Poster is a broad word. A 11x17 promo sheet and a 40x60 mounted display are different products with different rules, and the choice of stock matters more than most people expect.
Sizes
- 11x17: the everyday promo poster, fits standard frames and windows.
- 18x24: event and retail workhorse.
- 24x36: the classic large poster, and the most common mounted size.
- 27x40: film-poster proportions.
- Up to 60 inches wide: limited only by the roll, cut to any length.
Stocks
- Satin photo: the default. Rich color, slight sheen, no mirror glare.
- Gloss: maximum saturation, best for photography, but reflects room lighting.
- Matte: no glare at all, easiest to read under downlights, slightly softer blacks.
- Heavy card: rigid enough to stand in a frame without buckling.
- Adhesive vinyl: for sticking directly to a wall or window.
- Fabric: rolls without creasing, ideal if the poster travels.
Mounting
A poster on foam board becomes a display board: rigid, self-supporting on an easel, and far more useful at an event or open house. Gator board is stiffer and survives repeated transport. Dibond and acrylic face mounting are gallery and lobby finishes.
Resolution, the part that decides everything
Large format does not need 300 DPI at final size, because nobody views a 24x36 poster from six inches away. Building at 100 to 150 DPI at final size is standard practice.
What matters far more is that logos and text are vector. Vector scales to any size without softening; a logo pulled from a website will look acceptable at postcard size and visibly fuzzy at 36 inches. Ask whoever made your logo for an AI, EPS or SVG file and keep it somewhere you can find it.
Common uses in Manhattan
Retail window and in-store promotion, event and conference signage, restaurant specials, gallery and exhibition display, real estate open houses, campaign and rally material, and transit-format advertising. Free delivery anywhere in Manhattan means a mounted board can go straight to the venue rather than being carried across town.
See large format and technical printing and marketing materials.
Need this printed? We are at 40 Wall Street, and we deliver free anywhere in Manhattan.