Billboard & outdoor advertising prints
Build an outdoor campaign around a clear, readable print.
Billboard & outdoor advertising prints
48-sheet billboard posters
The 48-sheet is the familiar landscape roadside format, commonly around 6m wide by 3m high. If you have a campaign booked, or you are an agency handling production, here is what makes 48-sheet billboard posters different from other large prints.
It arrives in pieces, and that is deliberate
A poster this size is not one sheet. It is normally produced as a set of paper sections that a posting crew pastes up in order, so the media owner's specification matters more than anything else. It will set out the section layout, overlaps and the way sections should be folded, numbered or packed. Avoid placing a face or a small line of copy across a section edge if you can. Ask us to check your artwork against the split before it goes to print.
Why billboard paper has a blue back
Billboards are repasted again and again, so whatever went before is still sitting underneath. Blue-back paper is opaque enough to stop the old campaign ghosting through yours, and it is made to cope with wet paste. Standard poster stock is not a safe substitute outdoors. If your site is a printed vinyl skin rather than a pasted poster, the material changes entirely, so confirm which type you have booked. Our billboard printing page covers the wider options.
Copy that a driver can take in
The audience for 48-sheet billboard posters is often moving, and may be some distance away, so restraint works harder than detail. Aim for one image and a short line. Avoid thin typefaces, long web addresses and fine print that nobody will read from the road. Artwork is usually built at a reduced scale, then enlarged, so check image quality at the final size rather than on screen. If you need matching work at street level, start from our poster printing page and plan that layout separately rather than cropping this one.
Related topics
Useful to know
Your questions.
How many spare 48-sheet posters should I order?
Media owners often ask for spares in case of weather damage or vandalism during the campaign. The number varies, so check your booking terms and include any spares in the same print run.
Who actually posts the billboard?
On booked advertising sites, the media owner's crew normally does the posting. Your job is to get correctly packed posters to their depot in time. For your own private site, talk to us about how it will go up.
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