Poster & large-format printing: making the big appearance work

A poster for your event, a construction plan for the site, or a banner readable from far away: large-format printing follows its own rules. The good news — they're simpler than most people think. Here's what to know before you upload your file.

Which formats are possible?

We print from DIN A5 up to DIN A1 — and special formats up to 50 meters in length, for example banners or long plans. For orientation:

• DIN A2 (42 × 59.4 cm): the classic event poster
• DIN A1 (59.4 × 84.1 cm): presentations, construction plans, large posters
• Special formats up to 50 m: banners, panoramas, technical drawings

Black & white or color — both work.

Resolution: a poster doesn't need 300 dpi

The most important reassurance first: what applies to small-format printing — about 300 dpi — doesn't apply to large format. Nobody looks at an A1 poster from 20 centimeters away. As a rule of thumb:

• Up to A3 in hand: ~300 dpi
• Posters from A2 on a wall: 150–200 dpi is plenty
• Banners viewed from several meters: 100 dpi is often enough

A photo that's sharp enough for an A4 sheet can still look good as an A2 poster. When in doubt: send us the file — we'll take an honest look before anything gets printed.

When vector data is a must

Logos, lettering, plans and graphics should come as a vector PDF for large format (from Illustrator, InDesign, CAD & co.). Vectors stay razor-sharp at any size — a logo saved as a pixel image quickly turns blurry on a banner. Photos are always pixel data, of course; there the resolution rules above apply.

Practical tips from our everyday work

• Mind the edges: keep important content away from the very edge — especially on banners that get mounted.
• Contrast wins: anything meant to work from a distance needs large type and clear contrast. The test: shrink the file on your screen — is the key message still readable?
• One PDF, not a Word file: converted layouts shift especially readily at large sizes. How to build a clean PDF is covered in our print-ready files guide.

From file to finished poster

Upload your file via our contact form and tell us which format you need — we'll get back to you with a quote. Everything else is on our poster printing and Copying & Printing pages.

Request large-format printing