How do I make a poster with this poster maker?

Pick a size and a DPI under Page and layout, then start from one of the four original layouts or a blank page. Add text, pictures, rectangles and ellipses from the bar above the page, drag them into place or type exact positions in pixels, and replace the example words. When nothing is left in the checks list, download a PNG or a PDF.

What size and resolution should a poster be for printing?

Pixels are the print size times the DPI. A4 at 150 DPI is 1240 x 1754 px, and at 300 DPI it is 2480 x 3508 px. 300 DPI suits something read up close, 150 a wall poster, and 72 to 100 a large banner seen from a distance. Each side can be up to 6000 px, so an A1 poster goes up to 181 DPI, a 24 x 36 in poster up to 166 DPI and a 2 x 6 ft banner up to 83 DPI. When a size is too big at your DPI, the tool names the DPI that fits and sets it with one click.

Is the PDF vector or raster?

Raster. The page is drawn at your DPI and stored as one JPEG image at 95% quality on a PDF page of the exact print size, 595.28 x 841.89 points for A4. It is the same drawing as the PNG, compressed as JPEG, so its text is part of the picture: it cannot be selected, searched or edited in a PDF reader, and it is only as sharp as the DPI you chose.

What is the safe margin?

The dashed line inside the edge of the page. Printers trim and shift a little, so a text box that crosses the line is flagged. It starts at 10 mm, which is 59 px at 150 DPI, and you can set it in mm, inches or pixels, or to 0. The line only shows on screen: it is never in the PNG or the PDF.

What happens when my text is too long for its box?

Words wrap at the box's width. If the lines need more height than the box has, the box is outlined in red with the number of lines over, it is listed under the checks, and Download asks you to fix it or press Export anyway. Shrink to fit finds the largest text size, to a tenth of a pixel, at which every line fits. For example, 72 px text at a line height of 1.2 takes 86.4 px a line, so a 300 px box holds 3 lines and a fourth and fifth are flagged.

Can I save a poster and keep editing it later?

Yes. Save project downloads a .json file holding the page, every layer and your pictures, and Open project brings it back as it was; Undo puts back what was there before. This browser also remembers the page and the layers once you change something, but never the pictures: after a reload their slots are flagged until you choose the pictures again or open the project file.

Are my pictures uploaded?

No. A picture you add is read in this browser tab and drawn on the page there. The tool sends no request with it, and it is kept only in memory and in a project file you choose to save. PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, AVIF and BMP files work, up to 16384 px on a side and 100 megapixels, a size read from the file before it is opened; an SVG has to be saved as a PNG first.

How do grouping and undo work?

Tick two or more layers in the list, or shift-click them on the page, and press Group. They then move, align and restack as one, and a click on any of them selects the whole group; Alt-click, or a click on its row in the layer list, picks one member to edit alone. Undo and Redo step through the last 100 changes, and typing in one box counts as one change.

Which fonts can I use?

Seven: Public Sans, Anton, Bebas Neue, Oswald, Playfair Display, Lobster and Caveat, all served from this site. Public Sans is the page's own font; the other six are fetched the first time a layer uses one. Anton, Bebas Neue and Lobster come in one weight, so bold is off for them. Letters outside the Latin sets these fonts carry here, such as Cyrillic, Devanagari or Chinese, are drawn in a font from your own device, so they can look different on another computer. Public Sans here carries the Western European Latin set only (é and ü, for example), so that includes letters such as Polish ł or Turkish ş in a Public Sans layer.

Poster Maker

Lay out a poster, flyer or banner on a page of its real print size: A5 to A1, US Letter, 18 x 24 or 24 x 36 inch posters, a 2 x 6 ft banner, screen sizes or your own, at the DPI you pick. Text, pictures and shapes are layers you drag, resize, align, group, restack and undo, inside a dashed safe margin. Text that runs past its box is outlined in red and checked before export. Download a PNG with its DPI written into the file, a PDF of the exact page size, or a project file that opens here again. Your pictures are never uploaded.

Picture

Drag a layer to move it and the corner square to resize it (Shift keeps its shape; pictures always do). Shift-click adds a layer to the selection or takes it out, and Alt-click selects one layer of a group on its own. With the page focused, arrow keys move 1 px, Shift and an arrow 10 px. Print size draws the page at 96 CSS pixels to the inch, the browser's inch, which most screens show near real size but not exactly.

Page

A4, 210 x 297 mm

PNG at 150 DPI

1240 x 1754 px

Safe margin

10 mm = 59 px

Flags

Measuring text

Layers, front first

Arrange the selection

Select a layer on the page or in the list. Tick more than one to align or group them.

Edit a layer

Select one layer to edit it.

Page and layout

SizeWidth, mmHeight, mmUnitDPI (pixels per inch)Safe margin, mmBackground

Orientation, portrait

300 DPI for close reading, 150 for a wall poster, 72 to 100 for a large banner. A side can be up to 6000 px.

Changing the size or DPI scales every layer with the page, so the design keeps its place. Undo puts the old page back.

Start from a layout

A layout replaces the layers with an original arrangement fitted to this page, with example words to replace; the event and photo layouts also leave an empty picture slot to fill.

Open project

The PNG is the page at 1240 x 1754 px with its DPI written into the file. The PDF is a raster PDF: the same page as one JPEG image at 95% quality on a 595.28 x 841.89 pt page, so its text is part of the picture and cannot be selected. A project file keeps every layer and embeds your pictures, so it opens here again exactly as it was.

A4 portrait, 210 x 297 mmat 150 DPI
PNG 1240 x 1754 px, PDF page 595.28 x 841.89 pt, safe area 1122 x 1636 px
Checksbefore export
Measuring the text in its fonts.

Accuracy. Page sizes convert by exact arithmetic: millimetres and inches become pixels at the DPI you pick, rounded to the nearest whole pixel, so A4 at 150 DPI is 1240 x 1754 px, up to 6000 px a side. The starting layouts are original to this site, the only pictures are ones you add, and text that runs past its box is flagged before export. A screen preview does not show how a commercial printer will reproduce the colours.

Common questions

How do I make a poster with this poster maker?: Pick a size and a DPI under Page and layout, then start from one of the four original layouts or a blank page. Add text, pictures, rectangles and ellipses from the bar above the page, drag them into place or type exact positions in pixels, and replace the example words. When nothing is left in the checks list, download a PNG or a PDF.
What size and resolution should a poster be for printing?: Pixels are the print size times the DPI. A4 at 150 DPI is 1240 x 1754 px, and at 300 DPI it is 2480 x 3508 px. 300 DPI suits something read up close, 150 a wall poster, and 72 to 100 a large banner seen from a distance. Each side can be up to 6000 px, so an A1 poster goes up to 181 DPI, a 24 x 36 in poster up to 166 DPI and a 2 x 6 ft banner up to 83 DPI. When a size is too big at your DPI, the tool names the DPI that fits and sets it with one click.
Is the PDF vector or raster?: Raster. The page is drawn at your DPI and stored as one JPEG image at 95% quality on a PDF page of the exact print size, 595.28 x 841.89 points for A4. It is the same drawing as the PNG, compressed as JPEG, so its text is part of the picture: it cannot be selected, searched or edited in a PDF reader, and it is only as sharp as the DPI you chose.
What is the safe margin?: The dashed line inside the edge of the page. Printers trim and shift a little, so a text box that crosses the line is flagged. It starts at 10 mm, which is 59 px at 150 DPI, and you can set it in mm, inches or pixels, or to 0. The line only shows on screen: it is never in the PNG or the PDF.
What happens when my text is too long for its box?: Words wrap at the box's width. If the lines need more height than the box has, the box is outlined in red with the number of lines over, it is listed under the checks, and Download asks you to fix it or press Export anyway. Shrink to fit finds the largest text size, to a tenth of a pixel, at which every line fits. For example, 72 px text at a line height of 1.2 takes 86.4 px a line, so a 300 px box holds 3 lines and a fourth and fifth are flagged.
Can I save a poster and keep editing it later?: Yes. Save project downloads a .json file holding the page, every layer and your pictures, and Open project brings it back as it was; Undo puts back what was there before. This browser also remembers the page and the layers once you change something, but never the pictures: after a reload their slots are flagged until you choose the pictures again or open the project file.
Are my pictures uploaded?: No. A picture you add is read in this browser tab and drawn on the page there. The tool sends no request with it, and it is kept only in memory and in a project file you choose to save. PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, AVIF and BMP files work, up to 16384 px on a side and 100 megapixels, a size read from the file before it is opened; an SVG has to be saved as a PNG first.
How do grouping and undo work?: Tick two or more layers in the list, or shift-click them on the page, and press Group. They then move, align and restack as one, and a click on any of them selects the whole group; Alt-click, or a click on its row in the layer list, picks one member to edit alone. Undo and Redo step through the last 100 changes, and typing in one box counts as one change.
Which fonts can I use?: Seven: Public Sans, Anton, Bebas Neue, Oswald, Playfair Display, Lobster and Caveat, all served from this site. Public Sans is the page's own font; the other six are fetched the first time a layer uses one. Anton, Bebas Neue and Lobster come in one weight, so bold is off for them. Letters outside the Latin sets these fonts carry here, such as Cyrillic, Devanagari or Chinese, are drawn in a font from your own device, so they can look different on another computer. Public Sans here carries the Western European Latin set only (é and ü, for example), so that includes letters such as Polish ł or Turkish ş in a Public Sans layer.

Page sizes convert by exact arithmetic: millimetres and inches become pixels at the DPI you pick, rounded to the nearest whole pixel, so A4 at 150 DPI is 1240 x 1754 px, up to 6000 px a side. The starting layouts are original to this site, the only pictures are ones you add, and text that runs past its box is flagged before export. A screen preview does not show how a commercial printer will reproduce the colours.