Poster and Frame Sizes: Chart and Calculator

Standard poster sizes chart (inches and cm)

Pick the format first, then the frame. The first table lists the sizes you will find in US shops and print services. The second covers European sizes, which matter if your poster was printed in Europe or bought online from a European shop.

Size	Inches	Centimetres	Ratio	Typical use
Small print	8 × 10	20.3 × 25.4	4 : 5	desks, shelves, gallery walls with many frames
Small print	11 × 14	27.9 × 35.6	11 : 14	art prints, small gallery walls
Tabloid / small poster	11 × 17	27.9 × 43.2	11 : 17	event posters, kitchens, hallways
Small poster	12 × 18	30.5 × 45.7	2 : 3	photo posters, kids' rooms
Medium poster	16 × 20	40.6 × 50.8	4 : 5	above a sideboard, sets of 2 or 3 above a sofa
Medium poster	18 × 24	45.7 × 61	3 : 4	the most popular medium poster, bedrooms
Large poster	24 × 36	61 × 91.4	2 : 3	the classic large poster, living rooms
Movie poster	27 × 40	68.6 × 101.6	27 : 40	one-sheet movie posters
Oversized	36 × 48	91.4 × 121.9	3 : 4	large empty walls, lofts

European and ISO A sizes

Size	Centimetres	Inches	Ratio	Closest US size
A4	21 × 29.7	8.3 × 11.7	1 : 1.41	letter (8.5 × 11)
A3	29.7 × 42	11.7 × 16.5	1 : 1.41	11 × 17 (A3 is about half an inch shorter)
30 × 40 cm	30 × 40	11.8 × 15.7	3 : 4	12 × 16
A2	42 × 59.4	16.5 × 23.4	1 : 1.41	18 × 24 with a mat
40 × 50 cm	40 × 50	15.7 × 19.7	4 : 5	16 × 20
50 × 70 cm	50 × 70	19.7 × 27.6	5 : 7	20 × 28
A1	59.4 × 84.1	23.4 × 33.1	1 : 1.41	24 × 36 with a mat
70 × 100 cm	70 × 100	27.6 × 39.4	7 : 10	27 × 40

Aspect ratio: why your poster does not fit the frame

A sizes have a ratio of 1 : 1.41, and each size is half of the previous one: cut an A2 sheet in half and you get two A3 sheets. Most US sizes use other ratios: 16 × 20 and 8 × 10 are 4 : 5, 18 × 24 is 3 : 4 and 24 × 36 is 2 : 3.

That is why the poster and the frame need the same format, and if they do not, a mat fills the difference. An A3 poster is 42 cm tall, so it sticks out of a 30 × 40 cm frame by 2 cm. A 16 × 20 inch poster has to be trimmed slightly to fit a European 40 × 50 cm frame. Measure the poster itself before you order a frame instead of trusting the size name.

Ratio also matters on a gallery wall. Frames with the same ratio (for example 12 × 16 and 18 × 24) line up into a clean grid. Mixing ratios gives edges that never quite meet, so arrange that kind of wall around one centre line instead of a strict grid.

What size poster for your wall and furniture

The rule interior designers use most: art above furniture should be about two thirds of the furniture's width. Smaller looks lost, wider overwhelms the piece below. Anything between roughly 57 and 75 percent works.

• 84-inch sofa (213 cm): aim for about 56 inches. Three 16 × 20 in posters with 2.5-inch gaps (53 in in total) or two 24 × 36 in posters side by side (50.5 in). A single 27 × 40 in poster hung landscape is only 40 inches wide and looks a little small there.
• Queen bed, 60 inches (152 cm): aim for about 40 inches. Two 18 × 24 in posters side by side with a 2-inch gap make 38 inches.
• 40-inch sideboard (100 cm): aim for about 27 inches. Two 11 × 14 in prints, or one 18 × 24 in if you want the sideboard to look lighter.
• Bare wall without furniture: look at the section you want to fill. A single poster smaller than 18 × 24 in on a wall wider than 7 feet usually looks accidental, so go for a set.

Portrait posters make a low ceiling feel taller, landscape ones make a narrow room feel wider. Two or three portrait posters side by side work well above a bed or sofa because together they form a horizontal band.

How high to hang pictures

On a bare wall, the centre of the picture should sit at standing eye level, about 57 inches (145 cm) above the floor. Many galleries use 57 to 60 inches. If you hang several frames, the centre of the whole group counts, not each frame.

Above furniture, eye level stops mattering and the gap does. Leave 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) between the top of the sofa back, the headboard or the sideboard and the bottom of the frame. A bigger gap makes the art float away from the furniture and the two stop reading as one.

With ceilings above 10 feet, raise the centre by an inch or two or choose a taller arrangement rather than pushing everything up. On stairs, keep a constant distance from the line of the steps, not from the floor.

Before you put in the nail, measure from the top of the frame to the hanger (pull a wire taut with a finger). The nail goes at the height of the top edge minus that distance. The calculator above does it for you.

Mats: when to use one and how wide

A mat is the card border between the poster and the frame. It gives the art room to breathe and lets you put a poster into a frame of a different size. The window is cut about a quarter of an inch (0.5 cm) smaller than the poster on each side so it does not slip through.

• Small prints (8 × 10, 11 × 14): 1.5 to 2.5 inch mats.
• Medium posters (16 × 20, 18 × 24): 2.5 to 3 inch mats.
• Large posters often go without a mat, because the frame would get very big and heavy.

For a gallery look, make the bottom border half an inch wider than the top. The eye then reads the poster as perfectly centred.

Spacing on a gallery wall

Leave 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) between frames, up to 4 inches with large frames. Consistency matters more than the exact number: the same gap everywhere makes even mixed sizes look planned. Before drilling, cut paper templates of the frames and tape them to the wall with painter's tape.

Frequently asked questions

What are the standard poster sizes?

In the US the most common poster sizes are 11 × 17, 18 × 24 and 24 × 36 inches, plus 27 × 40 inches for movie posters. In Europe you will mostly see 30 × 40, 50 × 70 and 70 × 100 cm and the A sizes (A3, A2, A1).

Does an A3 poster fit a 30 × 40 cm frame?

Not without trimming. A3 is 29.7 × 42 cm, so it is 2 cm taller than a 30 × 40 cm frame. Use an A3 frame or a larger frame with a mat.

What size art goes above a sofa?

The whole arrangement should be about two thirds of the sofa width. Above an 80-inch (200 cm) sofa, three 16 × 20 in posters or two 24 × 36 in posters side by side work well.

How high should you hang pictures?

On a bare wall, centre the picture about 57 inches (145 cm) above the floor. Above furniture, leave 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) between the furniture and the bottom of the frame.

How far apart should frames be in a gallery wall?

2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm). With large frames you can go up to 4 inches. Keep the gap the same everywhere.

Full disclosure: we print our own posters in 30 × 40, 40 × 50 and 50 × 70 cm, sizes that fit standard European frames. If you are looking for ready-made arrangements, have a look at our poster sets.

For layouts, see our guide on how to arrange a gallery wall, and for room ideas the posts about the bedroom wall and the TV wall.