Poster maker
Or try a sample
Each box is one sheet, labelled as it prints. Shaded strips are the overlap that goes under the next sheet.
Drag the round handles to the two ends of what you marked, then drag the poster where it will hang. It stays on your device, like the picture.
- Finished size
- —
- Sheets
- —
- Sharpness
- —
- Ink
- —
Add a picture to start. Nothing is uploaded.
Before you print
- Choose 100% or Actual size — never Fit to page. Then measure sheet A1: its picture should be wide.
- Print one sheet first to check, then the rest. Same paper for every sheet.
- Cut the left and top edges along the marks, lay each over its neighbour, and glue from behind.
Giant photo poster — print your photo big at home
Blow up a favourite photo to a metre or more using ordinary paper and a home printer. The sharpness check tells you how big it can go before it blurs, and every sheet is numbered so it goes up straight the first time.
The short answer
To print a giant photo at home, add the photo, set the width — 4 A4 sheets across is about 73 cm — and check the sharpness badge stays green or amber. Download the PDF, print at 100%, trim the marked edges, and join the sheets from the top-left.
Four steps to the PDF
Step 1: Add your best photo
Use the original, not a copy from a chat app — messaging apps shrink photos, which limits how big they print.
Step 2: Set the size
Choose sheets across or a width in cm or inches. Green means sharp up close, amber means fine from a couple of metres.
Step 3: Check the cost
The summary counts the sheets and estimates the ink, so you know before you print twenty pages.
Step 4: Print and hang
Print at 100%, trim, and join from the top-left. Photo paper looks best; ordinary paper glued to card is the cheapest.
How to assemble a tiled poster
Every sheet carries its label, which edges to cut, and a small map of the whole poster with its own place filled in. The PDF's first page shows the full layout.
Step 1: Print at 100%
In the print dialog choose Actual size or 100%, never Fit to page, and the same paper you chose here. Print one sheet first and measure it.
Step 2: Lay the sheets out
Rows are letters from the top, columns are numbers from the left: A1 is top-left. Each sheet names its place and shows it on a small map.
Step 3: Trim the marked edges
Cut along the crop marks on the left and top edge of every sheet, except the first column's left and the first row's top.
Step 4: Join and hang
Lay each cut edge over its neighbour's overlap strip, where the picture matches, and glue or tape from behind. Trim the outer margins last.
Sheets across, and how big that is
For a typical 2:3 portrait photo, printed on portrait sheets with 10 mm margins and a 10 mm overlap. Worked out by the same code that makes the PDF.
| Across × down | Sheets | Finished size |
|---|---|---|
| 2 × 3 | 6 | 37 × 56 cm15 × 22 in |
| 3 × 4 | 12 | 55 × 83 cm22 × 32 in |
| 4 × 5 | 20 | 73 × 110 cm29 × 43 in |
| 5 × 6 | 30 | 91 × 137 cm36 × 54 in |
| 6 × 7 | 42 | 109 × 164 cm43 × 64 in |
| 8 × 9 | 72 | 145 × 218 cm57 × 86 in |
| Across × down | Sheets | Finished size |
|---|---|---|
| 2 × 3 | 6 | 38 × 57 cm15 × 23 in |
| 3 × 4 | 12 | 57 × 85 cm22 × 34 in |
| 4 × 5 | 20 | 75 × 113 cm30 × 45 in |
| 5 × 6 | 30 | 94 × 141 cm37 × 55 in |
| 6 × 7 | 42 | 113 × 169 cm44 × 66 in |
| 8 × 9 | 72 | 150 × 225 cm59 × 88 in |
Each extra sheet across adds 18 cm on A4 and 19 cm on Letter — the sheet, less its two margins and the overlap. When the last row would hold only a sliver of picture, the tool offers a slightly smaller size that saves the whole row.
Picture size against poster size
For a sharp poster, aim for at least 100 pixels per inch at the finished size. From two metres away, 50 is fine.
| Picture | Sharp up close (100 ppi) | Fine from 2 m (50 ppi) |
|---|---|---|
| Chat app photo (WhatsApp, Messenger)1,600 px wide | 41 cm (16 in) | 81 cm (32 in) |
| Laptop screenshot1,920 px wide | 49 cm (19 in) | 98 cm (38 in) |
| 12 MP phone photo4,000 px wide | 102 cm (40 in) | 203 cm (80 in) |
| 24 MP camera photo6,000 px wide | 152 cm (60 in) | 305 cm (120 in) |
Why not 300? That is the figure for a photo held in the hand. Nobody reads a poster from 30 cm, and at a metre the eye cannot separate much past 100 pixels per inch.
What people make with it
A birthday photo wall
Print the birthday person's baby photo two metres tall as the party's centrepiece. Everyone will want a picture with it.
Travel photo over the sofa
A landscape photo 6 sheets across fills the wall over a sofa for the price of the paper.
Graduation and farewell
A class photo printed huge for everyone to sign. Grayscale saves ink and looks classic.
Test before you order
Print a giant version at home to check the size on the wall before paying a print shop for the real thing.
Your picture never leaves your device
The picture is opened, cut into sheets and written into the PDF by your own browser. There is no upload, because there is no server for it to go to — load the page, turn off Wi-Fi, and the poster still gets made. The wall photo for the preview is handled the same way.
- No upload, no account, no email
- No watermark on your poster
- No ads or logos printed in the PDF
- No ads over the preview
- Settings remembered on this device only
Questions people ask
Anything we've missed?
How big can I print a phone photo?
Most phones take photos around 4000 pixels wide, which stays sharp up close to about a metre wide and looks fine from a distance at up to two metres. Photos sent through WhatsApp or other chat apps are usually shrunk to 1600 pixels or less, which is sharp to about 40 cm — use the original.
What paper is best?
Ordinary 80 gsm paper is cheapest and easiest to glue, but it can ripple. 100–120 gsm matt paper looks better and stays flat; glossy photo paper looks best but shows the joins more. Whichever you use, use the same paper for every sheet.
How much ink will it use?
The summary estimates it in standard pages — the 5% coverage page that cartridge yields are quoted against. A cartridge rated for 200 pages prints roughly 200 of them. A dark photo can use several standard pages per sheet; grayscale and the ink saver cut that down.
What printer settings should I use for a poster?
Print at 100% or "Actual size" — never "Fit to page" or "Shrink to fit", which scale every sheet slightly and stop the joins lining up. Choose the same paper size you picked here, and turn off borderless printing. On a Mac this is under Scale in the print dialog; in Windows and in Chrome it is under More settings.
How do I put the sheets together?
Lay them out by label: rows are letters from the top, columns numbers from the left. On each sheet, cut along the crop marks on the edges its label names — the left and top, except on the first column and row. Lay each cut edge over its neighbour's overlap strip, where the picture matches, and glue or tape from behind. Trim the outer margins last. The first page of the PDF shows the whole layout.
Is my picture uploaded?
No. The picture is read, cut into sheets and written into the PDF by your own browser. There is no server it could be sent to — you can load the page, switch off Wi-Fi and it still works.
Guides worth reading
- Printing
How big can I print my photo? Pixels, PPI and viewing distance
The largest print a photo can make from its pixel width, why a poster needs far fewer pixels per inch than a small print, and why WhatsApp photos print small.
6 min read - Printing
How to print a large poster on A4 paper at home, step by step
Tile any picture across A4 or Letter sheets, print it at the right scale, and join the pages so the seams hardly show. Printer settings, paper, glue, trimming.
7 min read
More to print at home
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Rasterbator Poster
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See everything on the Print at home page.