Custom A3 Posters

Designing a Poster People Actually Read

Most people glance at a poster for a second or two. In that time, they need to catch one idea. Put the headline in large, clear type, ideally readable from three or four metres. Follow it with the essential details: what, when, where and how to act, such as a date, a price or a web address. Everything else is optional.

Strong contrast helps more than clever design. Dark text on a light background or light text on a dark block is far easier to read than text over a busy photograph. One striking image beats several small ones.

If the poster goes in a window facing the street, check how it reads from outside in daylight. Windows reflect, and pale colours wash out. Bold colours and a thick headline survive best. A QR code is useful, but place it at a height where people can scan it easily and add a short web address beside it for those who will not.

Keep the number of fonts to two at most, and resist filling every corner; white space is what lifts a headline clear of a cluttered noticeboard. The same hierarchy rules apply when you shrink the design down to A6 flyers handed out at the door.

Artwork Set-Up

Supply artwork at A3 size with 3 mm bleed on each edge if the colour or image runs to the edge of the sheet, and keep important text at least 5 mm inside the trim. Images should be high resolution at full size; a photograph that looks sharp on screen can look soft when stretched to A3.

If you do not have a designer, send us your text, logo and any images, and tell us the look you are after. The free design proof shows exactly how the poster will print, and you can request changes before anything is produced.

For series of posters, such as monthly events or a run of promotions, set up a template with fixed positions for the logo, headline and details. Each new poster is then quick to produce, and the series looks consistent on a wall. Shaped print needs a wider margin again, which we explain on the die-cut flyer artwork page.

Who Orders A3 Posters

Shops use them for sales, new stock and opening hours. Pubs, cafés and venues print them for quiz nights, live music, menus and specials. Schools, clubs and charities print them for fundraisers, open days and term timetables. Estate agents display property posters in their windows, and gyms and studios use them for class timetables and offers.

Event organisers often order a mix: a batch of A3 for noticeboards and shop windows, and a few larger posters for the venue entrance. Ordering at the same time keeps colours matched across sizes.

Landlords and letting agents use them for notices in communal hallways, and trades businesses pin them up at trade counters and community boards to advertise their services locally. Cafés and bars often add table tents carrying the same offer so the message reaches customers who walk past the poster.

Displaying and Protecting Posters

For windows, double-sided tape at the corners or clear window clips keep posters flat without marking the glass. For outdoor use for more than a few days, a laminated poster or a weatherproof frame will last much longer than bare paper, which curls and fades in damp or direct sun.

Rotate posters regularly. A poster that stays up for months stops being noticed, and a fresh design draws attention back to the window.

If posters will be pinned and re-pinned on busy noticeboards, a heavier paper keeps its corners intact for longer, and a white margin round the edge gives room for pins without piercing the design.

Indoors, poster frames with a snap-open front make swapping designs quick, so a café can change its specials poster in seconds without peeling tape off a wall. For something that stays on the wall all year, wall calendars printed with your branding hang from the same hook.

Pick the Paper Before the Quantity

Poster orders go smoothly when the paper is settled first, because it decides both the price band and how the artwork should be prepared. Window posters facing the sun want a heavier gloss or silk stock; posters that will be pinned to a noticeboard and replaced monthly can use a lighter uncoated sheet. Once the paper is chosen, tell us the quantity and whether the posters are all one design or a split run of several, since a split run is priced differently from one long run. Artwork should be A3 plus 3 mm bleed with text kept inside a safe margin, and photographs at 300 dpi. A quote comes back by email within one working day with a free design proof, printing takes 4 to 7 working days once you approve it, and posters travel flat with board protection on free tracked delivery to UK mainland addresses. Smaller handouts to match the campaign sit with our other printed marketing items.