Make your message stand out with high-quality poster printing, available in popular sizes from A4 to A1. Choose between 190gsm satin or gloss paper for a smooth, professional finish that is ideal for promotions, events, displays, notices and in-store advertising.
Simply upload your own print-ready artwork when ordering and we'll produce your posters with sharp detail, strong colour and a clean professional finish. With 24-hour dispatch and FREE standard UK delivery on every order, getting your posters printed is quick and straightforward.
On All Orders
Within 24hrs
Affordable Printing
Printed Here in the UK
Choosing the right poster size depends on where it will be displayed, how far away it needs to be seen from and how much information your design contains. Smaller A4 and A3 posters are ideal for close-up viewing, while larger A2 and A1 formats provide greater impact for events, promotions and public displays.
Our posters are available in A4, A3, A2 and A1 sizes, printed on a choice of 190gsm Satin or 190gsm Gloss stock.
| Poster Format | Finished Size | Ideal For | Why Choose This Size? |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | 210 x 297mm | Counter displays, noticeboards, menus, price lists, small event posters, workplace notices and promotional signs. | A compact poster size that works well where customers will view the design at close range or where display space is limited. |
| A3 | 297 x 420mm | Shop promotions, cafe and restaurant displays, event advertising, offers, notices, exhibitions and indoor signage. | A popular all-round poster size that offers noticeably more impact than A4 without requiring a large display area. |
| A2 | 420 x 594mm | Retail displays, exhibitions, event promotion, window posters, presentations, venue advertising and promotional campaigns. | Large enough to attract attention from a greater distance while still being practical for windows, walls and indoor displays. |
| A1 | 594 x 841mm | Large promotional displays, events, exhibitions, shop windows, venue signage, launches and high-visibility advertising. | Provides maximum impact when your message needs to stand out, making it particularly suitable for prominent locations and larger viewing distances. |
For notices, menus and smaller displays, A4 or A3 posters are often the most practical choice. If your design needs to attract attention across a room, in a shop window or at an event, A2 and A1 posters provide much greater visibility.
You can also choose between 190gsm Satin for a smooth, lower-reflection finish or 190gsm Gloss for a shinier appearance that can help colours and images look more vibrant. Select a poster size above to view the available printing options and prices.
Printed posters are designed to be seen, so choosing the right size, orientation and paper finish can make a significant difference to how well a design works in its intended location.
At Short Run Print, posters are available in A4, A3, A2 and A1 sizes, giving you options for everything from compact counter displays and noticeboards through to larger promotional posters for shop windows, events and exhibitions.
All poster sizes can be printed in either portrait or landscape orientation on a choice of 190gsm Satin or 190gsm Gloss stock. Upload your own completed artwork, preview your design before purchase and select the format that best suits where the finished poster will be displayed.
Short Run Print is UK based, with free standard delivery on every order and dispatch within 24 hours.
One of the most useful things to consider when ordering a poster is how far away the viewer is likely to be.
A4 and A3 posters are generally better suited to areas where people will be relatively close to the display. They work well for notices, menus, price information, counter displays and smaller promotional signs where the viewer has time to read more detailed information.
A2 and A1 posters provide a much larger visual area and are better suited to locations where the design needs to attract attention from further away. They can be particularly effective in shop windows, exhibition spaces, event venues and larger indoor promotional displays.
As the poster size increases, the design usually needs to become simpler and more immediate. Large headings, clear imagery and strong contrast are often more effective than trying to fill the available area with too much text.
Posters are useful anywhere information or promotional artwork needs to be displayed clearly rather than handed directly to the customer.
Retailers can use posters for sales, new products, opening times and seasonal promotions. Restaurants, cafes and takeaways can use smaller posters for menus, offers and notices, while larger formats can be used in windows to advertise promotions or events.
Posters are also commonly used for exhibitions, community events, clubs, venues, workplaces, schools, presentations and temporary promotional campaigns.
The best poster size will depend not only on how much information the artwork contains, but also on the amount of available display space and the distance from which the poster needs to be noticed and understood.
The choice between satin and gloss affects the surface appearance of the finished poster and can also influence how the design looks under different lighting conditions.
Satin stock has a smooth finish with less reflection than gloss. It is a versatile option for designs containing a mixture of text, graphics and photography and can work particularly well in indoor locations where overhead lighting might otherwise create noticeable reflections.
The lower-reflection surface can also make detailed information easier to read when the poster is being viewed at closer range.
Gloss stock has a shinier, more reflective surface. It can give photography, illustrations and strong colours a more vibrant appearance, making it well suited to promotional artwork where visual impact is particularly important.
Gloss can be a good choice for posters intended to attract attention, although the display position and lighting are worth considering because highly reflective surfaces can sometimes produce glare.
Neither finish is automatically better than the other. Satin is often chosen for a more restrained appearance and easier close-range reading, while gloss is particularly suitable when bold colour and imagery are a major part of the design.
Portrait is one of the most familiar poster orientations and works naturally for vertical layouts, large headings, stacked information and designs intended for narrower wall or window spaces.
Landscape posters provide a wider format and can work particularly well for panoramic imagery, wide headings, price lists, charts or display areas where horizontal space is more readily available.
The finished paper size remains the same regardless of orientation; only the direction of the artwork changes.
It is best to decide on portrait or landscape before starting the design rather than rotating or adapting completed artwork at the end. This gives you much greater control over text size, image placement and the overall balance of the poster.
Poster design is closely linked to viewing distance. Information that is perfectly readable on a computer screen may become difficult to see once the poster is printed and displayed several metres away.
For larger A2 and A1 posters, prioritise the information that needs to be understood first. A strong headline, clear image and short supporting message will usually communicate more effectively from a distance than several paragraphs of small text.
Smaller A4 and A3 posters can contain more detail because they are more likely to be viewed close up. Even then, important information such as dates, prices, contact details and calls to action should remain easy to locate.
This helps the finished poster remain useful whether somebody glances at it briefly or stops to read it in more detail.
A4, A3, A2 and A1 all belong to the same A-series of paper sizes, so they share the same proportions as the sheet increases in size.
This can make it easier to adapt suitable artwork between poster formats, but scaling alone does not always produce the best result. A design created for A4 may contain text that becomes unnecessarily large when enlarged to A1, while artwork created for A1 may become too detailed when reduced to A4.
For that reason, it is usually better to think about the final poster size and viewing distance rather than assuming the same layout will work equally well at every size. If the poster will be seen from a greater distance, simplifying the artwork can often improve its effectiveness more than simply increasing everything proportionally.
Short Run Print is designed for customers who already have finished artwork ready for print.
Your poster may have been created by a graphic designer, produced in desktop design software or prepared using an online or AI-assisted design tool. We do not provide pre-designed poster templates for customisation; instead, you upload your completed design when ordering.
The artwork uploader allows you to upload and preview your file before purchase, helping you confirm that the correct artwork has been selected before you complete your order.
Image quality becomes increasingly important as poster size increases.
A photograph or graphic that looks sharp on screen may not necessarily remain sharp when enlarged significantly for A2 or A1 printing. Large-format artwork can reveal low-resolution images, pixelation and other quality issues that may not be obvious when the file is viewed at a smaller size.
Where possible, use good-quality original images and avoid repeatedly enlarging small graphics or photographs.
It is also worth viewing the completed artwork at an appropriate scale before uploading. Pay particular attention to logos, photographs, fine lines and any text that needs to remain clear after printing.
Short-run poster printing can be useful when you only require a limited number of displays for a particular event, promotion, venue or location.
Printing smaller quantities can also make it easier to update posters when prices, dates, offers or information change. Rather than holding a large stock of outdated posters, you can revise the artwork and order another run when required.
At Short Run Print, you can select your poster size, orientation, paper finish and quantity before uploading your own artwork. All poster orders include free standard delivery and are dispatched within 24 hours.
Our posters are available in A4, A3, A2 and A1 sizes.
A2 and A1 posters are often suitable for shop windows because their larger size makes them easier to notice from further away. A3 can also work well where display space is more limited or the viewer will be closer.
It depends on the design and display location. Satin has a smoother, lower-reflection finish that can make text easier to read under some lighting conditions, while gloss has a shinier surface that can give photographs and strong colours a more vibrant appearance.
Yes. All of our poster sizes can be printed in either portrait or landscape orientation.
An A1 poster measures 594 x 841mm.
An A2 poster measures 420 x 594mm.
Yes. Upload your completed poster artwork when ordering and use the preview to check your design before purchase.
No. We do not provide pre-designed poster templates for customisation. You can upload artwork created yourself, supplied by a designer or produced using suitable design software or an AI-assisted design service.
Poster orders are dispatched within 24 hours, with free standard delivery included on every order.
