Free design proof on every custom order: no templates, no stock SKUs
Custom posters are built around whatever size, shape and stock your project actually calls for, rather than a fixed catalog dimension. That makes them a good fit when your artwork, venue or display stand needs something outside the standard 11 x 17, 18 x 24 or 24 x 36 sizes. Tell us the dimensions, finish and intended use (retail, gallery, trade show, campaign) and we'll match paper weight and lamination to how the piece will actually be handled and displayed.
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Standard poster sizes cover most needs, but plenty of projects don't fit neatly into 11 x 17, 18 x 24 or 24 x 36. A booth panel with an odd footprint, a lobby display built around an existing frame, a mural-scale print for a storefront window, or a small run-sized for a specific easel. These all call for a size built around the actual space and use case rather than a stock dimension. That's the role a custom poster order fills: the size, shape, stock and finish are set by the job, not by a fixed size chart.
Material choice depends heavily on where the piece will live. Indoor posters generally do well on a coated paper stock, with matte lamination cutting glare under gallery or office lighting and gloss giving photography and bold color work more punch. Anything headed outdoors (a yard sign, a festival banner-style poster, window-facing signage) needs a weather-resistant substrate like vinyl or a laminate rated for UV and moisture exposure, since uncoated paper stock will warp, fade or tear within days outside.
Shape doesn't have to stay rectangular either. Die-cutting can follow a logo outline, a product silhouette, or a rounded-corner panel to fit a specific display stand or kiosk. If a design calls for a cutout, it's worth building a small bleed and keeping any fine detail away from the cut line, since very thin points and sharp inside corners don't hold up well once trimmed.
Because every dimension is custom, it helps to have the end use nailed down before the file goes to print: where it will hang or stand, how close viewers will typically be, whether it needs to survive repeated handling or weather, and how many you'll need now versus on a repeat order. Locking those details in early keeps the proofing process quick and avoids a second round of revisions once the first piece is mounted and you can see how it actually reads in the space.
Poster stock is chosen against where it hangs and how long it stays there. A light poster paper is right for a short campaign taped to a wall. Cheap enough to replace and thin enough to sit flat. Heavier satin and cover weights resist curling, survive being pinned and unpinned, and hold their shape in a frame or a window where a light sheet would ripple visibly.
Why does my poster ripple in the window? Light stock reacting to humidity and sunlight. A heavier weight or a mounted board is the fix. Nothing about the printing will change it.
Posters are the one format where the design has to be checked against a distance rather than a screen. Type that reads comfortably at arm's length disappears at ten feet, and an image that looks sharp at 100% on a monitor can be well below the resolution it needs at full size. The practical rule is to decide the reading distance first and let it set both the type scale and the minimum image resolution.
What resolution do I need? It depends on size and viewing distance. A 24 x 36 read from across a room tolerates far less than an 11 x 17 held at a desk. Send the file and we will tell you before printing.
Gloss maximizes color saturation and photographic punch, which is what retail and entertainment posters usually want. Matte cuts glare, which matters more than people expect on anything hung under downlights or in a window facing the sun. A gloss poster in the wrong light is unreadable from the angle most people approach it. Lamination adds durability for anything handled or exposed.
Gloss or matte for a shop window? Matte, almost always. Direct sun on a gloss surface throws glare that makes the poster unreadable from the pavement.
Posters are trimmed flat and then either shipped flat or rolled, and that choice has real consequences. Flat shipping keeps the sheet perfectly true but needs a rigid oversized carton. Rolling is cheaper and safer in transit but leaves a curl that has to be flattened before display, which for a short campaign on a wall is fine, and for a framed piece is a nuisance.
Flat or rolled? Flat if it goes straight into a frame. Rolled is cheaper and perfectly fine for anything taped or pinned up.
For a space that does not match a catalogue size. A specific frame, a panel between two windows, a run of posters that has to tile across a wall, or an unusual proportion the design demands. The printing is identical; what changes is that the sheet is cut to your dimensions rather than a standard, which occasionally costs less rather than more if it uses the press sheet better.
Is custom more expensive? Not always. A size that sits efficiently on the press sheet can cost less than the nearest standard. Ask before assuming.
Ask for samples before a long run. How a stock handles light and humidity decides whether a poster hangs flat or ripples.
A bonded film that stops a poster scuffing and curling, and lets it be wiped clean. Worth it on anything that hangs for a season, gets handled, or sits where condensation and sunlight both reach it.
Cuts glare, which on a poster is a functional decision rather than an aesthetic one. A gloss poster under downlights or in direct sun is unreadable from the angle most people actually approach it.
Bonded to foam board or heavy card so it stands on an easel or hangs without a frame. It also removes the ripple problem entirely, since the board rather than the paper is holding the shape.
Cut to size, with optional eyelets for hanging where the poster is exposed. On anything larger than 24 x 36 hanging hardware is worth planning before printing rather than improvising afterwards.
Same family, genuinely different jobs. Your current selection is highlighted.
| Poster | From | Reads at | Order it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 x 17 Posters | $320 | Read from a few feet | Noticeboards, in-store, event promotion |
| 18 x 24 Posters | $380 | Read across a room | Storefront windows and retail |
| 24 x 36 Posters | $420 | Commands the wall | It should dominate the space |
| Custom Posters | $310 | Your dimensions | The space does not match a standard |
Not always. A size that sits efficiently on the press sheet can cost less than the nearest standard, while an awkward proportion that wastes half the sheet costs more. Ask before assuming either way.
Yes. Unusual proportions are one of the main reasons to go custom. A long narrow strip for an awning or a panel between windows is not something a standard size serves.
Yes, printed as panels with a deliberate overlap. Tell us the wall dimensions and how it will be mounted, since the overlap and the panel joins need planning against the surface rather than the artwork alone.
Measure the frame opening, not the outer frame, and send that dimension. Frames vary more than their nominal sizes suggest, and a poster cut to the nominal size often will not sit correctly.
Pricing for custom posters starts at $310 and moves with quantity, size, material and finish rather than sitting on a fixed list. Setup is shared across the run, so the per-unit price drops steeply as the quantity rises: the gap between a few hundred and a few thousand is usually the significant one. Send the size, quantity and what it has to do and you get a firm figure back, not a range.
There is a practical minimum rather than a hard one. Every run carries artwork checks, a proof and a press setup, so a very small quantity of custom posters prices poorly per unit even though we will still make it. If you are ordering a small batch, ask for pricing at two or three quantities at once: the curve usually shows that a modest increase costs very little more in total.
The clock starts when you approve the proof, not when the order is placed, which is the part most people are surprised by. You get a proof first: a digital proof, and on large sizes a scaled section at full resolution so you can judge sharpness and color at actual print scale rather than at a reduction. Nothing prints until you approve it. Turnaround after approval depends on the finish: anything laminated, foiled or die-cut adds a stage that cannot be compressed without causing problems later. Tell us the date you actually need them and we will work backwards from it rather than quoting a generic lead time.
Print-ready artwork with bleed and a safe margin, supplied as a PDF, AI or EPS. Photographic elements should be supplied at the resolution the finished size needs, not the resolution that looks sharp on screen. If your file is not print-ready, say so when you order. We would rather fix it before the proof than after the run.
In most cases they are the same product under a different name: the trade uses several terms for it depending on the region and the supplier. What actually defines this one is the build: your dimensions. Order it when the space does not match a standard. If you have seen it called custom posters printing elsewhere, describe what it has to do rather than which name you found, and we will match the specification.
Yes. We provide free samples, and on custom posters it is worth asking for one, because the difference between poster paper and satin is obvious in the hand and invisible on a screen. Most orders run on poster paper, but ask for whichever you are weighing up. You also get a free design proof before anything goes to press, so nothing is printed that you have not seen.
The usual choices are lamination, matte finish, mounting. Finish is not decoration on this product so much as a decision about how long it survives and how it reads in the hand, so it is worth choosing against the job rather than the budget. Tell us where the finished piece ends up and we will say which finish is doing real work and which is only adding cost.
Yes, and that is what almost every order here is. Nothing in this catalogue is a stock item: custom posters are manufactured to the specification you give us, with your artwork on them. Send your logo as vector artwork where you have it, since that scales to any size without softening. If all you have is a low-resolution file, tell us and we will say what it needs before it reaches the press.
Yes, and a repeat run is simpler than the first one. We keep your approved specification on file, so a reorder skips the setup decisions and goes straight to production. If nothing about the artwork or the specification has changed, there is nothing to re-approve. Tell us the previous order and we will match it rather than starting the specification again.
Yes. Regalo Print has been producing custom commercial print for businesses across the USA and Canada since 2008, and every order ships tracked. The tracking number reaches you the day the job leaves, not the day it arrives. If you are working to a fixed date, say so when you order so the production schedule is built around the delivery date rather than the other way round.
