Four sheet and six sheet posters explained
A 6 sheet poster is a portrait outdoor advertising panel measuring 1200mm wide by 1800mm tall, the standard size used in UK bus shelters and shopping centres. It is a little over twice the area of an A0 sheet, and it sits between the smaller 4 sheet at 1016mm by 1524mm and roadside 48 sheet billboards.
Sugandan Balaji
What is a 6 sheet poster?
A 6 sheet poster is a portrait advertising panel measuring 1200mm by 1800mm, the format used in UK bus shelters, shopping centres, supermarket entrances and pedestrian areas. The name comes from an old printing convention in which one sheet was a double crown at 762mm by 508mm, and larger panels were built by pasting several sheets together.
Modern 6 sheet posters are printed as a single piece, usually on 170gsm blueback paper for outdoor frames, but the name stuck. A 6 sheet poster sits at eye level and is read from two to five metres away by someone standing still, so it can carry more copy than a roadside billboard. Keep it to a headline, one supporting line and a clear call to action.
What is a 4 sheet poster and where is it used?
A 4 sheet poster measures 1016mm by 1524mm, portrait, and it is the standard panel in retail settings: supermarket car parks, convenience store frontages, petrol forecourts, transport interchanges and high street frames. A 4 sheet poster is roughly 28 per cent smaller in area than a 6 sheet poster.
The 4 sheet is the large format closest to the street level poster work iDO does every day. iDO is the trading name of Info Display OOH Ltd, and it holds 150,000 print points across the UK, which makes it the biggest print distribution network in the UK. Those print points are shop windows, counters, community boards and display frames, where a 4 sheet, A1 or A2 poster does the work.
What are 48 sheet and 96 sheet posters?
A 48 sheet poster measures 6096mm by 3048mm, landscape. A 96 sheet poster measures 12192mm by 3048mm, landscape, double the width of a 48 sheet. Both are roadside formats, built to be seen by drivers and passengers moving past at speed.
Because a 48 sheet or 96 sheet poster is read in two or three seconds from a moving vehicle, the design rules change: a few words, one image, a large logo, strong contrast, no body copy and no phone numbers. Roadside billboards buy reach. They do not buy the close reading a 6 sheet in a bus shelter or an A2 poster in a shop window gives you, and they cannot be targeted street by street.
How do UK poster sheet sizes compare?
UK poster sheet sizes run from the 4 sheet at 1016mm by 1524mm up to the 96 sheet at 12192mm by 3048mm. The table gives the standard dimensions, the orientation and where each format is normally displayed.
| Format | Size (mm) | Orientation | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 sheet | 1016 x 1524 | Portrait | Retail frontages, forecourts, car parks |
| 6 sheet | 1200 x 1800 | Portrait | Bus shelters, shopping centres, pedestrian areas |
| 12 sheet | 3048 x 1524 | Landscape | Supermarket and retail park frames |
| 16 sheet | 2032 x 3048 | Portrait | Large shelters, rail stations, bus depots |
| 48 sheet | 6096 x 3048 | Landscape | Roadside billboards |
| 96 sheet | 12192 x 3048 | Landscape | Major roadside and arterial routes |
How do poster sheet sizes relate to A series sizes?
Sheet sizes and A series sizes are two separate systems, so they rarely match exactly. A series sizes halve at each step down from A0 at 841mm by 1189mm, while sheet sizes are multiples of the old double crown sheet at 762mm by 508mm. A 4 sheet poster at 1016mm by 1524mm is around one and a half times the area of A0. A 6 sheet poster at 1200mm by 1800mm is a little over twice the area of A0.
Most print distribution work happens below A0. iDO distributes more than 5 million brochures every month and displays posters in A1, A2, A3 and A4 across its 150,000 print points, the sizes that fit a shop window, a counter or a community board. For Trestle Theatre in St Albans, iDO ran an ultra local poster blanket of every retail, food and drink, supermarket, community and heritage site in the town, and the performance was oversubscribed.
Frequently asked
- Is a 6 sheet poster portrait or landscape?
- A 6 sheet poster is portrait. It measures 1200mm wide by 1800mm tall, and UK bus shelter and shopping centre frames are built for that upright shape. Supply artwork at 1200mm by 1800mm with a 10mm bleed unless the site owner specifies something different.
- What paper is a 6 sheet poster printed on?
- Outdoor 6 sheet posters are usually printed on 170gsm blueback paper. The blue reverse stops the previous poster showing through when the new one is pasted into the frame. Indoor 6 sheet panels can use lighter poster paper or PVC instead.
- What is the difference between a 4 sheet and a 6 sheet poster?
- A 4 sheet poster measures 1016mm by 1524mm and a 6 sheet poster measures 1200mm by 1800mm, both portrait. The 6 sheet is the larger of the two and is the bus shelter standard. The 4 sheet is the common retail frontage and forecourt format.