Poster sizes in Australia
A4, A3, A2, A1 and A0 in millimetres — where each size actually works, and how to pick the right one before you print.
Poster sizing looks simple until the moment it matters: the event poster that disappeared on a crowded wall, the A1 that overpowered the shop window, the print that came back too small to read from across the room. Poster sizes in Australia are refreshingly standard — the A-series — but choosing between them is about viewing distance and location, not bigger is better. Here is the honest guide we walk through with businesses every week at our Moorebank studio, serving print buyers from Liverpool to Campbelltown and across Sydney.
The sizes in plain millimetres
| Size | Millimetres | Roughly the size of |
|---|---|---|
| A4 | 210 × 297 mm | Standard office paper — counter tops, notice boards |
| A3 | 297 × 420 mm | Two A4s side by side — shop windows, staff rooms |
| A2 | 420 × 594 mm | About half a door — high-traffic internal walls |
| A1 | 594 × 841 mm | Almost a full door panel — shopfronts, event walls |
| A0 | 841 × 1189 mm | Bigger than a door — large-format displays, hoardings |
Each size is exactly half the one above it, which is why the A-series is so practical: design once at A4 proportions and it scales cleanly to any size up the ladder. One artwork file, five possible posters. If you are weighing up posters against wider formats, our banner sizes guide for Australia covers the non-A-series options.
Which size for which job?
- A4 — counter and close-up. Point of sale, reception counters, notice boards. Read at arm's length, so fine print is fine. Cheapest per unit, and easy to frame anywhere.
- A3 — shop windows and staff areas. The default window poster. Big enough to read from a footpath a few metres away, small enough that one person can install it. Cafes and salons get the most mileage from this size.
- A2 — internal walls with foot traffic. Corridor posters, gym walls, school halls, trade show booths. The step-up size when A3 is getting lost on the wall.
- A1 — shopfronts and events. The event-poster workhorse: read from across a street or a hall. Also the biggest size most standard frames stock.
- A0 — statements. Lightboxes, hoardings, backdrops and large-format displays. At this size your file quality matters as much as the design — low-resolution images fall apart fast when blown up that far.
The viewing-distance rule
Match the letter height to how far people actually stand, not how far you wish they did. Roughly: text needs to be about 25 mm tall to read from 3 metres, 50 mm from 5 metres, and 100 mm-plus from beyond 8 metres. This is the same rule behind our banner text size calculator — a poster people cannot read from where they stand is a decoration, not an ad. If your headline at A3 needs a squint, the honest fix is usually one size up or fewer words, not a different printer.
Paper, finish and cost drivers
- Paper weight: 130–170 gsm is the standard poster stock and handles most short-life jobs. 200 gsm+ feels premium and survives handling at events. Heavier stock costs more but rarely doubles the price.
- Finish: matte reads better under shop lighting (no glare); gloss makes colour pop outdoors and in windows. Laminating adds cost but buys durability for long runs or wet areas.
- What actually moves the price: size first, then quantity — like most print, the setup cost is fixed, so the per-poster price drops fast as the run grows. Finishing (lamination, trimming, mounting) adds on top. Our pricing page carries live from-prices, and a quote is always exact before anything prints.
FAQs
A3 (297 × 420 mm) for shop windows and A2 (420 × 594 mm) for internal walls are the everyday workhorses. A1 is the standard event and shopfront poster, and A4 handles counters and notice boards.
A1 if the poster is competing with foot traffic or needs reading from across a street or hall. A2 works when people stop and stand nearby. If in doubt, hold the headline text height against the viewing distance rule — 25 mm letters read from about 3 metres, 100 mm from 8 metres plus.
For sharp results, artwork at 300 dpi at final print size is the benchmark — roughly 2,500 × 3,500 pixels for an A3 poster and much more for A1 or A0. Vector logos and text stay crisp at any size; photos need the resolution built in before you scale up.
Yes — the A-series shares the same proportions, so a designed A4 scales cleanly to A3, A2, A1 or A0 without recropping. Check photo quality before scaling though: images that look fine at A4 can pixelate badly at A1.
Want a second opinion on size before you commit to a run? See our banner sizes guide, the text size calculator, or the full print services we run from Moorebank for Sydney businesses — we will happily tell you when one size up is worth it and when it is not.
Not sure which poster size fits the job?
Tell us where it is going and how far away the reader stands — we will recommend the size, stock and finish that actually works, and quote it exactly before anything prints. Printed at our Moorebank studio and delivered Sydney-wide.