How to Choose the Right Poster Size

There are a lot of things to consider when you are choosing the right size when poster printing: your budget, how much information you need to put on it, and where you plan on hanging your posters. Generally speaking, bigger is better because big posters get noticed, but there are times when small posters can be effective too. Below are some steps to help you decide.

Step One: Shop Around for A Printer
Before you can choose what size to print your poster, you need to know what you can afford, which means deciding how much you want to spend on poster printing as well as knowing how much printers charge for different sizes. To choose your printer, compare different companies' prices for full color printing; shopping around online is a good idea. 

Step Two: Visit the Locations You Will Hang Posters
Next, you will want to consider where the posters will hang. You can simply hang a poster in your shop window. You might also put posters up on bulletin boards in public places like libraries, super markets, and university campuses. Other options are bus stops, inside other businesses (with permission of course), and in your booth at trade shows. Knowing where you want to put posters will help you to know how large to make them.

Smaller posters such as 11" x 17" work well on bulletin boards. If you want to hang posters in shop windows, you can go with a larger size, like 18" x 24." If you are doing poster printing for a trade show, you really need to go big with at least a 24" x 36" poster.

Step Three: Decide on the Poster's Content
What you need to put on the poster will also help you decide on the size. First, choose the photograph or graphic you want, and write down all the information you need to give for your campaign. Then you can sketch some mock-up posters in different sizes and test each to see if you can read the poster from several feet away.

Step Four: Do More Poster Campaigns in Different Sizes
After doing your first poster printing, do your next one in a different size so you can compare the effectiveness of different sizes. To find out if posters brought people into your store, you can ask verbally or in a questionnaire; you can also put tabs on the bottom of your poster for people to tear off. After several poster printing projects, you will find a size that seems to work best and then you can use it as your go to size.
 
 

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