Poster sizes
FILM POSTER SIZES
This is by no means exhaustive, but covers some of the most commonly encountered poster sizes. You’ll just have to get used to the fact that with film posters, the measurements are still in inches, not centimeters! There can be variation in the sizes of genuine posters, and when they occur, it will be noted in the individual description. For example (in the UK), certain companies, Virgin, Palace and even Disney, seemed to have a shaky grasp of exactly what size a quad should be!
U.K. POSTERS
UK QUAD: 30"x40" Occasionally referred to as a Quad Crown (four times the size of a Crown, which is 15” x 20”). It’s the standard British domestic poster, almost always issued folded prior to the mid 1980s.
DOUBLE CROWN (or 'DC'): 20"x30" - Much less common format, similar to a theatre or concert poster. Sometimes displayed on London buses, so artwork is not always full colour, and often more graphic in style. Frequently printed on heavy card stock (to withstand weathering).
BRITISH 1-SHEET: 27” x 40” were infrequently produced, and were designed for UK films distributed overseas. This is the same for UK ½ Sheets (very rare after the 1950s).
UK 3 SHEET: 81" x 41" produced in two and sometimes three sections. Older 3 Sheets were 90" x 40" but over the years moved to match the US dimensions.
UK 4 SHEET: 40" x 60" also known as a double quad, usually in one part.
UK 6 SHEET: 81" X 81" usually in four sections.
All these odd sized posters are scarce.
U.S. POSTERS
1-SHEET: 27"x41" - paper stock, almost always issued folded prior to the mid 80’s, and rolled thereafter. Also from that time on, 1-sheets printed for international (i.e. non U.S. domestic) distribution are sized 27"x40".
3-SHEET: 41"x81" – heavier paper stock (sometimes card stock) issued both rolled and folded, often printed in two, and occasionally three separate pieces. Primarily for foyer display, they were printed in much smaller quantities and are not common.
HALF-SHEET: 22"x28" - printed on card stock. Primarily issued rolled, but many were folded for return to the poster suppliers.
INSERT: 14"x36" - printed on card stock. Issued both folded and rolled. Inserts should be no more than tri-folded, although from the 1970's onwards, they should be rolled.
30x40 - printed on card stock for outside display, issued rolled. Before the 1960s the artwork was silkscreen and very different artwork to other formats; from the 60s they show the 1-sheet artwork and are still scarce.
40x60 – similar to the 30x40, often used on the drive-in circuit, and consequently surviving examples are very rare.
WINDOW CARD: 14"x22" - an advance poster, printed on card stock, with a blank portion at the top for play dates and details to be written or printed on. Used at cinemas, but also distributed around smaller towns where a shop owner could receive free tickets in exchange for displaying the poster.
STYLES: Distributors frequently issued two, or very occasionally more, different styles of 1-sheet, half-sheet (2 max) and (rarely) 3-sheet. These would be designated either styles A B, C, D or E.
TEASER: poster with maximum artwork and minimum credits heralding a forthcoming release. Far fewer were printed, so these are always more rare than the full release poster.
ADVANCE: same as the teaser, but now advertising the release date.
RERELEASE/REISSUE: Not to be confused with 'reprint' or 'reproduction'.
Refers to a genuine cinema re-release, with accompanying poster material, of an earlier film. US posters used a numbering system at the bottom of the poster – the year of release followed by the release number (each film released given an ascending number from 1st Jan to 31st Dec of that year).
NATIONAL SCREEN SERVICE or NSS NUMBERS: National Screen distributed most U.S. domestic releases for several decades. Their cataloguing system for film posters has proved an inadvertent boon for collectors. The first two digits at bottom right show the release date of that actual poster, not the film, as is the case often in Italy, for example, with the remaining numbers National Screen's reference number for that film. An 'R' in front of the date indicates that it is from a later re-release of that film, with the date in question.
However, a 1-sheet without regular or even any NSS details as above is not necessarily a reproduction. Posters printed for overseas were not distributed by National Screen and hence would go without any domestic coding.
ITALIAN POSTERS
QUATRO (4) FOGLIO: 55"x79" - paper stock, issued folded.
DUO (2) FOGLIO: 39"x55" - paper stock, issued folded.
PHOTOBUSTA: 19"x27" - paper stock, issued unfolded in sets usually of 10, sometimes 12. Italy's equivalent of the lobby card, although very different in appearance. From the 1940s-mid 50s, often sized, not always in colour, the larger size emerges around 1950. Far less common generally than lobbies, they often feature superb shots and scenes not found anywhere else. Occasionally one or two DOUBLE PHOTOBUSTAS (36"x26") were printed. However, from the 1960s onwards, they tended to use glossy paper stock, which combined with thin paper, made for extreme fold damage, and liable to scuffs and lines in dark areas.
LOCANDINA: 13"x28" - paper stock, issued rolled and folded. An advance poster, it has, like the window card, a blank area at top to display the play dates and cinema details.
FRENCH POSTERS
15"x21" – Petite - issued rolled and folded.
24"x33" – Moyenne - issued folded.
47"x63" – Grande - issued folded - the most common size.
23.5" X 63" - Pantalon - similar to a U.S. Door Panel.
Often the smaller French posters feature a two-colour photomontage design, the large affiche full colour artwork. The artwork is almost always different between the various sizes.
AUSTRALIAN POSTERS
DAYBILL: 13"x30" - paper stock, issued rolled. Much lithographic daybill artwork is very poor, though there are excellent exceptions.
Australian also produced domestic 1 and 3-sheets, but these are less common.
ARGENTINIAN POSTERS
1-SHEET: 29"x43"
2 PANEL: 43"x58"- issued folded. Generally lithographic and like Australian posters sometimes not attractive, though there are spectacular exceptions.
BELGIAN AFFICHE
Pre-War: 23"x34" - paper stock, issued rolled. Very rare.
Immediate Post-War: 12"x17", often printed on the reverse of maps due to paper scarcity.
Late 1940s - Present: 14"x22" - paper stock, issued rolled, landscape and portrait formats. Belgian poster artists produced both brilliantly colourful re-workings of original U.S. artwork as well as original designs.
POLISH POSTERS
Up to mid 70's: 23"x33" - paper stock, issued rolled.
Mid 70s to present: 27"x38" - paper stock, issued rolled.
Uniquely intense and creative school poster design, although early posters are printed on the thinnest paper stock imaginable, and prone to edge damage.
GERMAN POSTERS
A00: 46" X 65".
A0: 33" X 46", Similar in size to the UK quad, the artwork may be in a vertical or horizontal format.
A1: 23" X 33" - The most common size.
THAI POSTERS
21” X 31”
JAPANESE POSTERS
Generally Japanese poster are issued in the following primary sizes:
B0 - 40" x 58" consisting of 2 'B1' sheets.
B1 - 29" x 40" . Usually a double size version of the B2 in vertical format, but sometimes produced horizontally but with different artwork.
B2 - 20" x 29" - The standard Japanese poster size.
B3 - Nakazuri - ('hanging inside') is 14" x 20" about half the 'B2'. Used inside bus and train stations.
B4 - 10" x 29" half the size vertically of the B2 poster. Sometimes referred to as a Japanese insert or 'speed' poster.
B5 - Chirashi - a small promotional poster like a herald or flyer. Measurements vary but are generally 7" x 10". They are often printed with further information on the reverse.
STB - measures 20" x 58" which consists of 2 sheets of 'B2' posters placed either horizontally or vertically, sometimes called 'Tatekan' posters.
YUGOSLAVIAN POSTERS
Small - up to 24"
Medium - up to 36"
Large - up to 48"
Extra Large - up to 84"
Oversize - 13 feet +