The headline and one figure
Somebody walking past reads two things. Decide now which two they are — everything else on the poster is for the people who stopped.
AI poster generatorA poster has to work
A poster has to work
from four metres away.
So it is built that way: one headline sized to stop somebody in a corridor, one figure they will remember, and the detail underneath for the people who came closer. Exported as vector, so A1 is as sharp as A4.
Water use · 2026
Most of it
never reaches
a tap
70%
of fresh water withdrawn worldwide
is used in agriculture
- Agriculture70%
- Industry19%
- Households11%
Illustrative figures · A4 to A1 · vector PDF
Design it for three distances at once
This is the whole discipline of poster design, and the reason a slide blown up to A1 never looks right.
The structure
Section headings, the chart shapes and the colour that separates them. This is the distance at which a reader decides whether to commit.
The detail
Labels, the method, the footnote, the source and the QR code or link to whatever the poster is a summary of.
Print sizes
The six sizes people actually print
Every A size is the same proportion, so one portrait sheet prints correctly at all of them. Letter and Tabloid are slightly wider, which usually means a little more margin rather than a redesign.
| Size | Millimetres | Inches | Typically for |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | 210 × 297 mm | 8.3 × 11.7 in | Handouts, noticeboards, a page in a pack |
| A3 | 297 × 420 mm | 11.7 × 16.5 in | Classroom and office walls — the most-printed size |
| A2 | 420 × 594 mm | 16.5 × 23.4 in | Corridors, waiting rooms, event boards |
| A1 | 594 × 841 mm | 23.4 × 33.1 in | Conference and research posters |
| US Letter | 216 × 279 mm | 8.5 × 11 in | North American handouts |
| Tabloid | 279 × 432 mm | 11 × 17 in | North American wall posters |
Five things that only go wrong on paper
- 01
Export PDF or SVG, not PNG
Both are vector: every line and letter is drawn at the printer’s resolution rather than at your screen’s. A PNG blown up to A1 shows its pixels from a metre away.
- 02
Leave a margin, and mean it
Nothing important within about 10 mm of the edge. Trimming is not exact, and a headline that touches the edge on screen can lose a letter in print.
- 03
Check the contrast on paper
Pale grey text that looks refined on a bright screen disappears under fluorescent light. Text on a poster should be near-black on near-white.
- 04
Set the type bigger than feels right
A poster is not a document. The body text on an A1 poster wants to be around 24pt; if it looks large on your laptop, it is probably correct.
- 05
Print one at A4 first
A proof at a quarter size costs nothing and catches the two mistakes that only appear on paper: a colour that shifted, and a label that is too small.
Four posters worth making
Research and conference posters
Question, method, results, limitation, conclusion — in that order, with the finding set large. Add a link or code to the full paper rather than trying to fit the paper on the wall.
Safety and process notices
Numbered steps with one action each, in words a tired reader can follow. If the poster needs a paragraph, it will not be read at the moment it matters.
Classroom and revision posters
One concept per poster. A timeline, a cycle or a comparison, in colours that separate the parts without turning into decoration.
Event and campaign boards
What, when, where, and the one number that makes the case. Everything else can live behind a link.
Printing questions
Can I print what it makes?
Yes. Export as PDF or SVG and both are vector, so they stay sharp at any size — A4 up to A1 and beyond. PNG is available too, and is the right choice for a screen rather than for a printer.
What resolution is the output?
Vector output has no fixed resolution — it is drawn at whatever the printer can do. If you need a raster file, export the high-quality PNG available on paid plans rather than scaling up a standard one.
Can I set an exact poster size?
You choose the proportion — portrait, long page, square, wide or story — and the vector file scales to whichever paper size you print it at. Keep the proportion close to the paper you are aiming for: a portrait sheet suits A-series paper well.
Can I put my organisation’s logo on it?
Yes, through a brand kit: your logo, colours and typeface are applied to everything you make afterwards.
Does it generate illustrations or photographs?
The sheets are drawn — type, charts, rules and figures — rather than photographic. That is deliberate for informational posters, where a decorative image usually costs space that a label needed.
Is it free?
There is a free plan with no card required. Best-quality downloads and removal of the badge come with any paid plan, which is worth having before you send something to a print shop.
Print it once, and it works
Vector out, so the poster on the wall looks like the one on your screen.
Make a poster