typically used for academic conferences, as signage at trade shows, and for way finding.

For displays at this scale, Eventgroove offers large-format printing starting at 16″ x 20″, along with rigid 18″ x 24″ and 24″ x 36″ sizes, vinyl banners and yard signs for outdoor use, and x-frame and retractable banners for conventions and trade shows.

Poster or Flyer? The Difference Is Size and Job

Both spellings — flyer and flier — are accepted, though “flyer” is now standard in the printing industry. The real distinction is between the formats: a poster hangs in one place and pulls attention from a distance, while a flyer is handed out or stacked where people can take one. That difference in job drives the difference in size.

The standard flyer size is 8.5″ x 11″ — full letter size — with Eventgroove’s custom flyers printed at 11.5″ x 8.5″. Flyers carry more detail than posters because readers hold them at arm’s length: schedules, pricing, maps, and sponsor lists all belong on a flyer, not a poster.

The half-sheet flyer, at 8.5″ x 5.5″, is the economical middle ground and ideal for counter stacks and event handouts where the message is brief.

Club flyers measure 4.25″ x 6″, which is a bit larger than a postcard mailer. Their compact dimensions make them cheap to print in volume and easy to pocket. Fro that very reason, they’re favored by nightlife promoters, DJs, and street teams. Eventgroove prints club flyers on five different card stocks, including thick glossy card stock and premium paper.

How to Choose the Right Size

Three questions settle almost every size decision.

How far away is your reader? Viewing distance is the single biggest factor. A general guidline: text should be about 1 inch tall for every 10 feet of viewing distance. Bulletin-board posters (11″ x 17″) are read from 3–6 feet; a 24″ x 36″ street poster needs to work from 20 feet or more.

Where will it physically go? Gauge the space before you print. Community boards often max out around 11″ x 17″. Venues may have poster cases built for 27″ x 40″. Outdoor locations need weather-resistant material at any size, which is where signs and banners take over from paper posters.

How much needs to be said? If the message needs schedules and fine print, print a flyer to hand out and a poster to pull people in–they work well as a pair. Matching designs across both formats makes the campaign feel bigger than its budget.

One production note that applies at every size if you’ve got artwork ready to print: Files should be built at 300 DPI at final print dimensions. A design created for an 11″ x 17″ poster cannot simply be stretched to 24″ x 36″ without losing sharpness — start from the pixel dimensions in the chart above.

Printing Your Poster or Flyer

Once the size is settled, the rest moves fast. Eventgroove prints custom posters, flyers, and club flyers with one-business-day turnaround on most orders, with a 25 item minimum, and affordable bulk pricing if you need hundreds. Easy, fill-in-the-blank templates for concerts, fundraisers, holidays, and local events are available across every size, or you can design your own poster or flyer online and upload poster files to print.